Coda: Fading Light
In the twentieth century, demand for de Forest's work gradually faded. Critics and clients increasingly preferred sparse modernist designs over the densely ornamented interiors of the Aesthetic Movement. During his most productive years at Bryn Mawr, de Forest's work elsewhere was winding down.
De Forest's ties to Ahmedabad loosened following the deaths of Muggunbhai Hutheesing and sons Sarabhai and Dalpatbhai. In 1908, he sold the remaining Ahmedabad Wood Carving Company stock to Tiffany Studios. Subsequent travels in India were devoted not to the management of the Company workshops, but to collecting jewelry and antiques. In 1922, de Forest auctioned off the rest of his inventory and retired permanently to Santa Barbara, California, where he continued to devote himself to painting atmospheric landscapes and writing on art eduction.
In his commissions for the College, de Forest preserved a moment of connection between Ahmedabad and Bryn Mawr. The furniture displayed here is a remnant of this global network and provides an important opportunity to examine how the cultural values of the late nineteenth century shaped this campus.
Unknown maker (Damascus, Syria)
Chest
n.d.
Walnut, mother-of-pearl, lead
Bequest of M. Carey Thomas, President of Bryn Mawr College, 1894–1922
Deanery.302
Twenty-one mother-of-pearl inlaid chests were auctioned by de Forest when he retired to Santa Barbara in 1922, along with a large number of carved and inlaid panels. The volume of unsold inventory and the disappointingly low prices achieved at auction are representative of the waning market for de Forest’s decorating business. It is unclear whether this chest is a sixteenth-century antique, as stated in the auction catalogue, or whether it was produced for market by contemporary ṣanādiqī cabinet makers. Whatever its provenance, the rhythmic carvings and reflective shell inlay appealed to de Forest and his clients: a Steinway upright piano that replicated the designs of these chests was commissioned by Louis Comfort Tiffany in 1888.
Tiffany Studios
Table Lamp
c.1907–8
Bronze, shell
Bequest of M. Carey Thomas, President of Bryn Mawr College, 1894–1922
W.249
This lamp is a surviving example of the large collection of Tiffany Studios lighting that once filled the Deanery. Bryn Mawr and Tiffany were closely connected: Louis Comfort Tiffany, founder and artistic director of Tiffany Studios, was de Forest’s frequent collaborator, and M. Carey Thomas’s brother Bond worked as their general manager. Tiffany Studios was known for their innovative use of materials, particularly their invention of ‘Favrile’ iridescent glass. The translucent panes of this lampshade have been identified as ‘kappa’ or Capiz shell, a pressed mother-of-pearl material imported from the Philippines.
Unknown maker
Japanese Vase
Meiji: Late 19th century–early 20th century
Ceramic with glaze
Bequest of M. Carey Thomas, President of Bryn Mawr College, 1894–1922
2007.3.2
Unknown maker
Vase
n.d.
Glass
Bequest of M. Carey Thomas, President of Bryn Mawr College, 1894–1922
W.730
Unknown maker (New York)
Lockwood de Forest (designer)
Hexagonal Table
ca. 1881–1908
Wood, paint
Bequest of M. Carey Thomas, President of Bryn Mawr College, 1894–1922
Deanery.966
The all-over pattern stenciled onto this hexagonal tabouret is taken from a brass foil shown on Plate XV of de Forest’s Illustrations of Design. De Forest argued that stenciling was at the heart of “nearly all good design,” and the technique forms the basis of his writings on art education. Its reversal of positive and negative space, an interplay between foreground and background, offered infinite possibilities to both master carvers and novice students. Moreover, painted stencils could replicate the effects of finely carved teak in cheaper American materials. This combination of aesthetics and economy may explain why de Forest selected the technique for the furniture, cabinetry, and ceiling of M. Carey Thomas’s office in Taylor Hall.
Lockwood de Forest
Grand Canyon
1906
Oil on masonite
Bequest of M. Carey Thomas, President of Bryn Mawr College, 1894–1922
W.196
Restored 1964 by Ruth Levy Merriam ’31