29” height x 20” diameter
Glass and brass
18th-Century lighting

Six-sided hall lantern with six lights. Scrollwork volutes join lanterns to the canopy and smoke glass. One side of the lantern opens with hinges and a brass floral knob.

A gift to the Conservancy by Mrs. Lytle Hull during the Lindsay Administration.

28 ¾”H x 46”W x 21” Diameter
Mahogany
New York City

Two half-moon-shaped tables made of mahogany. One is labeled by John Banks.

The D-shaped top sits above a cock-beaded frieze on ring-turned and serpentine legs with brass ferrule terminals.

A gift to the Conservancy from Margo C. Flannery during the Koch Administration.

7-⅛”H x 10-⅛” W

Glass and brass

Compote Dish: Brass-footed milk glass compote dishes with brass beaded trim and handles

A gift to the Conservancy by Mrs. Lytle Hull during the Koch Administration.

16 ½” H x 21 ¾ “W (each)
John Hill, engraver, 1770-1850
Henry I. Megarey, publisher

The six are entitled:
View from Jessups Landing
Palisades
View Near Hudson
View Near Sandy Hill
View Near Fort Montgomery
The Junction of Sacandaga and Hudson Rivers

The 19^th century public took delight in an expanding world. Hardy souls—encouraged by the advances in transportation—scoured the globe in search of the beautiful and unusual. Thousands of others savored the thrill of discovery from the published accounts and printed images of artists such as John Hill, an English engraver, and his son John William Hill, a draftsman. Drawn to America’s vast so-called wilderness and to its bustling young cities, the Hills were among the first artists to document these aspects of the “American Scene.” They also played a key role in the development of the topographical print in this country. Their work as seen in those six aquatints evokes a sense of time and places that remain as vivid as today as a century and a half ago.

Overall, the Hudson River Portfolio consists of 20 large aquatints of views of the Hudson after watercolors by the Irish artist William Guy (1792-1864). John Hill engraved 16 plates and completed four begun by another engraver, John Rubens Smith. He remained faithful to Guy’s amalgam of picturesque convention and topographical accuracy. Alterations from the watercolors are minor, made largely for the sake of clarity and greater definition. Hill’s seemingly effortless technique does much to impart the freshness and fluidity of the originals. The Hudson River Portfolio enjoyed an enthusiastic reception and stimulated the demand for topographical views while establishing a standard of artistic and technical achievement by which later work could be judged.

Links/ references:

Sparling, Tobin Andrews, ed. American Scenery: The Art of John and John William Hill. Exhibition catalog. New York Public Library, 1985.
John hill Wiki page

Samuel Johnson Woolf (1880-1948, portrait artist and printmaker)

26 ¾ ” x 20 “

Drawing
Charcoal and tempera/Chinese white on paper
Signed (with estate stamp at lower left) S.J. Woolf

Samuel J. Woolf was a preeminent American portrait draftsman working in the 1920s to 1930s up until his death in 1948. During this period, he drew from life many major American figures in politics, business, the arts and letters, medicine, and science. Woolf also portrayed many of the leading British and European personalities of his time.

This portrait of Mayor La Guardia was executed for use as an illustration in an article written by Woolf himself titled, “The Mayor Talks About Our Town,” in which he states, “New York is a fine town with fine people and Broadway is just like Main Street.” It appeared in the New York Times Magazine, September 30,1945. The drawing is illustrated as “Drawn from life by S.J. Woolf” and La Guardia is, of course, shown working at his desk at City Hall.

Donated to the Conservancy by the Hirschl & Adler Galleries, Inc. during the Giuliani Administration.

links/references:
The Mayor Talks About Our Town; New York, he says, is a fine town with fine people and Broadway as just like Main Street

Samuel Johnson Woolf (1880-1948, portrait artist and printmaker)

25 ⅝ “ x 19 ¾ “

Drawing
Charcoal and tempera/Chinese white on paper

Signed with estate stamp at lower left) S.J. Woolf

Signed (by subject, at lower right): William O’Dwyer

This drawing is autographed by the subject at the lower right, which is a practice that Woolf frequently used to further document the fact that almost all of his portraits were executed from life.

Born and raised in Bohola, Ireland, O’Dwyer (1890-1964) moved to the United States in 1910 after abandoning his studies for the priesthood. He worked as a laborer, then as an NYC policeman. He studied law at Fordham University Law school, receiving his degree in 1923. O’Dwyer built a successful law practice and served as a Kings County Court judge. He won the election as the Kings County District Attorney in 1939 and his prosecution of the organized crime syndicate, murder. Inc., made him a national celebrity in 1939 and his prosecution of the organized crime syndicate, Murder, Inc., made him a national celebrity as a tough crime fighter. After losing the election to LaGuardia in 1941, O’Dwyer enlisted in the army, achieving the rank of Brigadier General. In 1946, O’Dwyer was nominated by the Tammany Democrats and easily won the mayoral election. At his inauguration, O’Dwyer celebrated with the song “It’s A Great Day to be Irish,” and addressed the 700 people gathered in the Council Chambers at City Hall.

“It is our high purpose to devote our whole time, our whale energy, to do good work …” his speech would start.

During his mayoral administration, O’Dwyer established the Office of City Construction Coordinator, appointing Robert Moses to the post. O’Dwyer also worked to have the permanent home of the United Nations located in Manhattan, presided over the first billion-dollar New York City budget, created a traffic department, and raised the subway fare from 5 cents to 10 cents. Shortly after his reelection, O’Dwyer was confronted with a police scandal uncovered, ironically, by the Kings County District attorney. With his health steadily declining, he resigned on September 1, 1950. Soon after, President Harry S. Truman appointed him as ambassador to Mexico. He returned to New York City in 1951 to answer questions concerning his association with organized crime figures. The accusations followed him for the rest of his life. O’Dwyer resigned as ambassador on December 6, 1964 and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Donated to the Conservancy by the Hirschl & Adler Galleries, Inc. during the Bloomberg Administration

17”H x 21” W

Nelson Mandela and his then wife and fellow activist, Winnie Mandela, were guests of Mayor and First Lady Dinkins at Gracie Mansion just five months after his release after 27 years of imprisonment by the Apartheid government of the Republic of South Africa. Over the course of a three-day visit, two million New Yorkers turned out to greet the Mandela’s across the city, including a ticker tape parade along lower Broadway in Manhattan. During that historic visit (before Mandela ran for office and received the Nobel Peace Prize), the future president of South Africa and the 106th Mayor of New York City signed documents commemorating the occasion. This photograph captures them doing so.

The two signed the commemorative documents under the entry staircase of Gracie Mansion on a Sheraton-style desk (ca. 1800), attributed to Duncan Phyfe, the renowned New York cabinetmaker. It had been a loan to the Conservancy from 1982 until 2015, when it was returned to the owner who in turn donated it to the Syracuse University Art Museum. In 2018, the desk returned to its former spot in Gracie Mansion for one year to mark the centennial of Mandela’s birth.

Print 17”H x 21“W

Framed donor rolls hanging above the stairs that descend from the entry foyer.

On either side of the Wagner entry are figured brass plaques which credit and thank the donors to the Wagner Wing.

42”H x 36”W

Oil on Canvas 

Willy Pogany, portrait painter, 1882-1955

This portrait was given to Gracie Mansion on the day of the formal opening of the Wagner Wing, September 28, 1966. It was a gift from former Mayor Robert Wagner Jr. (1910-1991), in honor of his late wife, Susan Edwards Wagner (1909-1964). Mrs. Wagner was the memorial namesake of the public wing she had envisioned and realized before her early death from breast cancer. Pogany was also responsible for portraits of Mrs. La Guardia and Mrs. Impellitteri. 

Pogany was born in Hungary and became a prolific illustrator of books and film posters in the Art Nouveau style. He studied in Munich, Paris and London before coming to the U.S. in 1915. He authored three art instruction books and painted murals for the Ringling Mansion in Sarasota, Florida.

Gift of the Honorable Robert F. Wagner.

Willy Pogany Obituary
The Art of Willy Pogany

29 ½H x 36” W x 17 ⅝”D

Mahogany, White Pine, and Cherry 

Woodwork furniture

A glass-topped circular table with five square, tapered legs, an oval inlay skirt, and string inlay on legs with cuff.

Note on its underside reads “Made and sold by Charles Courtwright/at The Sign of the Four Stars/in Pine Street New York”

29 ⅛” x 36”x 17 ¾”
Mahogany, Inlay
Woodwork furniture

Circular table with four squared, tapered legs with cuffs and inlay on edges, three panels of string inlay on the apron, and a double inlay band on edge of the top. The top is beveled-edge glass. The underside of the apron reads: “This table belongs to Miss Carl Reed/White [  ]arsh”

Two vases in cut glass.

39”x 30”
Cast Iron and brass metalwork
English 

Serpentine front fire grate with four legs, two large vase-shaped finials, and two small vase-shaped finials. Cast iron back with relief design of shepherd and flock.

Approximately 41” H
Crystal and metal
French lighting

Directoire-style crystal chandelier with six candles, upper section with sunbursts and numerous festoons of crystal forming a large bowl form.

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Knight Woolley during the Lindsay Administration.

Pair of celadon oil lamps converted to electric lamps with crystal fonts and bronze bases.

An area rug of Persian-based design woven in various shades of brown and green and russet orange to echo the room’s overall interior design.

This pair of small blond wood tables each has a single adjustable leg to allow a nearby sitter to place a candlelight at just the right height for varying illumination needs.

8 ½”
Glazed porcelain
Incised celadon vase with floral pattern

According to @kassiastclair in The Secret Lives of Color: “Frenchman Honoré d’Urfé led a dramatic life. He was imprisoned for his political beliefs, lived much of his life in exile in Savoy, and married his brother’s beautiful widow in order to keep her fortune in the d’Urfé family. It was perhaps this surfeit of intrigue that led him to write the nostalgic, meandering book L’Astrée. Published between 1607 and 1627, the 5,399-page, 60 volume pastoral comedy recounts the futile quest of Céladon, a lovelorn shepherd, to win back his lover, Astrée, after a misunderstanding. Despite its prodigious length and unwieldy cast of characters, it was a hit with his contemporaries. The comedic novel was widely translated, circulated throughout Europe, and spawned a stage play and even a fashion for dressing in sylvan green ‘à la Céladon.’

So firmly linked was Céladon with this woodland-fog color that the word ‘celadon’ was soon used to refer to a similarly hued type of ceramics imported from Asia. The Chinese had been making celadon objects for centuries before d’Urfé’s hero sprang into being. Usually grayish green—although the colors can vary enormously, from blues to grays to ochres and even blacks—these ceramics are characterized by the presence of iron in the clay and iron oxide, manganese oxide, and quartz in the glaze.”

19” x 38”
English

A band of faux burl walnut is bordered by a fine gold striping, ivory dots, and small fleur-de-lis on this black oval lacquer tray table.

35” H x 6” W x 5” D

A pair of Empire French bronze and gilt parcel urns now mounted as lamps. The bronze urns are enriched with chased and gilt foliate details including bands at the collar, neck, and pair of scroll form handles.

34 ¼ “x 24 ¼” x22”
Wood and upholstery
American

Fully upholstered armchair with square tapered wooden front legs and spade feet, rear legs are square, outward glaring. Nail head trim with self-welt. Sloping rounded back. 

44 ¾” x 24 ½” x 25”
Wood, inlay, upholstery
American

Upholstered back seat with slight camel-back. Straight tapered front legs with inlay, square outward flaring rear legs, and stretchers and rails. Outward curving armrests in what was once called “Martha Washington” style chairs.

Note: tag under seat reads: “Remade and renovated by William J. Hyena & Son, Inc. 155 63rd Avenue, New York City, March 16, 1970”

James Van Der Zee (1886-1983)

James Van Der Zee came from Lenox. Massachusetts and settled in New York City in 1908. Originally working as a waiter, elevator operator, and musician in NYC, Van Der Zee opened his photography studio in 1917 with the purpose of photographing his new home, Harlem. Harlem was changing during Van Der Zee’s time. What had first been a haven for upper-class Anglo Saxons had then become a haven for middle and working-class Irish, Italians and Jews and was fast becoming a haven for upper-, middle-, and working-class Blacks from the South, the West, and the Caribbean.   

Van Der Zee’s portraits were intended to adorn parlor mantle pieces and bedroom dressing tables, not museum walls. They revealed some essential truths about his subject that were unrecognizable to those who saw them. The scenarios he recreated in front of the camera would not be alien to his subjects. Without reservation, Van Der Zee altered his negatives and prints to arrive at the definition of beauty and elegance sought by clients. Eyes were brightened, wrinkles erased. Jewelry and other accessories were drawn on negatives to enhance style or mood. He used as many as four negatives to create a feeling of tranquility or honor surrounding his subjects. 

One-year Van Der Zee was the chronicler for Marcus Garvey, a black nationalism empire builder, while the next he was paying photographic homage to Edith Milburn and her friends. “I wanted to make the camera take what I thought should be there,” Van Der Zee said. To that end, he made himself a resourceful sampler of photographic styles and a master of darkroom techniques. 

Linked and references
Harlem’s Face on its Own Terms 

Herend floral-painted porcelain double-handled vases, with gilt highlights, birds, and butterflies.

Porcelain, painted and gilded
8 15/16” H x 7 ⅞” Diameter 

These cache-pots were produced in France in the second quarter of the 19th century, when such hard-paste porcelain ware was very popular, especially with the increasingly affluent middle-class. As opposed to being attributed to a specific manufacturer such as Sevres, this pair is part of the group of porcelain referred to as “Old Paris,” and are unmarked, created by one of the many producers of porcelain in France that flourished during the 19th century. Cachepot can be translated as “pot hide” referring to a common clay pot then thought too lowbrow to show.

26”x 28”

Oil on Canvas 

Initials appear on a barrel floating in the water and lower right. 

Castle Garden, known today as Castle Clinton, was America’s first Immigration center. Due to an increased volume of immigrants arriving sick or having died in transit in the late 18th century, the U.S. Congress in 1819 passed legislation to limit the number of passengers on ships coming to America. The captain of each arriving ship documented the names of the immigrants aboard his ship and filed it with the collector of customs at the port of arrival. This would mark the commencement of the systematic collection of data on immigration to the United States. The image here depicts Castle Garden when it was an immigration center. 

Today all that physically remains of Castle Garden are its original brownstone walls, surrounding Battery Park landscape, and the original manifests recording the names of the immigrants held in archives.

Links/ references
Castle Garden

15 ¼” H x 20 ¼” W
Inkjet print

In the year 2014, Cuban-born interdisciplinary artist Tania Bruguera founded Immigrant Movement International in partnership with the Queens Museum and the public art organization, Creative Time. Later she joined forces with the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs to launch “Cycle New,” a collective of woman activists spreading awareness about available immigrant services. 

Carved pinewood

“Livingston“ chairs; four side chairs and two arm chairs
Mahogany, reproduction c.1900 

Based on Sheraton design of 1794, and, in turn, the versions made by Federal-era New York chair-makers, Slover & Taylor of the Federal period, ca. 1800. These chairs are square-backed with four reeded balusters with five lotus capitals forming five Gothic arches, rectangular crest rail panel depicting half a stylized flower, and square reeded tapered legs with spade feet. Arms of the armchairs are fastened into the side seat rails. 

29 ¾” H x 57” W (without leaves)
Mahogany with brass castors
Circular top table

Oval top table supported by four cluster-column Gothic supports and a central pedestal.  The skyward architecture of lofty cathedrals and stout castles built in Europe from the 12th to 16th centuries were later labeled “Gothic” after the Goths, the Germanic tribes who sacked the Roman Empire. Initially the label was a critical backward-looking slight. Nonetheless, it endured as one of the most innovative styles in the Western world. The style lay moribund for 200 years until late in 18th-century England, when a Gothic revival began. It became fashionable to turn villas into Gothic castles using furnishings reminiscent of the era. As the style caught on in England and spread to America in the 1830s, architects, illustrators, and craftsmen created Gothic-inspired mansions, books, and furniture. 

A gift to the Conservancy from Gracie family descendant, Miss Margaret Ogden, during the Koch Administration. 

29 ½” Hx 35 ¼”W x 17 ⅜”D

Mahogany
Wooden furniture
Philadelphia 

Square tables with elliptic fronts and turning serpentine corners. They have banded reeding along the edge, plain apron with ring turnings over legs and four turned reeded legs with a bulb-shaped feet. 

10’ H x 12’ W
Mahogany and pine

This Federal-era library bookcase was once owned by Colonel Nicholas Fish of George Washington’s Continental Army and had been passed down through the generations. 

46” Height x 27” Diameter 
Glass and gilt

Convex mirror surmounted with a carved eagle holding the torn-away ball and chain symbolizing the political liberty of the new American republic from the British empire. Single-arm candle holders with crystal prisms and bobeche. The carving below the mirror includes a shell, pinecone, and acanthus leaves. The inner ribbed lining is painted black.

A previous inventory states “originally from the Gov. Pinchot estate.” This mirror is similar to the mirror in the Dining Room in the original Gracie home.

Approx. 46”
Gilt, metal, and paint

Eight-light Regency chandelier ornamented with carved and gilded eagle and lion heads, surmounted by crystal cups bearing pendant crystals. 

Gifted to the Conservancy during the Lindsay Administration from Mrs. Lytle Hull.

30” W
English

Pierced serpentine fender with a motif of stylized dragons, on tapered legs surmounted by shaped urns.

Gift of Mr. Javier Serra, Les Parfums de Dana, Inc.

Chinese export porcelain urns decorated with the coat-of-arms of the United States, blue and gold swags, and other patriotic motifs.

With the entrance into the global economy, colonial Americans made it a priority to establish trade with China. Once New York opened such direct trade, most of the porcelain imported was specially made for the American market—in some cases by direct commission. The American eagle, the municipal coat of arms, and other patriotic symbols were adapted by expert Chinese artists from ship-born documents and imported coins.

Links/References
Chinese Porcelain Platter and Flower Vase: New York and the China Trade

35” H x 31” W
Oil on Canvas 

Samuel Lovett Waldo (1783-1861) and William Jewett (dates unknown) 

Canvas stencil on reverse “Prepared/by/Edw Decchaux/New York”

Inscription on reverse “W. Wm R Gracie/ William III? June?/ painted by WaldoJewett/ New York 1850/16 Warren St”

Archibald Gracie’s eldest son, William, became business partners with his father in 1808 when he turned 21. William married Elizabeth Wolcott Gracie, whose portrait also hangs in the Blue Room of the Wagner Wing. 

Samuel Lovett Waldo was born in Windham, Connecticut, received art instruction in his native state and painted in Charleston, South Carolina. He went to London in 1806, bearing letters of introduction to Benjamin West and John Singleton Copley, and studied at the Royal Academy. Three years later, he opened a studio in New York, where he remained until his death. He was successful as a portrait -painter and was elected an associate of the National Academy in 1847. In about 1812, William Jewett came to him for instruction but proved so useful that they formed a partnership for 18 years. Waldo died in New York City in 1861.

Links/References

A Portrait Found in the Trash and The Hopes It Aroused 

John Trumbull (1756-1843,)
30”H x 24” W
Oil on canvas

John Trumbull (1756-1843)
Inscribed on back: “Mrs. Elizabeth Wolcott Gracie/Great-aunt/John Trumbull “

Elizabeth Stoughton Wolcott was the daughter of Oliver Wolcott, Jr., governor of Connecticut and important business partner of Archibald Gracie in the China Trade. Elizabeth was married on July 2, 1813 to William Gracie, eldest son of Archibald Gracie, builder of Gracie Mansion. It is likely that John Trumbull—a friend of the family—painted Mrs. Wolcott from life sometime between his return to New York from England in 1816 and her death in 1819. The portrait was a gift to the New-York Historical Society from her grandnephew. 

Links/references
Elizabeth Wolcott Gracie by John Trumbull by Mina Weiner, Docent, researcher, and writer for the Gracie Mansion Conservancy

21 ¼” H x 20 ½” W x 8 ¼” D

Gilt bronze and brass, with lamp mechanism, and with glass shades, frosted and wheel-cut, and glass chimneys

Attributed to Messenger & Sons, Birmingham and London, England; retailed by Baldwin Gardiner (1791-1869; active in NY, 1727-1747), New York
Embossed on plates below each of the two burners:  “B. GARDINER/ N. York.”

These lamps were made in England, attributed to the metalworking center of Birmingham, at the height of the Regency period. Stylistically, they are closely related to the work of Messenger & Sons and were intended for the important New York retailer Baldwin Gardiner; the brass labels that identify Gardiner as the retailer attached by the manufacturer. Gardiner worked at 149 Broadway in New York, where he remained until 1836. He relocated to 39 Nassau Street in the fall of that year, and then to California. Baldwin Gardiner was one of the most important retailers in New York, supplying lighting fixtures, porcelain, glass, and miscellaneous items to wealthy clients in New York and elsewhere.

Shades and chimneys are modern replacements of period replicas.

While such area rugs are now common in many homes, they were not in the Federal era when there was still not a trade market.

20 ¼” H x 23 ½” W

Oil on canvas

Unknown artist 

Spuyten Duyvil Creek (Bronx) 

Gift from Mr. and Mrs. Stuart P. Feld.

35” H x 43” W x 20” D
Mahogany 

The crest set with two sunburst carved tablets, above reeded spindles with fan-shaped capitals, over an upholstered seat, raised on square tapering reeded legs. 

32” H x 27” W

Oil on canvas

The artist in this instance did not work with his studio partner, William Jewett.

Oliver Perry (1785-1819) was an American naval commander best known for his victorious service in the War of 1812, especially in the pivotal Battle of Lake Erie. Perry is linked to the War of 1812 trade strife that precipitated Archibald Gracie’s financial reversals—leading ultimately to the sale of his now namesake country mansion.

Carved pinewood 

Anglo Irish metal and crystal chandelier with eight candle arms, eight uprights with tall spears, urn center, large top hood, and two others, large bottom drop, and festoons of crystal. Previously recorded as being from the 18th-century townhouse of Senhor Diojo Amado, on rue Monte Olivette, Lisbon, Portugal. Remade with 20th-century replacement parts as needed.

Gifted to the Conservancy by Mr/Mrs. Charles M. Grace in memory of former mayor William Russell Grace during the Lindsay administration in 1966. W.R. Grace was a native of Ireland who immigrated to America and was elected as New York City’s first Catholic mayor in 1881. He was elected to a second two-year term (the length of service at that period in New York history), in 1885.

56” H x 47” W
Glass, wood, and gilt
18th Century American looking glass mirror

Circular convex mirror surmounted by a carved eagle, festoons, and balls with chains. The frame is decorated with acanthus leaves on edges and in a cove with rosettes and balls. Inner beaded edges. Liner ebonized wood and reeded. 

41 ½ “H x 36” W x 20” D
Metal and crystal
English sconce

Adam-style crystal wall lights with five candle arms. A tall central spear bears a large canopy with crystals and terminates in a carved pineapple, a symbol of hospitality. All arms and the spike are finely notched and connected with festoons of crystal.

Gift of the Colonial Dames of America.

43”x 35”
Steel and Iron
English metalwork

Serpentine front polished steel fire grate consisting of six legs, four urn-shaped finials, a crenelated apron with beaded edge and repeating oval design, an iron backplate, and a loose summer front, set in place to retain air-conditioned comfort during hot weather spells. 

Two Derbyshire-spar urns on pedestals flank a Devonshire blue john feldspar urn on a stand. All three urns consist of great quality stone marked with veins of amethyst, topaz, and carnelian. 

Previous entry: “Part of the furnishings of Chesterfield House, London, circa 1785-1795”

Gift from Mrs. Vincent Astor during the Lindsay Administration.

35” H x 25 ½ W “x 23” D
Walnut and upholstery
American woodwork armchair 

Upholstered tight seat and back open armchairs with serpentine front and seat, with upholstered armrests and scroll shape wood ends. The front legs are square, tapered, and fluted. Rear legs slant outward in a tapered square. The fabric is off-white with woven floral design, primarily blue, nail bead trim, and self-welting.

41” H x 61 ¼” W x 24” D
Mahogany 

Early 19th century demi-lune four-door commode with center drawer and two central curved, hinged door panels opening to an interior compartment. There are two curved faux (false) drawers and two faux curved panels. It features beaded ovals outlining each door panel and drawer, veneer mitered corners, a scalloped apron, and four plain keyholes for every drawer and door panel both functioning and faux.   

Inside the upper left compartment reads “mahogany sideboard/ Bought by J. Elliot Cabot/in Salem 1861”

Gifted to the Conservancy by Mr. and Mrs. Charles M. Grace during the Lindsay administration.

5’10½” H
Steinway Model M in Rosewood with an Ebony Satin Finish
Stenciled above keyboard “Steinway & Sons”

Made in 1885, this Steinway & Sons grand piano was crafted with a case of carved rosewood. Research reveals that this piano was initially purchased by financier, Jay Gould, for his house in Irvington-on-Hudson.

Carved pinewood 

This surround and mantelpiece is thought by some to have been salvaged from the Bayard family farm, which was located near what is today 82 Jane Street in Manhattan’s West Greenwich Village. William Bayard (for whom today’s downtown street is named), was a friend of Archibald Gracie and Alexander Hamilton. After his duel with Aaron Burr in Weehawken, New Jersey, the wounded Hamilton was ferried back to New York across the Hudson and taken to the fireside of the Bayard’s nearby country house. There he succumbed on July 12, 1804, nearly 31 hours later, after receiving family and friends (including Mr. Gracie), as well as last rites from the rector of Trinity Church.  

Even if this is not the exact same mantelpiece, the accurate historical narrative endures at Gracie Mansion thanks to the Susan E. Wagner Wing’s architect, Mott B. Schmidt. He found the artifact languishing in a downtown warehouse and reinstalled it in his 1963-1965 extension of Gracie Mansion. 

A label in the upper right drawer reads:

M. ALLISON/CABINET MAKER/NO. 42 VESEY STREET/ (NEAR THE BEAR MARKER)/ NEW-YORK/Who has a generous amount of warranted/ ready made (sic) furniture on hand.

The label lends rare precision to its provenance.

4’5” H x 26 ½ “W

Gilded wood and glass

5’ H x 26” W
Glass and gilded wood and gesso frame with foliate scroll corners

A fine carved mahogany cookie board, stamped in all four corners “J.V. Watkins, N.Y.” and on its vertical sides “J. Conger,” early 19th century. The square form board is carved in deep relief with the arms of the State of New York with its motto Excelsior.

Gifted to the Conservancy during the Bloomberg administration.

Link/References
Cake Boards by William Woys Weaver

37 ¼ H x 7’W x 26”D

A very long wooden bench, allowing as many as five people to sit side by side in the era of its creation.

28 ½” H x 15 ¼ Diameter 

Mahogany veneer with circular black marble tops

10” H x 12” W

Ink on paper

Ink on paper 

The note reads:  Mr dear [illegible}, If you can give your good word in favor of my nephew P [illegible] Irving as notary to your bank you will greatly oblige. Yours very truly,  s/Washington Irving

Archibald Gracie, Esq.

Greenburg is a town in Westchester County, New York, near Tarrytown, where the famous New York author Washington Irving lived in his country estate, Sunnyside. The landmark stands today as a historic house museum.   

As governmental borders shift, sometimes the original address loses its currency. Today Sunnyside is in Irvington, New York.

Much of the iconic mythology about 17^th century New Netherland descends from the romantic prose of America’s “Founding Father of Literature,” Washington Irving. In the 21^st century such narrative is better understood as historic fiction.

15” H x 19 ½” W 

Color photograph 

Includes an inscription below an image of the art installation shown throughout Central Park in February 2005.

The 26-year interlude of the formal title refers to the length of time it took from initial proposal to Mayor Edward I. Koch until ultimate approval under Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

“Gracie Mansion”.  

25” H x 20” W

First in an edition of six; woodcut on paper. The quotation marks are the artist’s. Isabel Banks Markell (1891-1980) is best recalled today for her views of and evident fascination with the East River.

East River 

22 ‘H x 23 W

From an edition of six; woodcut on paper.

Untitled (depicting Hellgate and the northern end of Carl Schurz Park) 

2”H x 23” W

From an edition of six; woodcut on paper.

15” H x 18” W

Engraving on paper with a wreath of oak leaves, ribbons with “Camillus” flags and armaments surrounding a well-known and beloved portrait of Alexander Hamilton by the miniaturist painter Walter Robertson (ca. 1750-1801).

James Rivington (1724-1801), the printer for whom George Graham then worked, immigrated to New York from London as the officially appointed Royal Printer of New-York during the period of the American Revolution and founding of the United States. He published His Royal Gazette, considered by most historians as North America’s first daily newspaper yet one written for a readership of Tory Loyalists. It was posthumously discovered, however, that beginning in 1780, he served as a spy for General Washington as he led the final victorious years of the Revolutionary War.     

Hamilton shared pride in Scottish ancestry with his politically like-minded neighbor and friend, Archibald Gracie, and lived in a similar Federal-era countryside homestead in upper Manhattan. Hamilton’s home still stands today as a historic house museum called “The Hamilton Grange National Memorial,” a federal landmark under the care of the National Parks Service located at 414 West 141st Street in Harlem.

7’9” H x approx. 21” W (each roll)
Hand blocked canvas with some hand painting infill
Zuber & Cie

The elaborate panoramic scenes in Zuber wallpaper designs such as Les Jardins de Paris are made with wood blocks and hand mixed paints, using techniques dating back to the company’s origin in 1790. Since 1995, these blocks have been designated as French national treasures. 

This wallpaper was originally in the home of the architect William Lawrence Bottomley. Upon his death, his widow Harriet Townsend Bottomley donated some of the wallpaper to the Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut, with the remaining panel rolls coming to Gracie Mansion during the 1984 renovation.

Links/References
Les Jardins de Paris: The Wallpaper of the Dining Room at Gracie Mansion

42” H x 42” W x 30” Diameter
Patinated and gilt bronze light fixture

Converted from oil to electric light

46” Height x 27” Diameter 
Glass and gilt

Convex mirror surmounted with a carved eagle holding the torn-away ball and chain symbolizing the political liberty of the new American republic from the British empire. Single-arm candle holders with crystal prisms and bobeche. The carving below the mirror includes a shell, pinecone, and acanthus leaves. The inner ribbed lining is painted black.

A previous inventory states “originally from the Gov. Pinchot estate.” This mirror is similar to the mirror in the Blue Room in the Wagner Wing.

21” H

Silver and ebony

Silver plated tea urn with a stylized band of foliage, a ram’s head mask at each side with ring handles.

51 ½” H x 68 ¾” W x 24 ½” D

Federal carved and figured mahogany bow front sideboard, attributed to Duncan Phyfe after a design by Charles-Honoré Lannuier. Lannuier was a French citizen who later called New York City home.

Mirrored gallery with small white marble column. Veneers pierced with bronze banded inlay. Black marble top. Three drawers in the apron with a “Grecian” ormolu appliqué on center drawer; floral appliqués on canted corners of apron; white marble columns with anthemion ormolu rings at top of front columns; engaged white columns in rear, flanking mirrored backdrop; bun feet on casters. It belonged to the Archibald Gracie family and was donated to Gracie Mansion by a descendant. 

As high as most able-bodied adult waists, this fine work is attributed to the French-born cabinetmaker, Charles-Honoré Lannuier, New York City competitor and design influencer of the Scottish immigrant furniture maker, Duncan Phyfe. Unlike the proud Phyfe, Lannuier labeled most of his fine-grained creations making it easier to attribute two centuries on.  

36” H x 43” W x 21” D

A small sideboard with square corners and bowed mid-section. Center drawer with two pulls above the arched center section and a small drawer opening from each side with a single pull. All four legs are turned, reeded and carved with acanthus. On the front of the drawer’s veneer is cross-grained with astragal design and the top has a ¾” cross grain border. Similar design at side corners. Plain, bead molding defines the edges of drawers, arch, and tabletop. 

Label on back reads “Mable Garvan/123 W 64th St./ New York 23 NY.” Mabel Brady Garvan was a renowned collector of fine early American furniture, much of which is displayed at the Yale University Art Gallery.

A. A set of four armchairs and 20 side chairs, all reproductions from a New York ca. 1800 period piece

Maker: Cherry Brook Woodworks, Peter Alaska

This room and subsequently these chairs inform a place where history has unfolded at important gatherings as continues today. Archibald Gracie dined here with Alexander Hamilton, Rufus King, and Washington Irving, among others. Since 1942, when Gracie Mansion became the official residence of the New York’s mayors, the dining room has been used for official meals and meetings. Guests have included First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, President John F. Kennedy, Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin, Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Saint Teresa of Kolkata and several State governors. 

B. Satin Wood Cross-Banded Mahogany extension dining table, 20th century, reproduction

29” H x 4” W x 10’ D 

Mahogany, satinwood, and brass

Kittenger, “Pattern 01601 serial 26” 

The table consists of three sections each with its own pedestal; two are drop leaves, which can be raised or lowered as need dictates. Rectangular top with curved corners and cross grain 2” border and ebony inlay at inner edge. Bases are quadrupled flared legs with brass feet on casters and turned upper portions. 

Brass American classical gilded stamped tin curtain valances.

Glazed pottery

11 ½” H; tray is 16 ¼” W

Marked: “Lowestoft reproduction created by Mottahedeh”

Lowestoft-type porcelain with pale blue background, center eagle motif with bands of blue and guilt and gilding on handles.

12 ⅝” H
French ormolu

The elegant form of these candlesticks features acanthus leaves rising from the base, similar to the ormolu on the legs of the Gracie family sideboard

25” H x 201/4” W; Base 6” D
Metalwork-Lighting
Brass, crystal, and marble

Pair of brass and crystal girandoles on white marble base, three arms with long, flat, beveled crystal prisms and decoration on side arms with two-tiered bobeche rosettes

There is a hole in the back of the base which may indicate they were originally used for gas illumination.

36 ¼’ H x 25” D
English 

Patinated and gilt bronze, with blown, frosted, and well-cut glass shades and glass chimneys

Three light argand chandelier attributed to the Johnston Brooks & Company

John Quincy Adams Ward (1830-1910) was a New York-based sculptor working in the figurative neoclassical style during the early years of the American republic. Together with Henry Kirke Brown (1814-1886, sculptor), he won the commission for the 1856 equestrian monument of George Washington located at the southern terrace of Manhattan’s Union Square. Together they defined what became an American school of public neoclassical sculpture, the stylistic root of some of the monuments now under critical scrutiny.

The maquette of George Washington shows him taking the oath of office as the first President of the United States. The bronze sculpture is placed on the steps of New York’s Federal Hall. The bronze sculpture of the Marquis de Lafayette is now on the campus of the University of Vermont.

Links/References
John Quincy Adams Ward Maquettes

99” H x 47” W x 22 ¼” D at base; 17 ¼” at projecting cornice

A. Federal stenciled mahogany secretary cabinet bookcase, New York, ca. 1815

The bookcase was a gift to the Merchant House Museum by the Clarence Michalis family. The piece descended to Clarence Michalis Jr. (A trustee of MHM), from the family of Samuel S. Day (b. 1799), of 28 Charlton Street, NYC where the piece was originally located. 

The bookcase is mahogany with a pair of gilded Corinthian capitals as pivot points of glazed and mullioned doors with a keyhole on the right door. interior upper door frames have pin holes. Stenciled leaf design in shades of gold surround glass panels. Overdoor panel decoration of fruit and leaves framed by acanthus. Three adjustable shelves.

B. Federal mahogany desk, New York, ca. 1815

Mahogany with pull-out drop-front drawer, with lock and key over two hinged door compartments with one loose shelf and lock and key. Desk compartment has pigeon holes and two drawers on the left and right sides. Glass knobs appear to be replacements with evidence of four holes surrounding each knob. Unsuitable red felt currently covers the desktop. Secretary sits on paw feet.

8 ⅝” H x 48 ⅝” L x 14” W
Brass metalwork 

Crenelated brass fender with three paw feet, rounded corners, and diagonal ribbing in the center section

17 ⅜” H

Ball topped turned post on two modified hoof feet

30 ½” H x 36 ¼” W x 18” D
John T. Dolan (cabinetmaker)

Five turned and reeded legs, treble elliptical shaped table. Legs have brass bulb feet on casters and the apron follows the shape of the table and has an inlaid wood panel. Beveled glass top. 

A label behind center apron reads, “Property of Florence Van Rensselaer.” 

Tea Set: Blue and white scenic pattern with gold trim and gold filigree pattern border. Located in the Federal stenciled mahogany secretary cabinet. 

A tea pot with straight sides and gadrooning, straight spout, double twisted ribbon handle with pomegranate on lid for handle.

A boat-shaped creamer with scalloped edge

Service bowl 8 ½” diameter

Seven  cups with handles, 2 ⅜” H

Seven saucers-bowl shape, 5” diameter

Two cups without handles, 2”H

Although very little is known about this particular blue and white Chinese export set, it resembles the entry found in “Chinese Export Porcelain for the American Trade, 1785-1835” by Jean McClure Mudge. “A little more than a month after the ‘Empress’ docked, the New York Gazetteer and the Country Journal carried the following advertisement: “Maria S. Morton Has on hand a neat assortment of Dry Goods, suitable to the season….China arrived from Canton, in the ship Empress of China. Table and tea table sets complete, blue and white enameled half pint basons and saucers. Blue and white and enameled bowls of different sizes.”

The next season the tiny sloop ‘Experiment’ with Captain Stewart Dean returned with twenty-six chests of teacups and saucers and five sets of breakfast china. Surviving records show that New York imported the same kinds of porcelain as did the New England ports The extent of Ms. Morton’s trade no doubt meant that much more chinaware entered here than at other cities. Overseas traders supplied both personal requests and large consignments. 

In 1788, Samuel Flemming wrote to Captain Randall of the ‘Jay’ in Canton: “I gave you a small memorandum at New York 26th Dec last which I now repeat with some addition. Be so good as to purchase for me at Canton a complete set of table china, with the desert: white ground and violet colored border, as p the small specimen of Silk, affixed with ware to the border. The desert set ought to have four dozen plates. Sometimes they only send two. Purchase also a child’s tea set for my daughter, and a piece of best Nankeen black Sattin (sic) for Men’s wear: one china jar of preserved Ginger: one ditto to match it; filled with Cassia buds: and charge to my account.”

Newspapers periodically announced the sales of common blue and white and painted wares which came into retail stores. Merchants like Oliver Wolcott helped keep them in stock. A shipment originally purchased from Houqua was brought by the ‘Trident’ in 1808 and was bought by Oliver Wolcott, Thomas Chrystie, Thomas Watterman, Isaac Bell, and others for a total of more than $9,000. Two years later, the ‘Trident’ again brought back boxes of Houqua’s wares for Archibald Gracie (one of Wolcott’s associates), Nehemiah Rogers, and Rufus King.

36” H x 23” W x 22 ⅝” D
Mahogany

Caned armchairs with a simple, comfortable seat cushion

29 ¼” Hx 36 ½” W x 21 ¾” D

Restoration-style mahogany marble-top library table attributed to Duncan Phyfe

96” L x 34 ¼” H x 26” D
Mahogany with secondary woods: Ash, mahogany, and pine; iron castors 

Mahogany with gesso paint and gilt, with secondary woods veneers, brass line inlay, gilt-brass and iron castors, and die-stamped gilt-brass mounts.

The two dark blue modern loveseats framing the Library fireplace, with coffee table in between, were designed by the 2002 Gracie renovation architect, Jamie Drake. These loveseats are unique and made to his specifications precisely for this placement.

36 ¾” H x 42 ¼” W x 20 ⅛” D
Attributed to Duncan Phyfe

The tables an oblong white marble top with reeded edge above knife edge molding on a conforming rosewood case, a frieze with foliate gilt-bronze appliqués at each end and a central gilt-bronze mount and inlaid brass banding at the bottom edge of the case. Above veneered pillars at the two front corners are gilt-bronze capitals and bases. At the back are pilasters centering a mirror plaster on a shaped shelf with a brass inlaid arabesque and stringing on its leading edge, raised on four carved animal paw feet with gilt and vert-antique paint decoration.

Gift of Susan and Stuart Feld in honor of Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

30” x 36” framed
Oil on canvas

This colorful view by an American Impressionist artist depicts the Pulitzer Fountain at Grand Army Plaza at the southeastern corner of Central Park. It was the first work of art collected from a living artist for Gracie Mansion thanks to First Lady Joyce Dinkins, who accepted the artist’s gift just a few years after completed. 

In 1922, at the age of ten, Stokely Webster and his family moved from Evanston, Illinois to Paris. There the young Stokely saw Monet’s paintings and even the master himself at work in his Giverny garden. He decided to become a painter. Under the tutelage of Lawton Parker, a friend of the Webster family and an American painter, Webster was given classical academic training yet ultimately deployed the techniques of Impressionist and Fauvist painters.

Stokely Webster is considered a significant transitional figure who worked with the rich and varied tapestry of contemporary American art. His work reflects many of the major traditions in the historic development of figurative painting. 

36” H x 25’ W 

Oil on board 

On loan from the New-York Historical Society 

It is likely that the Gracie family knew and entertained this renowned French soldier and statesman, who contributed to the American victory in the Revolutionary War.

14”H x 20” W   

Elevation drawing of the Palladian-style Jacob Walton Family house named Belview, which stood at this site until it fell to the Revolutionary War forces under General George Washington in 1776. The Walton family remained loyal to the Crown and fled Manhattan for Long Island, which remained under armed colonial occupation until the final British evacuation in 1783.

The Yellow Parlor cannonball testifies to the bombardment of Revolutionary forces before they retreated northward from this site and all of what today constitutes New York City into today’s Westchester County in 1776. 

Today’s landmark Gracie Mansion was built by Archibald Gracie in 1799 on the foundation of Belview’s ruins.

This elevation drawing was donated by Walton descendants in the late 20th century.

Neoclassical Robert Adams-style painted wood fireplace surround from the original construction by builder Ezra Weeks likely relying in part on skilled enslaved carpenters. 

This is the only original fireplace surround surviving on the parlor level of Gracie Mansion. Some were replaced by later owners, while others were installed in the 20th century by the City’s Department of Parks & Recreation, as its forceful commissioner, Robert Moses, pushed to restore the Federal-era landmark.

15 ¾” H x 20 ¾” W x 16 ¼” D

Such a curule or curved form was favored in the Neoclassical style of the 19^th century. It took its name from the folding chairs used by magistrates in ancient Rome. The fabric was woven to imitate a surviving piece. 

Inkjet print 

Published originally in Vanity Fair magazine

Here the great bass baritone, concert artist, actor, and civil and labor rights activist, Paul Robeson (1898-1976), is captured in his stagecraft by the pioneering photographer and curator, Edward Steichen (1879-1973). Robeson is celebrated for his contributions to both American culture and politics. Steichen remains one of the most important photographers in the medium even as it exploded in so many new image-making ways across the 20^th century as continues digitally in the 21^st. 

Created to use oil as fuel, these lamps were long ago converted to electricity. The tapering ceramic leads to a hollow cast brass lozenge from which the shade harp emerges.

Several of the window panes above and below the mullions in the two nine-over-nine windows on the front of the mansion overlooking Hellgate feature the diamond etched  names (and, in some cases, the dates) of Gracie residents. The left window is dedicated to mayoral offspring, while on the right to mayoral spouses who, to date, have been women only.

Some are hard to spot whether by eye or touch. Others were carved more deeply and are thus more legible. 

Stephan Gemberling (1947- , decorative floor painter)
Based on design from trade card of John Carwaithan, floor cloth painter

The Alpha Workshop in New York created this “false marble” or faux marbre floor based on a printed trade card of decorative painter John Carwaithan. In that Federal era, affluent homeowners rarely left the wood floors uncovered or undecorated. This solution evokes marble tiling. Other times they used painted floor cloths made from heavy canvas.

A pair of French lamps 19th century

A pair of 19th Century bronze French oil lamps, ca. 1840

Two are placed on the dismantled dining table, presently serving as two glass topped console tables on both sides of the landmark’s entry from 1810, when Gracie enlarged the 1799 house and moved the front door from the East River façade to its present access overlooking Hellgate. 

37 ¾” H x 7’ W x 23” D

The sofa was donated to the house in 1966 during the Lindsay administration. It was said to have belonged to the Wheaton family, who resided in this Federal landmark late in the 19th century. However, a 1980 inventory asserted that the sofa was a gift from a Brewster, New York resident, who merely conjectured that the piece had been at Gracie Mansion decades before. Apocryphal or not, it remains part of an unfolding narrative. All the legs rise from casters.

62” H x 27” W
Wood, gilt, gesso, and glass

Rectangular frame with églomisé panel on a white field. The center tablet depicts a house and landscape scene of white and gold with oval medallions on either side. The superstructure contains two carved and gilded urns with wheat sprigs flanking a carved and gilded urn with leaf draperies containing sprigs of wheat and flowers. 

17 ½” H x 6 ½” W x 3” D
Wood, metal, and leather

This brick red painted bellows features a fruit and leaf gilded decoration and stylized border. Rather than use a stencil, the designs were hand painted.

18” Height x 53 ½” Width x 17” Depth
Brass and wire

Round corners, brass top rail and base, undulating decorative wires and vertical wires; surmounted by diamond-pattern wires 

24” H x 9” W x 19 ¾” D
Brass and iron

Ball finials of brass and iron shaft in form of a slender vase plus slender bracket feet.

20” H x 23” W

Four forest green branches with gilded stenciling

13 ½” H (with shade) x 8 ½” D

Patinated brass, embellished with glass globes. Glass globes are English replacements from the 1930s.

11 ½”H x 8” W

Mounted on an oval spreading circular foot. Each urn has a shaped lid, lion mask, and ring handles. These urns are decorated with a landscape painted on a yellowed ground within a border of leaves. Impressed seals are located underneath. 

61”H x 7’ W x 26” D

A magnificent painted wood New York cupboard made in vernacular evocation of an original Dutch kas as found in New Netherland and its English colonial aftermath. Such large hall cupboards held cloth, linens, and woolen items precious to household management.

This storage cupboard is painted in illusionistic grisaille decoration imitating the elaborate molding and carving of Dutch hardwood prototypes. Swags of fruit, birds and drapery are painted. The drawer in the cornice is opened with a ring pull. There are two hinged doors and shelves in the interior above bracketed feet. 

This kas (pronounced: kahs or kahz) in the Anglo-Dutch tradition, was made in the Hudson River Valley between 1700 and 1740. It is an excellent example of a colonial New York craft worked in a New Netherland style. It is one of the most important pieces of furniture in the collection as there are only ten such examples in various museums and private collections. The kas was formerly in the collection of City Hall, suggesting it was commissioned for the municipal government of the era. The kas is made of tulip poplar wood with “grisaille” (grey) decoration in the Dutch Renaissance style. 

Historically, a kas was often presented to a couple at the time of their wedding as a very special, ceremonial piece of furniture. Note the decoration symbolic of love, marriage and family: the rose and cherubs on the cornice (which is a secret drawer), the red birds, and the cluster of pomegranates (an ancient symbol of fecundity). A kas held linens and clothes by functioning as a clothes press. The English word “case” derives from the Dutch word “kas.”

20” H x 29 ⅙” x 19 ¾” W
Mahogany primary and secondary woods, gilt brass “sleeping lion” toe-caps, casters and brass fittings

A necessity of the neoclassical period, tilt-top tables served a variety of purposes from a small tea service to a place for a lamp. They were therefore popular during the later 18th century through the 19th century. The present table is attributed to Duncan Phyfe (1768-1854), because of its superior workmanship and similarities to other Phyfe attributed tables. Indeed, a comparison of its vertically reeded pedestal to those of the drop leaf table and the card table documented as having been made by Phyfe for James Brinkerhoff, a local Revolutionary War veteran, suggest more than a generic relationship. 

8’1” H x 20 ½” W x 10 ¼” D
Mahogany and satinwood inlay 

Tall case clock with center brass finial and painted rose decoration, fluted freestanding column supporting pediment, and inlaid case with satin wood triglyphs motifs and a lozenge form. This clock is thought to have be the only surviving collection item from the era of Parks Commissioner Robert Moses’s attempt to open a museum at Gracie Mansion in 1934, following the departure of the Museum of the City of New York. Inside of the case door a brass plaque states, “In Memory of Francis P. Garvan.”

29” H x 23” W x 16 ⅞” D
Mahogany and maple

Rectangular maple top with two drawers and brass lion-head pulls; vase turned pedestal carved with acanthus leaves; arched tripled legs, reeded and leaf-carved

29 ¼” x 42 ⅝”x 21 ½” D  (closed)
Mahogany, maple, cherry, and brass alloy inlay

The two ends have rounded corners that line up as rectangular when assembled. There are ten turned and twisted rope legs on casters. Plain apron with brass inlay on bottom edge. Brass hardware on underside to connect the table. This dining table is presently dismantled and serves as a pair of glass topped console tables framing the historic front door overlooking Hellgate. 

 40”H x 82” W

Oil Painting on Canvas

HMS British Queen was the first steamship built exclusively for transoceanic service between America and England. The massive ship arrived in New York on her maiden voyage on July 28, 1839, and attracted a tumultuous crowd. In marine painter James F. Pringle’s version of the scene, the British Queen sails downriver at the center right—British and American flags flying—having just passed a ferry house at the Battery, where throngs of people salute her. In the center background—with smokestack belching—appears the domestic steam packet, Arrow, and at the extreme right is the tall ship Sun. Brooklyn Heights informs the background landscape as it appeared before riverfront development transformed its prospect from Manhattan and New Jersey.

Gracie Mansion’s exterior was repainted in 1984 to match the coloring of the Federal-era boathouse at left.

James Fulton Pringle was born in 1788 in England and arrived in America in his early forties. In the early 1830s, he exhibited regularly at the National Academy of Design until three years before his death in 1847.

26” H x 21” W
Oil on canvas

Born in New York, the subject was the son of Archibald Gracie (1755-1829) and Ester (Rogers) Gracie. He became a merchant in Mobile, Alabama, and married Elizabeth Davidson Bethune of North Carolina. When the Civil War broke out, he remained loyal to the North, while his son Archibald III (b. 1832), served as a Confederate soldier before being killed at the Battle of Petersburg.

Gift of John Fiske in memory of his mother, Margaret Gracie Fiske.

Going to Work, Perla de Leon, New York, 1980
Inkjet Print

My Playground, Perla de Leon, New York, 1980

Inkjet print

In the late 1970s, while in graduate studies at Columbia University’s Film Directors Program, de Leon was assigned to photograph the South Bronx. She witnessed not only the neighborhood’s world-renowned decline, but (unlike so many others), she discovered the enduring resilience of those still living, working, and playing there. Her photographs belie the depressed urban environment. These two works from her “South Bronx Spirit 1979-1980” series concentrate on the residents rather than the rubble, which too many others mistook as lifeless.

Inkjet print from a gouache on paper

Courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art, which first made the loan in 2017 as part of the special exhibition, New York, 1942

This detail was likely placed here by Parks Commissioner Robert Moses in the 1930s with funds from the WPA  either to replace an existing mantelpiece or to reopen a chimney plastered over at some juncture. It is neither “colonial” nor “colonial revival;” instead it falls in between. 

“Fake wood” or faux boix refers to all of the decorative painted wooden door surfaces of  the landmark’s original section. It was done as an imitation of veneers that were hard to purchase in 1799 America. 

Chinoiserie toleware tray table

10 ⅝” H
Cut Glass

Bowl/wine cooler; eight-sided base for circular bowl with five bands of patterning separated by triangular incisions. 

Stenciled above keyboard “Steinway & Sons”

This Chippendale style 1967 walnut piano was manufactured at the Steinway factory in Long Island City, Queens. The fabled piano company was founded in Manhattan in 1853 by immigrant Heinrich Engelhard Steinwig, whose rapid success led to factories in both Queens and in his native Hamburg, Germany. His distinguished namesake instruments still endure as a global standard of musical excellence.

In 1942 with its German production suspended and its factories nearly destroyed, Steinway & Sons was ordered by the Allied Armies under local command to convert its Long Island City piano manufacturing to the building of wooden gliders to convey troops silently behind enemy lines. Like so many New York manufacturers, wartime urgencies and mobilization took instant precedence. Shared sacrifice meant victory. While its normal instrument building was thus suspended, Steinway did fulfill one additional Army order: 2,436 special “Victory Vertical” or “G.I. Pianos.” Built from 1942 to 1945 as small, economical, and portable instruments, they could be disguised by painted camouflage and taken aboard outgoing troop ships or even dropped by parachute behind enemy lines to bring music to soldiers at a time when they often needed to make it themselves.

Nearly a generation passed before Steinway & Sons could fully regain its pre-war momentum. It was at this resurgent time in both Hamburg and New York that this fine example arrived at Gracie Mansion from Long Island City in Queens.

4’6 ½” H x 12 ½” W

This elegant fireplace—featuring as it does the motif of the Greek key or Greek fret design (also called a meander from the Greek word meandros)—was installed as a fashionable interior upgrade by the Foulke family, who inhabited the house after purchasing it from Archibald Gracie in 1823. They resided there until 1853, when selling to the Wheaton family, the last private owners of the 1799 structure. 

The cannonball that holds pride of place on the mantle of Gracie’s Yellow Parlor was one of those found during an archeological dig undertaken in the early 1980s, when resident Mayor Koch created the Conservancy partnership. This deceptively heavy cast iron ball serves as a silent tribute to the American Revolution, the 6,800 fighters who gave their lives to free a new nation, and the millions who have made this ultimate sacrifice ever since.

Links/References
Gracie’s British Cannonball from the Revolutionary War

32 ¼” Height (16 ¼” seat Height) x 18” Width x 17 ⅞” Depth 

New York

Duncan Phyfe curule chairs with laurel and seaweed motif on crest rail.

Carved mahogany armchair and two side chairs with soft seat cushions of yellow upholstery echoing the warm daffodil wall color.

6” H x 14 ¾” Diameter

“Famille rose,” French for “rose family,” porcelain is a cultural-crossover not uncommon in the arts. This instance is the result of the 1685 introduction of European materials to a Chinese tradition of ceramics that dates to the Neolithic era. This explains why the colors were referred to in China as yangcai, “foreign colors.”

More opaque than “famille verte” glazes, these bold colors were favored in the reign of Yongzheng, 1722-35.

48”H x 39” W x 21” D
Attributed to Charles Honoré Lannuier
Mahogany, mahogany veneer, tulip poplar, and white pine

The pier table features a treble beaded, gray-veined white marble top, a mahogany veneered apron ornamented gilt bronze mounts, and fluted verdigris columnar supports. The columns are topped with carved and gilded Egyptian-style  “mummy” heads, and at the base, gilded sandaled feet rest on the mahogany plinth/ base of the table. Wood analysis has confirmed that the secondary woods are American white pine and tulip poplar.

This pier table was used by Archibald Gracie, Sr. in Gracie Mansion or one of his New York city townhouses. It descended to James King Gracie, Margaret Gracie Higginson, and then to Margaret Gracie Fiske.

Gift of Mrs. Clarence S. Fiske.

Classical figured smooth glassy finish of this expandable dining table, whose many legs describe how it can open out to many increasing sizes.

Large Elkington and Company silver-plate oval tray.

11 ½” H x 50 ½ W x14” D

Brass

American metal work

Rounded corners and pierced foliate border and panel, pierced beads and oval panel, three matching feet.

29 ⅜” H (to tops of chimneys)

Spelter, painted, with gilt brass and gilt bronze, lamp mechanism and glass shades frosted, and wheel cut and glass chimneys

28” H x 25 ¼” W(closed) 55” W open) x 27 ½” D

Mahogany

Attributed to Charles H. Lannuier

Double elliptical drop leaves with top supported by four acanthus carved and turned colonettes resting on lower shelf. Four carved splayed legs with hairy paw feet with casters.

8’ ½” H x 6’5” W 18 ½” dep.

Research for a previous entry placed ownership in the Van Rensselaer-Crosby families, Four door bookcase with secretary drawer (compartmented desk section), paneled cupboards, and drawers with brass oval handles. Glass fronted upper portion with wooden mullions ending in pointed gothic arch. 

Besides books, this magnificent case holds a set of Spode porcelain that once belonged to the Gracie family.

22” x 12” x 8”

Brass, glass, wood

Inscription on plaque: “Clock bought and used by Francis Adrian Van der Kemp
1752-1829 from funds paid to him in 1822 by the State of New York on completing his translations of the Dutch Records of the State to do which he was engaged by Governor De Witt.”

Brass mantel clock: rectangular body surmounted by decorative urn; circular clock face in upper half; supported by rectangular pedestal (with engraved plaque) on circular feet; bell jar cover.

Gift of Mrs. Charles S. Fairchild to the New-York Historical Society, 1922.

67” H
Cut glass, bronze, and ormolu

The six-arm brass glass fixture is of early American manufacturing. It is attributed to the initial manufacturing phase of Cornelius & Co in Philadelphia. This fixture was originally outfitted with a gas argand jet. Since the globe chimney holder uses the same component part found on oil argand lamps, this would indicate the use of a globe and chimney, necessary for the function of a gas argand burner. Argand was the superior gas burner of its time. The chimney increased the brilliance of the flame since oxygen came through the middle of the burner. The burner is a hollow and perforated ring like an old lawn sprinkler. Gas would go through the ring and be released through the series of holes drilled in the top surface. Two hollow tubes support and supply the ring with gas from the central screw fitting at the end of each arm. The gas was controlled by the petcocks on each arm hidden behind the outer ornamental ring.

The components are largely from sand castings. Sheet metal tubing with spun metal fittings at each end surround the iron pipe center that supplies the gas. During the ensuing decade, America’s lighting industry developed many labor-saving methods of rapid fabrication. This resulted in reduced production costs. 

Two gilt-stenciled and painted mahogany card tables and round marble-top center table.

4’ 11” H x 42” W x 11” D
Charles del Vecchio is full name
Frame: white pine back of the mirror: spruce 

Label on back of mirror: Charles D. Vecchio /138 Broadway/1820-1821

The frame is eastern white pine, while the backing is a mixture of American and English spruce. It is likely that the convex mirror was imported from England. It is a popular theory that delicate plates from abroad were packed in spruce and that a thrifty American frame maker could have reused such packing material as to make items like this. 

Spode porcelain

Plates, compote dish, tureen; gravy boat, and saucer for gravy boat 

These boldly decorated plates, sauceboat, vegetable dish, and compote were made by the Staffordshire porcelain manufacturer Spode in the 1810s. Today this style is referred to as “Imari” after the southern Japanese port from where similarly decorated wares were shipped beginning in the 17th century. Early trade as well as territorial invasions facilitated webs of cross-cultural exchange: the earliest Imari wares were made by Korean potters in Japan after designs inspired by porcelain manufactured in southern China. Dutch and Chinese merchants brought Imari wares to Europe, where they were admired, collected, and copied. Spode’s version, a distant cousin to the originals, was likely modeled after other European knockoffs.

Archibald Gracie imported porcelain from Canton (now Guangzhou). In a multicultural blend worthy of its final home in New York City, however, Gracie’s porcelain was made by that legendary British institution Spode. It is pattern number 967, an Imari (Arita) design which was first introduced by Spode in 1807 and extremely popular for many years. Pattern 967 was based on a Japanese Kakiemon original and, given the considerable cultural dialogue between Japan and China, it should come as no surprise that the style has a fair amount of overlap with Chinese “Famille Verte,” or that its popularity prompted both European and Chinese producers to copy it. One might suppose at a time when distances were vast and information remote, Gracie might not have been able to differentiate the cultural nuance recognized today. 

Links/References
Archibald Gracie’s Spode Dinnerware: Imitation, Admiration, or Appropriation?

An Act of the Gradual Abolition of Slavery, facsimile of ink on paper. A copy of the cursive statute leading the way to full New York State abolition in 1827.

31” x 27”
Mahogany

Columnar sofa, with a round crest rail supported on pillar-shaped arm supports. Enclosed upholstered arms, plain veneered seat rail, rail on ring-turned legs on bun feet.

This sofa belonged to Mrs. Robert C. Smith (Esther Boorman, 1781-1868), great-grandmother of the donor, who lived at 1 Fifth Avenue. It passed from Mrs. Robert C. Smith to her daughter Anna L. Smith, then her daughter Julia Anna Toler who married Johnston Livingston de Peyster, father of the donor.

Gift of Mrs. Estelle de Peyster Hosmer to the New York- Historical Society.

37” H x 49 ½ “W

A large colored lithograph by an esteemed French printer and later art dealer, Jean-Baptiste Adophe Goupil, working in Paris in the Civil War and post-war era, prior to the five-borough consolidation of Greater New York in 1898. At the time of creation, “City of New York” applied only to Manhattan Island. Brooklyn at the time, for example, was an independent city ranked third in the nation with more than half million residents. Manhattan had nearly four times that number calling it home.

Gouache on paper
27” H x 29” W

A high perspective view from some spot above Gracie Mansion’s site overlooking Hellgate, where the tides of the Atlantic Ocean meet those of Long Island Sound in a tumultuous collision in the East River looking northeasterly towards Throgs Neck.

Acrylic on paper

16”H x 31“ W  

16 ½ “H x 17” W

Inkjet print

Trained in linguistics, the artist realized that what most interested her most about languages was the way it could be expressed visually. Rosen created AIDS at a time when medical advances were starting to contain the once fatal disease, offering hope for those infected. The words she deploys in English, Spanish and French convey this budding sense of benevolent resistance. Emergence from the Covid pandemic of 2020-2022 summoned comparable hope.

34 “H x 17” W

Archival print on paper, Courtesy of Avram Finkelstein 

This iconic poster lent enduring identity to the battle against AIDS and the concurrent lack of public action in combating the virus. It spoke out alike for both victims and those charged with their care. The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020-2022 brought renewed significance to such collective threats to public health and the underlying social contract. 

The red ribbon: 2” H x 1 ½ “ W

With frame and text: 15”H x 12 ½” W

The folded red ribbon (a cross grain and satin ribbon clasped by a safety pin), symbolizes solidarity with those living with and fighting against the global AIDS pandemic. Thirty years later, there is still no vaccine against this virus. However, since 1996, a three-drug “highly active antiretroviral therapy” or HAART has allowed those infected to survive and thrive.

12”H x 8” Diameter 

The two urns are figured with a winged insect boldly splayed across the curving fronts. 

In 1943, this legendary jazz composer and musician (known best as a trumpeter), bought a home in Corona, Queens which survives today as the Louis Armstrong House Museum. 

30 ¾” H 25 1’2” W x 13” D

Astragal-end worktables were popular in early 19th century New York. This fine mahogany example features tambour sections, fitted interior compartments and drawers, ebonized paw feet grounding the legs as they spread down from a pedestal sphere.

39 ¼” H x 77 ¼” L x 28 W
Mahogany, satinwood inlay, and brass

A beautiful, curved end, serpentine front sideboard with six turned legs with rectangular, reeded panels above and two curved doors below. Inlay fans in corners of panels and inlay hears around keyholes. Diamond and string inlay delineating panels, doors, and drawers. Oval hardware has a swan design. 

A gift of Mr. Fenton L.B. Brown during the Lindsay Administration.

Links/References: Where we live; Extreme vintage makeover

32 ½” H x 26 1/2“W

Charcoal and tempura drawing on paper

Fiorello La Guardia is shown here working at his City Hall desk with grit and concentration early in his twelve years of service. La Guardia served as mayor from 1934 until 1945. He became the first official mayoral resident of Gracie Mansion in 1942 at the start of his third (and final) term.

26”H x 26” W

Charcoal and tempura drawing on paper

This drawing was reproduced in an article written by Woolf himself, titled  “Our Genial Mayor Can be Grave Enough,” which appeared in the New York Times Magazine for June 1928.

Jimmy Walker served as New York City’s mayor from 1926 to 1932 before New York City had an official mayoral residence. He was the last mayor not to have the option of Gracie Mansion residency since that opportunity only arose a decade later with the La Guardia family’s arrival in 1942. 

An aspiring actor and talented musician, James “Jimmy” Walker masterfully combined theatrics with politics to become one of the City’s most colorful mayors. He composed many sentimental ballads, including ‘Will you love me in December as you do in May.’ He quickly rose through the ranks of Tammany Hall, entering the assembly in 1910 and serving in the state senate from 1923 to 1925. Succeeding John Hylan as mayor in 1926, Walker faithfully served the interests of Tammany Hall through political appointments and the awarding of contracts. At his inauguration, Walker hoped “the people of this city would not look upon their public servants as antagonistic, but…as their servants and friends.” His penchant for frequenting nightclubs and enjoying the company of celebrities, including actress Betty Compton, earned him the nickname “Beau James’ and the “Night Mayor.” 

In the first two year of his administration, walker indulged himself with several vacations overseas, spending 143 days out of the office, and was fond of saying, “I refuse to live by the clock,” Despite rumors of widespread corruption, New Yorkers largely overlooked Walker’s transgressions, electing him handily to a second term over Fiorello LaGuardia. But with the outbreak of the Depression, Walker’s neglect of essential city services became more readily apparent. In 1931, the state legislature initiated an investigation that uncovered rampant corruption in the New York City government. In 1932, Walker was charged with accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in money from individuals with business ties to the city. Called before then Governor Franklin Roosevelt to answer the charges, Walker resigned from the middle of the hearings, on September 1, 1932, and moved to Europe. 

While besmirched by political corruption, during the walker administration the Department of Sanitation was created. Construction began on the Triborough Bridge, the West Side Highway, and the Queens Midtown Tunnel. Walker returned to New York City in 1935 and was appointed Municipal Arbiter of the garment industry by his one-time political nemesis, Fiorello LaGuardia.

81” H; each needlework panel 76” H x 19” W

A needle point screen conceived by muralist Carl Lella for Gracie Mansion to represent a graphic history of New York City, initiated by 14 women who were a part of the American branch of the Embroiderers Guild under the guidance of Mrs. Rosetta Larsen. The screen was fabricated over the span of one year. It has five panels animated by the history and scenes of New York City and presented in 1966 during the Lindsay administration. The design presents “A Graphic History of New York” with various landmarks for each borough. Sixty city landmarks are depicted over the space of these five panels. Each panel bears the emblem of its respective borough.

20” H x 24” W

Digital photograph

Courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art

This iconic image of modern dance pioneer Martha Graham was featured in artist Barbara Morgan’s 1941 book Sixteen Dances in Photos. It shows Graham performing in the piece she also choreographed entitled Letter to the World inspired by the poems of Emily Dickinson. It was first shown at Gracie Mansion in 2017 as part of the 75^th anniversary show, New York 1942.

Graphite on paper

The New York City Park surrounding Gracie Mansion is named after this German immigrant who arrived in America to escape political prosecution. As a new American citizen, he served as a general for the Union in the Civil War, advised President Grant about post-victory southern Reconstruction, wrote as journalist, and emerged as a pioneer for environmental conservation.

25 ⅝” x 19 ¾”

Drawing
Charcoal and tempera/Chinese white on paper

Samuel Johnson Woolf, portrait artist and printmaker, 1880-1948
Signed with estate stamp at lower left: S.J. Woolf

Signed by subject at lower right: William O’Dwyer

This drawing is autographed by the subject at the lower right, which is a practice that Woolf frequently used to further document the fact that almost all of his portraits were executed from life.

Born and raised in Bohola, Ireland, O’Dwyer (1890-1964) moved to the United States in 1910 after abandoning his studies for the priesthood. He worked as a laborer, then as an NYC policeman. He studied law at Fordham University Law school, receiving his degree in 1923. O’Dwyer built a successful law practice and served as a Kings County Court judge. He won the election as the Kings County District Attorney in 1939 and his prosecution of the organized crime syndicate, known as Murder. Inc., made him a national celebrity as a tough crime fighter. After losing the election to La Guardia in 1941, O’Dwyer enlisted in the army, achieving the rank of Brigadier General. In 1946, O’Dwyer was nominated by the Tammany Democrats and easily won the mayoral election. At his inauguration, O’Dwyer celebrated with the song “It’s A Great Day to be Irish,” and addressed the 700 people gathered in the Council Chambers at City Hall. His speech started, “It is our high purpose to devote our whole time, our whole energy, to do good work …”

During his mayoral administration, O’Dwyer established the Office of City Construction Coordinator, appointing Robert Moses to the post. O’Dwyer also worked to have the permanent home of the United Nations located in Manhattan, presided over the first billion-dollar New York City budget, created a traffic department, and raised the subway fare from 5 cents to 10 cents. Shortly after his reelection, O’Dwyer was confronted with a police scandal uncovered, ironically, by the Kings County District attorney. With his health steadily declining, he resigned on September 1, 1950. Soon after, President Harry S. Truman appointed him as ambassador to Mexico. He returned to New York City in 1951 to answer questions concerning his association with organized crime figures. The accusations followed him for the rest of his life and O’Dwyer later resigned as ambassador. 

Donated to the Conservancy by the Hirschl & Adler Galleries, Inc. during the Bloomberg Administration.

These Windsor chairs feature hand-shaped seats made from single pieces of wide pine.

Linda Goode Bryant (1949-) and Project EATS, Active Citizen Project (2014-) Greenhouse

Courtesy of the Artist and the Artists, Farmers, Health Professionals, and Citizen Activists of Project EATS

The Food Initiative brings together gardeners, farmers, food preparers, community wellness staff, and artists to teach local students, young mothers, and guardians how fresh foods advance healthy living. Such educational outreach allows participants to take these new skills back to their home communities, spawning sustainable, citizen-operated food initiatives that will improve public health, provide employment, and stimulate local economies.

Linda Goode Bryant is working in partnership with Gracie Mansion to provide content for the Greenhouse, including seasonal grade tours, student camps, and onsite training for communities on healthy cooking, eating, and lifestyles. Garden programs will be accompanied by select artist projects and workshops.

A World War II Victory Garden was planted on the front lawn of Gracie Mansion as part of its 75th anniversary art installation: New York 1942. At the time that Mayor La Guardia moved in as the first official mayoral resident of the 1799 landmark, there were 20 million such homegrown gardens in lawns and parks across the nation yielding 41% of overall produce consumption. These home Victory Gardens left more commercial crops for the frontline troops. The Victory Garden at Gracie Mansion serves as a model for today’s renewed interest in a local, organic, and nutritious food supply in a way that builds community and helps educate young future growers including city dwellers.