Étagère

This étagère is conceived in a Chinese-inspired style and probably dates from the mid to late 1880s. Its overall composition and details are successfully resolved and the original finish of the wood has a deep cherry color. A paper label with stencilled inventory or style numbers on the back make the piece a useful document of the firm's output. This form may not have been unique in its day but few related examples by this company are known. A. Kimbel & Sons, an important New York cabinetmaking and decorating firm during the late nineteenth century, was established in 1882 by Anthony Kimbel with two of his sons, Anthony, Jr. and Henry, following the dissolution of Kimbel's partnership with Joseph Cabus. First given national recognition for their display at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, Kimbel and Cabus (1863–1882) had been known for furniture and decoration in the Modern Gothic style of the 1870s. A. Kimbel & Sons purveyed furniture and decorative schemes in a range of historical revival styles, for the most part of French derivation by the turn-of-the-century.