For Hirsch63,
Arts and Crafts, The Aesthetic Movement and Orientalism in American Furniture Making Pt I:
The Aesthetic tradition in furniture making developed in the US at roughly the same time as it did in Europe.
The increased Japanese influence on American aesthetics began shortly after Commodore Perry's forcible opening of Japan in 1853. Shortly thereafter, an influx of blue and white porcelain, lacquer and textiles became available to American consumers. The 1876 Philadelphia Exposition formally introduced an American audience to both the burgeoning European Aesthetic Movement and to Japanese arts and crafts. Publications dictating the standards of taste and home decorating served to heighten public demand for Japanesque Aesthetic goods. But the interest in the Japanese aesthetic was accompanied by a greater appreciation of all things Asian and Islamic, as Chinese, Moorish, etc. natural motifs and craft traditions also became incorporated into Aestheticism's ecclectic mix of influences.
By the end of the 1870s, Japanesque, Orientalist and Aesthetic design principles had taken root in American craftsmanship. Like their European Aestheticist counterparts (though arguably to a lesser extent), some American designers may have looked to Japan as the best representative of the medievalism that was becoming increasingly romanticized. There was a perception that Japan had a purer, preindustrial artistic culture in which the artists were "still very much like those of medieval Europe.... both artist and artisan". Though the US arguably had no or few counterparts to European Aesthetic visionaries like EW Godwin, its craftsmen absorbed these influences and developed their own interpretations thereof.
Starting with...
George Hunzinger: Known for his folding chairs, Hunzinger used real and maple imitation bamboo, imitation lacquer ("ebonized" wood) and an extensive use of wood turning to produce Orientalist furniture along with many examples of the Renaissance Revival style. Unlike his Aestheticist contemporaries, Hunzinger embraced modern manufacturing. The interchangeable, interlocking parts and relative simplicity of many of his designs (when compared to conventional Victorian furniture, that is) were meant to facilitate mass production. While not considered an aestheticist per se, his innovative and ecclectic vision represented the similar and coinciding 'reform' style furnishings of the mid to late 19th century.
Patents
Some Examples of His Style
TBC....