When William H. Vanderbilt engaged Christian Herter in 1880 to decorate his new mansion at 640 Fifth Avenue, Herter Brothers was one of the premier furnishing companies in New York. The Vanderbilt house would prove to be the firm's greatest commission; the firm drew on Vanderbilt's prodigious wealth to realize their vision. This side chair is one of at least eighteen fabricated for the dining room. As befitting decorating customs of the day, the dining room was grand and dark, and the furniture was carved with swags of fruit, wheat fronds, and other culinary references. The beribboned, interlocking rings on the skirt and stretchers are fantastical interpretations of Renaissance imagery.