The papers of New York and California based interior designer, architect, collector and painter Lockwood de Forest measure 3.8 linear feet and date from 1858 to 1980, bulk dates 1870 to 1930. The collection includes correspondence, writings, diaries, journals, exhibition files, personal business records, printed material, sketchbooks, drawings, and photographs.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of New York and California based interior designer, architect, collector and painter Lockwood de Forest measure 3.8 linear feet and date from 1858 to 1980, bulk dates 1870 to 1930. The collection includes correspondence, writings, diaries, journals, exhibition files, personal business records, printed material, sketchbooks, drawings, and photographs.
Lockwood de Forest's professional correspondence includes letters regarding de Forest's wood carving business in India. Notable correspondents from friends and colleagues include Stewart Culin, Alfred Korzybski, and Purushottam M. Hutheesing & Sons. Also included are two letter books which contain copies of letters written by de Forest. There is a fair amount of correspondence with family members, especially de Forest's parents, his brother Robert, and his wife Meta Kemble. There are also a few folders of Meta Kemble de Forest's correspondence with family.
Writings include drafts of Lockwood de Forest's book Indian Domestic Architecture, along with essays and notes. Essays by de Forest are on assorted topics such as art, education, museums, furniture construction, and psychic research. There is also a draft of a Lockwood de Forest biography by Anne Lewis.
Diaries and journals kept by Lockwood de Forest and his wife Meta focus on travels abroad to Europe, the Middle East, and India.
Exhibition files consist of materials related to a Lockwood de Forest exhibition (1976) at the Heckscher Museum in New York and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art in California. Documentation includes correspondence, exhibition lists, inventories, and loan forms.
Personal business records include a wide range of financial and legal records. Financial records consist of ledgers, account records, receipts, invoices, and shipping records. Legal records include contracts, certificates, and deeds related to assets, properties, and businesses.
Printed material consists of exhibition catalogs, auction catalogs, magazines, books, announcements, event invitations, and clippings. Most of the material is about Lockwood de Forest, but there are some clippings and publications about his brother Robert and other subjects.
There are numerous sketchbooks usually depicting places de Forest visited in Europe and the Middle East. There are also a few loose drawings.
Photographs are of Lockwood de Forest, his wife, family, friends, colleagues, paintings, houses, wood carvings, and art objects.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 8 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Correspondence, 1858-1931 (0.9 linear feet; Boxes 1, 4)
Series 2: Writings, 1881-1976 (0.8 linear feet; Boxes 1-2, OV 5)
Series 3: Diaries and Journals, 1868-1890 (0.2 linear feet; Box 2)
Series 4: Lockwood de Forest Exhibition Files, 1974-1978 (0.1 linear feet; Box 2)
Series 5: Personal Business Records, 1869-1931 (0.3 linear feet; Box 2, OV 6)
Series 6: Printed Material, 1867-1980 (0.5 linear feet; Boxes 2-3)
Series 7: Sketchbooks and Drawings, 1869-1881 (0.4 linear feet; Box 3)
Series 8: Photographs, circa 1870-circa 1932 (0.2 linear feet; Box 3)
Biographical / Historical:
Lockwood de Forest (1850-1932) was an architect, interior designer, collector, landscape painter, and writer based in New York City and Santa Barbara, California.
Lockwood de Forest was born in New York City in 1850. His parents were Julia Weeks and Henry Grant de Forest. He was one of four children. In 1869, he went to Rome, Italy and began studying art under the tutelage of the American painter Frederic Edwin Church whom he met during his trip. Church continued to be de Forest's mentor after they returned to America. De Forest set up a studio in New York City and first exhibited his work in 1872. From 1875-1878, he went on two more trips abroad to Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
In 1878, de Forest cofounded Associated Artists in New York along with Louis C. Tiffany, Candace Wheeler, and Samuel Coleman. The design firm closed around 1882 but was tremendously influential. He married Meta Kemble the same year that he began Associated Artists and the couple traveled to India where they stayed for the next two years. During that trip, de Forest met philanthropist Muggunbhai Hutheesing and together they established a woodcarving company and supplied Associated Artists with furniture and architectural objects.
Around 1882, De Forest opened his own business in New York City that managed the design and production of furniture and architectural accents, along with importing similar objects from India. In 1887, he purchased a house on 7 East 10th Street that he elaborately decorated with furnishings from India.
De Forest began spending winters in Santa Barbara, California starting in 1889. He eventually purchased a house and relocated there around 1922. While in California, he resumed painting with fervor and created many landscapes of the West Coast shorelines. De Forest died in Santa Barbara in 1932.
Provenance:
The Lockwood de Forest papers were donated in 1982 by Mrs. Lockwood de Forest III, daughter-in-law of Lockwood de Forest.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Architects -- California -- Santa Barbara Search this
Interior decorators -- California -- Santa Barbara Search this
Painters -- California -- Santa Barbara Search this
Topic:
Architects -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Art -- Collectors and collecting -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Interior decorators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Largely letters received in connection with Mooney's investigation of "the oldtime shields of the confederated Kiowas, Comanches, Apaches, Cheyennes, and Arapahos." Investigation described in letter to U.S. Military Academy, West Point, Mount Scott, Oklahoma. February 26, 1903, filed with Rivers' letter to Mooney.
Letters received, 1902-1911, from: Brittin, L. H. Englewood, New Jersey. September 23, 1903. Typescript letter signed. 1 page. Culin, Stewart. Philadelphia. February 2, 1903. Autograph letter signed. 2 pages. Foster, Robert J. Lipan Hood County, Texas. April 3, 1903. Autograph letter signed. 1 page. Grinnell, George Bird. New York. March 25, 1903. Typescript letter signed. 3 pages. Grinnell, George Bird. New York. June 3, 1903. Typescript letter signed. 1 page. Harvey, Fred. Kansas City, Missouri. June 20, 1904. Typescript letter signed. 2 pages. Harvey, Fred. Kansas City, Missouri. August 3, 1904. Typescript letter signed. 1 page. Hayden, Horace Edwin. Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. October 20, 1902. Autograph letter signed. 1 page. (enclosure: drawing of a shield) Henning, John. Emporia, Kansas. March 3, 1903. Autograph letter signed. 1 page. Huckel, J. Kansas City, Missouri. February 15, 1904. Typescript letter signed. 1 page. Huckel, J. Kansas City, Missouri. August 29, 1904. Typescript letter signed. 1 page. Johnson, A. Dodge City, Kansas. July 18, 1903. Autograph letter signed. 1 page. Johnson, A. Dodge City, Kansas. February 12, 1904. Autograph letter signed. 3 pages. Johnson, A. Dodge City, Kansas. December 30, 1903. Autograph letter signed. 1 page. (enclosure: shield ident. tag) Kroeber, A. L. Berkeley, California. February 4, 1903. Typescript letter signed. 2 pages.
Kroeber, A. L. Berkeley, California. February 11, 1903. Typescript letter signed. 1 page. Merrill, Frederick J. H. Albany, New York. May 14, 1903. Typescript letter signed. 1 page. Miles, John D. Lawrence, Kansas. January 16, 1902. Autograph letter signed. 1 page. Miles, John D. Lawrence, Kansas. March 1, 1903. Autograph letter signed. 2 pages. Miles, John D. Lawrence, Kansas. January 7, 1904. Autograph letter signed. 1 page. Moore, Q. Calude, Texas. April 21, 1903. Autograph letter signed. 1 page. Rivers, W. C. West Point, New York. March 26, 1903. Typescript letter signed. 1 page. (enclosure: J. Mooney's letter to U. S. Military Academy, West Point regarding Indian shields. Mount Scott, Oklahoma. February 26, 1903. Autograph letter signed. 1 page.) Rivers, Q. West Point, New York. April 11, 1903. Typescript letter signed. 1 page. Saville, M. H. New York. May 11, 1903. Autograph letter signed. 1 page. Sunderdale, J. V. Brooklyn, New York. June 4, 1903. Autograph letter signed. 3 pages. (enclosure: color drawing of a shield, with Manuscript notes by Mooney) Thornburgh, Vern. Lincoln, Nebraska. June 15, 1911. Typescript letter signed. 2 pages. Thornburgh, Vern. Lincoln, Nebraska. August 8, 1911. Typescript letter signed. 1 page. Thornburgh, Vern. Lincoln, Nebraska. February 7, 1914. Typescript letter signed. 2 pages. Weygold, Frederick. Louisville, Kentucky. September 16, 1902. Autograph letter signed. 3 pages. (enclosure: eagle/?/ feather)
Willoughby, Charles C. Cambridge, Massachusetts. June 3, 1905. Autograph letter signed. 1 page. (enclosure: photo of two shields) Wright, R. M. Dodge City, Kansas. May 21, 1903. Autograph letter signed with Manuscript notes by Mooney. 2 pages. Other letters regarding Indian shields: Harrington, C. T. to J. W. Ried. Thorp Springs, Texas. December 14, 1902. Autograph letter signed. with Manuscript notes by Mooney. 3 pages. Mead, J. R. to George W. Martin. Wichita, Kansas. May 18, 1903. Typescript letter signed. with anonymous Manuscript notes. 1 page.
2,000 Items (circa 2000 paintings, drawings, and photographs)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Drawings
Paintings
Photographs
Illustrations
Date:
circa 1879-1929
Scope and Contents note:
Artwork and some photographs used to illustrate articles published in the annual reports and bulletins of the Bureau of American Ethnology and the United States National Museum. The material includes artwork by Mary Beth Chapman, Mary Wright Gill, Mary M. Hildebrant, Spencer Baird Nichols, and Antonio Zeno Shindler. Also included are unidentified illustrations of Near Eastern costumes, prayer positions and Mexican funerary vessels, perhaps sketched by Walter Hough, and a drawing, signed "J. T. G.", of a memorial to the daughter of Chief Spotted Tail.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 133
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Additional illustrations are held in National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 78-51, the records of the Bureau of American Ethnology, and the Manuscript and Pamphlet File in the Department of Anthropology records.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Genre/Form:
Drawings
Paintings
Photographs
Illustrations
Citation:
Photo lot 133, Illustrations used in Bureau of American Ethnology and United States National Museum publications, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Includes a copy of Daniel G. Brinton's "Some words in the Andagueda dialect of the Choco stock," Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, volume 34, February 4, 1896, and a letter, Stewart Culin to Mason, January 27, 1902, transmitting the publication.
Local Numbers:
NAA ACC 76-119 (part)
SI LIB MS BOX 73
NAA MS 7237
Local Note:
Autograph manuscript
Topic:
Language and languages -- Documentation Search this
Genre/Form:
Articles
Letters
Citation:
Manuscript 7237, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Catalogue of ethnographical objects from Somaliland and the Galla country, collected by Dr. A. Donaldson Smith, in Museum of Science and Art, University of Pennsylvania
