AH Davenport and Company
| AH Davenport and Company | |
|---|---|
| legal form | |
| founding | 1880 |
| resolution | 1974 |
| Seat | Cambridge, Massachusetts |
| management | Albert H. Davenport |
| Branch | Furniture manufacturing |
AH Davenport and Company was an American furniture manufacturer , cabinet maker and interior designer from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, she sold luxury items in her showrooms in Boston and New York City and made furniture and interiors for many notable buildings, including the White House. The word "davenport", which means a box-shaped sofa or sofa bed, comes from the company.
history
The company was founded by Albert H. Davenport (1845–1905), who started as an accountant for the Boston Furniture Company in 1866 and bought the company around 1880 after the owner's death. He changed the company's name and expanded it by opening a showroom in New York City. It produced high quality and custom-made furniture, which it sold in retail outlets alongside fabrics, wallpaper, hardware, decorative items and quality goods from various manufacturers. One of Davenport's first major orders was for 225 pieces of furniture and decorative items for the Iolani Palace in Honolulu , Hawaii.
HH Richardson
The company developed a close relationship with the architect HH Richardson . The Boston Furniture Company-Davenport & Co. likely made the furniture for its Winn Memorial Library (1879) in Woburn, Massachusetts. Davenport & Co. made the furniture and interiors for its Thomas Crane Public Library (1881) in Quincy, Massachusetts, its Billings Library (1883) in Burlington, Vermont, and its Converse Memorial Library (1885) in Malden, Massachusetts.
Richardson designed the New York Court of Appeals Room (1883-1884) on the third floor of the New York State Capitol in Albany. Davenport & Co. executed its highly carved cabinet work and furniture in the Byzantine-Romanesque style. Lord Coleridge, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, described it as "the most beautiful courtroom in the world". In 1916, Richardson's courtroom was dismantled and relocated to the New York Court of Appeals Building.
In 1885 Davenport hired an architect from Richardson's office, Francis H. Bacon, as his chief designer. Bacon was soon promoted to Vice President of Davenport & Co.
Richardson died in 1886. The dining room furniture for his John J. Glessner House (1885-87) in Chicago, Illinois was designed by a partner, Charles Coolidge, and manufactured by Davenport & Co. Coolidge also designed the desk in the study . The custom case for the Steinway grand piano was made by the company and is attributed to Bacon.
The Warder Mansion (1885–1888) in Washington, DC, was one of the last Richardson buildings. Davenport & Co. made the furniture, but it is unclear whether the design can be partly attributed to Richardson or fully to Bacon.
Web links
- Literature by and about AH Davenport and Company in the WorldCat bibliographic database