COLLECTION NAME:
The AMICA Library
Record
AMICA ID:
MIA_.93.54
AMICA Library Year:
2002
Object Type:
Decorative Arts and Utilitarian Objects
Creator Name:
Purcell, William Gray
Creator Nationality:
North American; American
Creator Role:
designer
Creator Dates/Places:
1880 - 1965
Gender:
M
Creator Name-CRT:
William Gray Purcell
Creator Name:
Elmslie, George Grant
Creator Nationality:
North American; American
Creator Role:
designer
Gender:
M
Creator Birth Place:
Scotland
Creator Name-CRT:
George Grant Elmslie
Title:
Armchair
View:
Front
Creation Date:
about 1912 - 1913
Creation Start Date:
1912
Creation End Date:
1913
Materials and Techniques:
oak, leather
Classification Term:
Furniture
Dimensions:
H.36-1/2 x W.24-3/8 x D.26 in.
Component Measured:
overall
Measurement Unit:
in
AMICA Contributor:
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Owner Location:
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
ID Number:
93.54
Credit Line:
The Driscoll Arts Accession Fund
Context:
Purcell and Elmslie designed a number of Midwestern banks. These square brick buildings with their opaque art-glass window walls embodied the qualities of solidity and stability important to bankers and their customers. The most elaborate was the Merchants National Bank of Winona, Minnesota, still in use as a bank today. Twelve chairs of this design were made for the bank directors' boardroom. Their cube-like shape echoes that of the bank building. The vertical spindle "screens" forming the sides probably influenced Purcell and Elmslie's designs of armchairs and decorative interior elements for the Edna S. Purcell residence (now the Purcell-Cutts house), in Minneapolis, designed at the same time.
Related Image Identifier Link:
MIA_.25305c.tif
