Showcase Arranged for Architects’ Work
The legacy of Charles and Henry Greene, the renowned California architects, was celebrated on Saturday with the announcement of a $2-million donation of the architects’ Craftsman furniture and the creation of a center at the Huntington Library dedicated to their works.
A family from Northern California, who wished to remain anonymous, donated the furniture to the Gamble House, a historic architectural landmark in Pasadena.
The Gamble House, designed by the brothers for a Procter & Gamble industrialist in 1908, will loan the furniture to the Huntington. In addition, the Gamble House’s extensive collection of the architects’ books, letters, sketchbooks and original drawings and water colors will be kept at a Greene research library to be established at the Huntington.
‘Marriage Made in Heaven’
Robert R. Wark, curator of the Huntington art collections, called the arrangement “a marriage made in heaven.”
And Randell L. Makinson, director of the Gamble House, observed: “This is truly a milestone when you look back at what is happening with the dismantling of historic structures in this country.” The home is now jointly operated by the City of Pasadena and the USC School of Architecture.
The temptation to dismantle and sell collections of the pioneering architects’ furnishings has been great. Furniture designed by the Greenes, as well as by Frank Lloyd Wright, is commanding the highest prices for 20th-Century American furniture, Makinson said.
The $2-million donation was triggered by a Texas antique collector’s attempt two years ago to sell the contents of one of the Greenes’ classic Craftsman-style homes in Pasadena. At the time, outraged preservationists characterized the action as the “Texas chain-saw massacre.”
‘Make a Commitment’
“That prompted the donors to make a commitment to their family collection before their death,” Makinson explained.
As a preview of things to come, several of the donated pieces were displayed Saturday at the Huntington. An oval library table, fashioned with ebony pegs, gleamed with the reddish patina of polished Honduran mahogany. Flanking the table were two dining room chairs, with the original leather seats, that were decorated with inlays of fruitwood and mother-of-pearl.
The wing, which will exhibit not only furniture, but also garden pottery, carpet and hardware designed by the architects, will open in about 1 1/2 years.
Among those who were on hand for the announcement were Henry Greene’s granddaughter, Nancy Greene Glass of Sherman Oaks, and his daughter-in-law, Ruth Greene of Altadena. Neither own any furniture designed by their relatives. In fact, Greene said her father-in-law’s Pasadena home was decorated primarily with Oriental pieces.
“I would furnish my whole house with it if I could get it,” Greene said.
“We weren’t that foresighted,” Glass added. “We can’t afford it now.”
