Charles Rohlfs (American, 1853–1936)
Buffalo, New York
Hall Chair
INV-1497
Charles Rohlfs (American, 1853–1936)
Buffalo, New Yorkc. 1900
Arts and Crafts MovementAmerican Arts and Crafts Movementseatingfurniture
Date
c. 1900
Medium
Oak with black stain
Dimensions
144.8 × 48.3 × 38.7 cm (57 × 19 × 15 1/4 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Gift of the Antiquarian Society through Mrs. Eric Oldberg and Mr. and Mrs. Morris S. Weeden
The son of a New York cabinetmaker, Charles Rohlfs spent his early years working as a designer of cast-iron stoves and furnaces while pursuing an acting career in his spare time. In 1884 he married the novelist Anna Katharine Greene and moved with her to Buffalo, where he took up woodworking after being unable to afford high-quality furniture. What began as a personal venture had become a commercial endeavor by 1898. The first of Rohlfs’s exhibitions to receive national attention was held at Chicago’s Marshall Field and Company department store. Among the many items for sale was a hall chair similar to this example, which calls to mind the dramatically attenuated furniture of the Scottish architect-designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
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