1810s Fireplaces and Mantels

Early 19th century Regency neoclassical firegrate in the manner of Robert Adam. The pierced serpentine fretwork raised over square tapering leg on block foot surmounted by finials, w...

New York, Fan-carved mantel in the Federal taste, circa 1812 Pine Measures: 66 1/4 in. high, 90 3/8 in. wide, 13 1/4 in. deep Within the genre of carved rather than plasterwork mantels of the Federal Period, no example that has come to light is more perfectly designed or more carefully wrought than the present one, which is an amazing symphony of fans, urns, beads, and other Neo-Classical devices, all ultimately influenced by the plasterwork designs of the English architects Robert (1728–1792) and James (1732–1794) Adam. Of a type that proliferated in the area bounded by the northern New Jersey counties of Bergen and Passaic, the Hudson Valley, and western Long Island, the mantel is representative of work that flourished in the first couple of decades of the 19th century. While most of the woodwork of this style that has survived is found in interiors, various examples of exterior doors and other trim have been noted, but most examples have disappeared as a result, variously, of natural deterioration and purposeful demolition in anticipation of development. Although considerably larger in scale and more elaborate in ornament than a mantel that has been in the collection of the Brooklyn Museum since 1944 (acc. no. 44.55; photograph in Hirschl & Adler archives), the present mantel is so close in style and conception to that example that it likely originated in the same house. The Brooklyn mantel is documented as having been removed from a house built by Judge Isaac Terhune (1762–1837), an eminent lawyer and judge. The house was situated on King’s Highway, at the corner of Mansfield Place, at the edge of South Greenfield, a village in northern Gravesend, Brooklyn. A photograph of the house, taken by the German e´migre´ photographer, Eugene Armbruster (1865–1933), is in the collection of the New-York Historical Society. Terhune is ultimately descended from the Dutch-Huguenot e´migre´ Albert Albertson Terhunen, who died in Flatlands, Brooklyn, in 1685.The family eventually spread out through New Amsterdam, Long Island, and Bergen County, New Jersey. Terhune’s great-grandson, also Albert (1715–1806), left a sizable estate to his six surviving children, including his second child and second son, Isaac. Judge Terhune lived in the house until his death in 1837, at which time, according to an article in The New York Times for November 27, 1910, he, having died without issue, “left the White Frame Mansion with its exquisitely carved doorway, beautiful mantels, and other interior adornments to his brother John” (Part Six, p. 11). The article continues: After the latter’s death, the house and its estate of about 70 acres passed through several owners, eventually being purchased in 1853 by Benjamin G. Hitchings [1813–1893]. The house next passed to Benjamin’s son, Hector, who had been born in the house, and then lived there for 25 years. He sold it in 1910 in partial payment for a Manhattan apartment house. After thus having been sold to a real estate developer, the Hitchings property was subdivided into Hitchings Homestead. The house survived until about 1928, at which time it was razed and a Deco-style apartment house with the address 2301 Kings Highway was constructed on the site and occupied in 1935. By 1910, the fate of the house, in an area of Brooklyn that was being rapidly developed, was becoming obvious. The Times article reported: The house has been well kept up, but fearing lest the hand of time or vandals might deal harshly with some of its choice bits of carving, Mr. Hitchings removed a few years ago a few beautifully carved wood mantels...