Lace

1913 · ref. 45715 — Detroit MI: Elliott Taylor Woolfenden Co. Upholstery Department 1913. Elephant folio portfolio 12.25 x 17.0 ins. 2 large lace panel designs for doors on tissue folded 13 x 24 ins. & 12 x 21 ins.; one 12.5 x 15.0 ins. folded two 8 x 13 ins. folded & pinned to letter initialed from Herz & Co. 1913; 40 pp unpaginated. sewn folded paper sample scrapbook with over 100 clippings of lace panel treatment for windows display windows vestibules and more also 5 original photos 3.25 x 2.25 ins. tipped-in of window lace treatments provided by the company; 66 pp unpaginated. sewn folded paper sample scrapbook with 100s of black & white clippings applique designs illustrations for for oriental rugs lace curtain & panel design catalogues original design tipped-in. Burgundy cloth artist’s portfolio paper label w/ Lace Pannels penned in manuscript on front cover original ties some edgewear & toning to interior occasional chipping minor closed tears still a remarkable piece in an excellent state of preservation. A unique salesman sample book created by the upholstery department of Elliott Taylor Woolfenden Department store around 1913 for their clients interested in purchasing silk & cotton lace panels and curtains for their Victorian Queen Anne Homes and businesses in Detroit. They drew heavily on the designs and such suppliers as Herz & Co. New York; John F. Patching Co. New York; E.C. Carter & Son New York; the designs of Joseph Popper; Carpets flooring and lace designs of Farr & Bailey Manufacturing; and the Arts & Crafts Carpets of Witcombe McGeachin & Co. of England. The original designs laid-in to this portfolio from Herz & Co. appear to be for doorways and very tall vestibule or living room windows. Price information sizing and types of material are provided along with the designs. Lace curtains and panels became widely available after 1840 and eventually were a necessary requirement for most of the large upscale homes of the emerging upper middle class and wealthy families homes during the Gilded Age in America. The upholstery department appears to have drawn from a number of different sources and provided 100s of examples for their clients to choose from before they ordered. Elliott Taylor & Woolfenden was formed in February 1910 when the two major dry goods firms Taylor-Woolfenden Co. and William H. Elliott & Co. merged operations. They were a department store with strong specialties in suits hats interior decorating & design and other textile products. They maintained very high standards for their personnel and by 1917 were one of the most important commercial interests in Detroit. See Burton Stocking & Miller The City of Detroit Michigan 1701-1922 p. 100. Elliott, Taylor, Woolfenden Co., Upholstery Department, hardcover