Name/Title
Erkins Studios: Garden Furniture [Catalogue No. 9]Entry/Object ID
2016.002.003Description
Catalog of garden and hall furniture of Pompeian stone, marble, terra cotta, and lead (catalogue no. 9). Includes illustrated (photographs) price list of Pompeian stone vases and urns, fruit baskets, flower boxes, fountain figures, figures and masks, wall fountains, fountains, well heads, bird baths, tables and benches, lions, pedestals -- Brass sundials -- Terra cotta jars, Italian terra cotta -- Antique jars, well heads, and benches -- Lead and bronze figures, urns, bird baths, fountains, etc. -- Italian marble bird baths, fountains, benches.
History of Erkins from "Focal Points: Marble in America Part II: Marketing and Perception" by Eva Schwartz: "...[The sales model of] combining old with new was also followed by Erkins Studios, a New York City-based garden ornament manufacturer, active from 1900 to 1983. An advertisement in the October 1908 issue of Country Life in America magazine proclaims: "The Erkins Studios announces the opening of a branch in Carrara, Italy, under the personal supervision of a resident American manager. ...The manufacture of our own objects and direct importation will assure certain deliveries, and the reputation of The Erkins Studios guarantees the best workmanship". The firm boasted a repertoire of "over 400 Italian and Classical pieces". The Erkins Studio ad communicates essential information about the production of marble garden ornaments by American companies. It establishes that, at least in the early years of the twentieth century, many of the best marble pieces for the garden were still being made in Italy of Italian marble, whereas architectural and memorial/monumental marble work had really taken off in America. Moreover, it brings to light an inventive new construct: the American-run Italian operation. In addition to dealers and decorators scouring Italy for antiques or buying from Italian reproduction firms, there were American companies setting up branches in Carrara, and using Italian marble and Italian carvers to produce their own original designs. An endeavor such as this would seem to indicate that there was a healthy demand in the States for Italian marble ornaments. Considering the buying public's mistrust of the import/export process--due to fraud--the American managerial aspect of the operation was no doubt an indispensable sales feature. And the combination of Italian craftsmanship with an American guarantee made for a highly marketable product. Further research must be done to ascertain the actual success of Erkins' Italian branch, as we currently have no sales records to assess how well it fared. Additionally, when considering the American offices in Carrara it is important to maintain a shred of skepticism; one wonders if these offices were in fact real physical entities, or were they simply illusions of advertising? After all, it would have been a very compelling sales point for these firms, but it is difficult to say how viable it would have been to keep offices abroad. And what would these firms have gained by doing so? There weren't laws regarding truth in advertising the way there are now, so it is conceivable that these Italian offices were skeletal operations if anything. This aspect of our research demands much further exploration. In early 1929, Erkins released its Catalogue No. 9, chock full of offerings. The introductory pages of the publication specify that the "majority of pieces in our large collection are copies of masterpieces ... in the Museums and the world-famed gardens of Italy". Even more instructive than the catalog, however, is the letter that just happened to be tucked inside the vintage copy lent to us by a dealer friend. The letter was written by an Erkins salesperson on February 28, 1929 to Harold Hill Blossom (1879-1935), a renowned landscape architect who had worked in the Olmsted Brothers' Boston office and was responsible for designing several public parks and estate gardens in the area. The salesperson pointed out that their "previous catalogues have dealt only with cast stone ornaments which we have manufactured for many years, but in No. 9 we have added several pages of the lines we import, and which we have been selling in our Studio for the past two or three years, including Italian terra cotta pots and jars, both modern and antique; [and] Italian marble fountains, benches, etc.". Are we to assume, then, that the Italian branch announced in the 1908 advertisement had not survived long? Certainly the occurrence of World War I in the intervening years would have made it nearly impossible to carry on. There is no indication in the letter of an actual branch in Carrara, nor is any address other than its New York City address listed in the catalog, so it is fairly safe to say that the office in Carrara--if there had in fact been one--had been long gone. But the connection to Italy was apparently as strong as ever. Instead of devoting itself solely to the production of cast stone ornaments, Erkins Studios made a point of carrying the finest Italian marble pieces--and it seems that doing so was a critically important part of the business." (Source: Barbara Israel Garden Antiques website, http://www.bi-gardenantiques.com/Newsletter/MarbleinAmericaPartII.aspx.)
23 p. : chiefly ill. ; 28 cm.Collection
Pamphlets, Guidebooks, Booklets, PapersAcquisition
Accession
2016.002Source or Donor
New Library Catalog Records (2016)Acquisition Method
Found in CollectionLexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Primary Object Term
BookNomenclature Sub-Class
Other DocumentsNomenclature Class
Documentary ObjectsNomenclature Category
Category 08: Communication ObjectsSearch Terms
Garden ornaments and furniture--CatalogsOther Names and Numbers
Other Numbers
Number Type
Other NumberOther Number
P447Book Details
Publisher
Erkins StudiosCall No.
SB473.5 .E75 1929Notes
Date: [1929]
Copy No.: 1Location
Location
Shelf
Books-PamphletsRoom
Margaretta P. Childs ArchivesBuilding
Missroon HouseCategory
PermanentDate
February 7, 2023Created By
admin@catalogit.appCreate Date
April 26, 2016Updated By
admin@catalogit.appUpdate Date
February 17, 2023