September 16, 2020 09:00 AM PDT Annex
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Pottier and Stymus 3-Piece Chamber Suite Commissioned for Mark Hopkins San Francisco Residence
Pottier and Stymus 3 piece chamber suite commissioned for the Mark and Mary Hopkins' Nob Hill, San Francisco mansion. Carved mahogany with gilt highlights and extensive marquetry inlay. Each piece marked with Pottier and Stymus numeric system: dresser marked "56062", commode marked "56061", bed marked. Molding at top of dresser marked in period script, "to be attached to top of Hopkins mirror" - this is the first definitive reference which connects Pottier and Stymus to the Mark Hopkins San Francisco mansion. Dimensions: (Canopy) 30.12" x 73.5". Extreme dimensions: (bed) 11'.5"h x 73.5"w x 86.25"d; (dresser) 97"h x 51.5"w x 22.25"d; (commode) 31.62"h x 17.62"w x 15.75"d. Mattress size 61" x 80". Provenance: Timothy Hopkins (son of Mark and Mary Hopkins) bequeathed Thurlow Lodge (including furniture from the San Francisco mansion) to Stanford University prior to 1942. Stanford then consigned all the furniture to Butterfields / Bonhams to be auctioned. Prior to that, the President of Stanford was directed to keep whatever pieces of furniture he desired. This chamber suite was kept by him and remained in his family.
This is the first piece which confirms that Pottier and Stymus were also commissioned by Hopkins for their San Francisco mansion in addition to Herter Brothers. A Lady's Secretary in the Newark Museum, originally part of the original Bonham's Auction of Hopkins family furniture, is thought to be Pottier and Stymus as opposed to Herter Brothers due to the numeric code (56012) on the piece. (Pottier and Stymus kept a sequential numerical record of their products which assists in decoding their original location).
Mark Hopkins (1813-1878) was known as one of the "Big Four" in San Francisco in the late 19th century. He was one of the founders of the Central Pacific Railroad. Hopkins choose to build his mansion on the fashionable Nob Hill (originally called California Hill) where his fellow multimillionaires also resided. Sadly Hopkins would not see his mansion and it was completed in 1878 after his death. The palatial mansion survived the 1906 earthquake but was destroyed in the fire that followed in the days after. The house, as well as Sherwood Hall in Menlo Park (built in the early 1870s as Thurlow Lodge for Milton Latham, and also decorated by Herter Brothers) were both given to Mrs. Hopkins adopted son, Timothy Nolan Hopkins. Mrs. Hopkins died in 1891 (having married Edward Searles, the chief operative for Herter Brothers in San Francisco in 1887). After her death, Timothy Hopkins and his wife Mary gave the Nob Hill house to the city, for which it became the Mark Hopkins Institute of Art; and the furniture was removed to Sherwood Hall. The Nob Hill house burned in the earthquake of 1906, and Sherwood Hall was damaged. Timothy and Mary Hopkins apparently built a house in San Francisco, and it was here that the widowed Mrs. Timothy Hopkins died in 1942. Her estate was auctioned off by Butterfields/Bonhams in that year.
One of the most prominent and largest American design and manufacturing firms of high quality furniture of the Victorian period, Pottier & Stymus produced furniture in the Neo-Greco, Renaissance Revival, Egyptian Revival, and Modern Gothic styles. The company supplied furniture to the President's office and the Cabinet Room in the White House in 1869, and for the homes of such well-to-do families as the Rockefellers and railway baron Leland Stanford.
For shipping quote, please contact Delbert McCrea, 831-566-6088.
Condition:
Original finish. Original exotic marble. Missing mirror on dresser.
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Estimate:
$25,000 -
$50,000
Price Realized Including Buyer's Premium
$12,100
09/16/2020
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