Parlor Stove Maker: Low and Leake (American, 1844–1846)
Designer: Addison Low

patented 1844

American Decorative Arts

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

Cast-iron stove making in America reached its highest artistic achievement and technological advancement between 1840 and 1870. During the nineteenth century, manufacturers in Albany and Troy, New York, were among the largest producers of cast-iron stoves in the world. Stoves made in these two cities were renowned for their fine quality castings and innovations in technology and design. The strategic locations of Albany and Troy, nine miles apart on opposite banks of the Hudson River, afforded easy and inexpensive transportation of raw materials to the foundries and finished stoves to worldwide markets. The raw materials for stove making were abundantly available in the region: iron ore came mainly from New York State, and limestone was obtained from the counties surrounding Albany and Troy. Charcoal was also produced locally, and the finest molding sand in the world came from nearby Albany, Columbia, Rensselaer, and Saratoga counties. Low and Leake, the makers of this stove, took out a patent for the design on August 10, 1844. It is in the popular Neoclassical style, with architecturally inspired volutes and moldings and surmounted by an imposing American eagle.

Medium

Cast iron

Dimensions

53 × 31 × 18 in. (134.62 × 78.74 × 45.72 cm)

Credit Line

Friends of American Arts Acquisition Fund

Accession Number

2010.118.1

Culture
Period

19th century

Classification
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

Provenance

R. H. Blackburn and Associates, Kinderhook, New York, 2010
Bibliography
  • American Art: Selections from the Yale University Art Gallery (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 2023), 33, 126–27, no. 54, ill.
  • "Acquisitions," https://artgallery.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/Pub_Bull_acquisitions_2010.pdf (accessed 2012).
Object copyright
Additional information

Marks

Cast, on back, "PATENTED AUGUST 10TH 1844"; on the panel above the doors in ornamental script, "LOW & LEAKE"; on both ends of the firebox, "Albany"

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