Sewing Table Maker, attributed to: Johann Michael Jahn (American, born Germany, 1816–1883)

1870–80

American Decorative Arts

On view, 1st floor, American Decorative Arts before 1900

This sewing table is an example of the late Biedermeyer style made by a German immigrant cabinetmaker in Texas in the second half of the nineteenth century. Based on its similarity to a table that descended in the family of the New Braunfels cabinetmaker Johann Michael Jahn, it can be firmly attributed to that maker. It also has a history of ownership by a German-American New Braunfels woman, Katherine Seidler Hartenstein. It is therefore a well-documented example of the material culture of the German-American settlement of Texas in the mid-nineteenth century.

Medium

Walnut and yellow pine

Dimensions

30 1/2 × 20 1/2 × 16 3/4 in. (77.47 × 52.07 × 42.545 cm)

Credit Line

Gift of Natalie H. and George T. Lee, Jr., B.A. 1957

Accession Number

2001.93.1

Geography

Made in New Braunfels, Texas

Culture

American

Period

19th century

Classification

Furniture

Disclaimer

Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Provenance
Mrs. Lee believes that the table descended to her from her great, great grandmother Katherine Seidler Hartenstein. She was the third wife of Karl Hartenstein, a native of Zeulenroda, Germany, who came to Texas with his family on the ship "Weser" in 1854. Katherine Seidler Hartenstein was a native of Bischofsgruen, Bavaria. When Karl and Katherine immigrated they brought with them their son Oscar (who was born in Plauen in 1851, became a baker in Austin and Seguin, and died in Seguin in 1907), their daughter Natalie (who was born in Plauen in 1853, married Henry Bastian of Woelfrath, Prussia, in Austin in 1873, and died in Austin in 1854), and Karl's son Robert by his first wife. Karl and Katherine settled first in New Braunfels, where four more Hartenstein children were born. They bought a ten acre lot there in 1866 from Hermann Seele. Karl died in New Braunfels in 1878, and Katherine died in Austin in 1894.
Bibliography
  • Helen A. Cooper et al., Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: American Art from the Yale University Art Gallery, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 2008), 306, no. 193, ill
  • Art for Yale: Collecting for a New Century, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 2007), 38, pl. 8
  • "Acquisitions 2001," Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (2002), 115–16, ill
Object copyright
No Copyright - United States
Additional information

Object/Work type

sewing tables

Inscriptions

"3" and "Erwin Fricker 1938 [illegible] / F + T / Altdorf," both in grahite, on underside of drawer; the "3" is by a different hand

Technical metadata and APIs

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Open in Mirador

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