Kimbel and Cabus (1863-1882). Corner Chair (Modern Gothic style), ca. 1875. Painted soft maple, paper, gilding, copper alloy, rubber, modern textile, 27 1/2 × 18 1/2 × 18 1/2 in. (69.9 × 47 × 47 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Bequest of DeLancey Thorn Grant in memory of her mother, Louise Floyd-Jones Thorn, by exchange, 1992.9. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Gavin Ashworth, 1992.9_GavinAshworth.jpg)
Kimbel and Cabus (1863-1882). Corner Chair (Modern Gothic style), ca. 1875. Painted soft maple, paper, gilding, copper alloy, rubber, modern textile, 27 1/2 × 18 1/2 × 18 1/2 in. (69.9 × 47 × 47 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Bequest of DeLancey Thorn Grant in memory of her mother, Louise Floyd-Jones Thorn, by exchange, 1992.9. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1992.9_IMLS_SL2.jpg)
Kimbel and Cabus (1863-1882). Corner Chair (Modern Gothic style), ca. 1875. Painted soft maple, paper, gilding, copper alloy, rubber, modern textile, 27 1/2 × 18 1/2 × 18 1/2 in. (69.9 × 47 × 47 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Bequest of DeLancey Thorn Grant in memory of her mother, Louise Floyd-Jones Thorn, by exchange, 1992.9. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1992.9_detail1_cropped_IMLS_SL2.jpg)
Kimbel and Cabus (1863-1882). Corner Chair (Modern Gothic style), ca. 1875. Painted soft maple, paper, gilding, copper alloy, rubber, modern textile, 27 1/2 × 18 1/2 × 18 1/2 in. (69.9 × 47 × 47 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Bequest of DeLancey Thorn Grant in memory of her mother, Louise Floyd-Jones Thorn, by exchange, 1992.9. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1992.9_detail2_cropped_IMLS_SL2.jpg)
Kimbel and Cabus (1863-1882). Corner Chair (Modern Gothic style), ca. 1875. Painted soft maple, paper, gilding, copper alloy, rubber, modern textile, 27 1/2 × 18 1/2 × 18 1/2 in. (69.9 × 47 × 47 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Bequest of DeLancey Thorn Grant in memory of her mother, Louise Floyd-Jones Thorn, by exchange, 1992.9. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.1992.9_detail1.jpg)
Kimbel and Cabus (1863-1882). Corner Chair (Modern Gothic style), ca. 1875. Painted soft maple, paper, gilding, copper alloy, rubber, modern textile, 27 1/2 × 18 1/2 × 18 1/2 in. (69.9 × 47 × 47 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Bequest of DeLancey Thorn Grant in memory of her mother, Louise Floyd-Jones Thorn, by exchange, 1992.9. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.1992.9_detail2.jpg)
Kimbel and Cabus (1863-1882). Corner Chair (Modern Gothic style), ca. 1875. Painted soft maple, paper, gilding, copper alloy, rubber, modern textile, 27 1/2 × 18 1/2 × 18 1/2 in. (69.9 × 47 × 47 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Bequest of DeLancey Thorn Grant in memory of her mother, Louise Floyd-Jones Thorn, by exchange, 1992.9. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1992.9_bw_IMLS.jpg)
Kimbel and Cabus (1863-1882). Corner Chair (Modern Gothic style), ca. 1875. Painted soft maple, paper, gilding, copper alloy, rubber, modern textile, 27 1/2 × 18 1/2 × 18 1/2 in. (69.9 × 47 × 47 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Bequest of DeLancey Thorn Grant in memory of her mother, Louise Floyd-Jones Thorn, by exchange, 1992.9. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1992.9_detail1_bw_IMLS.jpg)
Kimbel and Cabus (1863-1882). Corner Chair (Modern Gothic style), ca. 1875. Painted soft maple, paper, gilding, copper alloy, rubber, modern textile, 27 1/2 × 18 1/2 × 18 1/2 in. (69.9 × 47 × 47 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Bequest of DeLancey Thorn Grant in memory of her mother, Louise Floyd-Jones Thorn, by exchange, 1992.9. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1992.9_detail2_bw_IMLS.jpg)
Corner Chair (Modern Gothic style)
Decorative Arts
Kimbel & Cabus was on of the most important decorating and cabinetmaking firms in New York after the Civil War. This object represents the firm's shift from a design phase of historical revivalism to a protomodern abstract aesthetic.
The profiles of the various members of the chair have been simplified and the entire chair has been ebonized, in response to the influence of the Aesthetic Movement of the 1870s and interest in Asian art. The fanciful motifs of the "paper tiles" on the back of the corner chair were inspired by medieval grotesques and Japanese sources, and were an amusing and cost-saving substitute for marquetry (inlaid) decoration of inset ceramic tiles.
