According to an article written by James A. Hijiya and published by the
American Philosophical Society on December 17, 1980, entitled, '
Four Ways of Looking at a Philanthropist: A Study of Robert Weeks De Forest,' "Before Robert Weeks De Forest's (1848-1931) death in 1931, he was hailed in the newspapers as "the First Citizen of New York" (or, as New Yorkers were wont to say, "the First Citizen of the First City").
Besides serving forty years as president of the Charity Organization Society of New York (now incorporated into the Community Service Society) and seventeen years as president of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, he held high office in the American National Red Cross, the National Housing Association, the American Federation of Arts, and many other philanthropic organizations.
He played an important role in establishing the New York School of Social Work (now a part of Columbia University), the Provident Loan Society of New York, and the Russell Sage Foundation. Although uncomfortable in public office, he was appointed Tenement House Commissioner of both the city and the state.
When De Forest died, he received eulogies from the likes of Herbert Lehman and Elihu Root, John W. Davis and Jimmy Walker, Stephen Wise and Harry Emerson Fosdick. Now half a century later, historians recognize De Forest as something of a bigwig."
Some will also debate today in opinion the aspect that they feel was the most significant contribution accomplished in the lifetime of Robert Weeks De Forest for the City of New York; although, he was a highly successful lawyer and businessman, where he amassed positions of power and leadership in multiple industries. But his contributions to the Metropolitan Museum of Art are symbolic for how the museum appears today. In fact, there are more than 600 objects currently owned by the MET that De Forest either gifted to the museum or was involved with the acquisition in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century.
According to the book, '
The Politics of Urban Beauty: New York and Its Art Commission,' "De Forest's involvement with the arts of early America long matched his engagement with housing reform and charity work. His marriage in 1872 to Emily Johnston (1851-1942), daughter of Metropolitan Museum of Art cofounder John Taylor Johnston (1820-1893), cemented his ties to the new institution founded in 1870. He became a trustee in 1889, vice president in 1909, and the museum's fifth present in 1913. The Forests amassed a major collection of American decorative arts, which they donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1922, in order to establish the American Wing. It was also in his capacity as a trustee, then president of the museum that De Forest came to the Art Commission of the City of New York (founded in 1898)."
But not every single object that had been amassed by the De Forests landed in the collection of the MET; some of their property had descended in their family until this year. Much of this material was also consigned to Nye and Company Auctioneers in Bloomfield, New Jersey, which is located about 20 miles east of the Metropolitan Museum of the Art. In fact, those objects that had descended in the family of the De Forests were sold earlier this week in a two day auction.
The contents of the collection were acquired before 1931, and not limited to Americana, either - instead, the objects were from all around the world and represented a wide variety of categories, such as art, ceramics, glass, furniture, rugs, lamps, mirrors, ephemera, sculptures, pewter, chalkware, photography, jewelry, needlework, folk art, and so much more. Prices also appeared competitive for much of the two day sale.
However, there was a selection of red earthenware, including a few hidden gems, some of which I believe could have been gifted to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1922, along with the rest of the De Forests Americana. The best lot may have been a remarkable slip-decorated platter, as well as a charger, but there was more to see.
For example, a mid-nineteenth century red earthenware jar sold yesterday in a group lot that matches the form and decoration found on a jar (see below) sold a few years ago by
Case Antiques in Knoxville, Tennessee. That jar was attributed to Christopher Alexander Haun (1821-1861), an important potter who worked in Greene County, Tennessee, and participated in a historical event involving the burning of an East Tennessee bridge during the American Civil War. Haun's production was also largely represented in the collection of
William C. and Susan S. Mariner, which I wrote about a few weeks ago, after I visited the
Museum of Early Southern Decorated Arts with my nephew Jason in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Another great object from a different group lot of pottery that also sold yesterday was an eighteenth or early-nineteenth century double handled red earthenware jar, adorned in various colors of abstract slip-decoration, probably manufactured in southeastern Pennsylvania. Similar examples are owned by the
Philadelphia Museum of Art, as well as a part of the De Forest's collection already on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Lot No. 535
19th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Platter
Descended in the Estate of Robert Weeks and Emily Johnston De Forest
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Nye and Company Auctioneers - Bloomfield, NJ
18th/19th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Charger
Descended in the Estate of Robert Weeks and Emily Johnston De Forest
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Nye and Company Auctioneers - Bloomfield, NJ
Lot No. 536
19th Century Slip-Script Decorated Red Earthenware Ring Bottle
Descended in the Estate of Robert Weeks and Emily Johnston De Forest
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Nye and Company Auctioneers - Bloomfield, NJ
Lot No. 860
Group Lot of 19th/20th Century American and European Pottery
Descended in the Estate of Robert Weeks and Emily Johnston De Forest
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Nye and Company Auctioneers - Bloomfield, NJ
19th Century Red Earthenware Jar
Similar Examples are Attributed to Christopher Alexander Haun in Greene County, TN
See Example Below that Sold at Case Antiques in Knoxville, TN
Descended in the Estate of Robert Weeks and Emily Johnston De Forest
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Nye and Company Auctioneers - Bloomfield, NJ
19th Century Red Earthenware Jar
Reportedly Attributed to Christopher Alexander Haun in Greene County, TN
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Case Antiques - Knoxville, TN
Lot No. 862
Group Lot of 19th/20th Century American and European Pottery
Descended in the Estate of Robert Weeks and Emily Johnston De Forest
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Nye and Company Auctioneers - Bloomfield, NJ
18th/19th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Jar Likely from SE Pennsylvania
Descended in the Estate of Robert Weeks and Emily Johnston De Forest
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Nye and Company Auctioneers - Bloomfield, NJ
Another View of the Jar
Descended in the Estate of Robert Weeks and Emily Johnston De Forest
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Nye and Company Auctioneers - Bloomfield, NJ
View of the Base
Descended in the Estate of Robert Weeks and Emily Johnston De Forest
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Nye and Company Auctioneers - Bloomfield, NJ
Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...
