International Decorative Art

China Cabinet (No. 452)

China Cabinet (No. 452)

Design Date c. 1905

Designer Charles Limbert (1854-1923, American)

Manufacturer Charles P. Limbert Company (1894-1944), Grand Rapids, MI; Holland, MI

Media wood and glass

Dimensions 58 x 44 5/8 x 15 3/4 inches

Charles Limbert’s china cabinet incorporates one of the distinctive characteristics of American Arts & Crafts design: the corbel, an architectural bracket that supports wide overhangs. American Arts & Crafts design often included these exaggeratedly large brackets (like the ones that support the second-to-top level of this cabinet) as a visual symbol of the strength of the furniture. The curve balanced out the straight lines of the furniture and created a smooth transition between the vertical and horizontal elements. Beginning in 1905, Limbert’s designs were jointly inspired by American Craftsman designer Stickley’s straightforward plank construction and Glasgow school leader Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s geometric cut-outs. The simple plank construction of this cabinet adds complexity with the cut-outs on either side of the shelves. Limbert, who was of Dutch lineage, capitalized on the American infatuation with Dutch culture in the early 1900s by marketing his furniture as Limbert’s Holland Dutch Arts & Crafts starting in 1906. His furniture from that period bore the mark “Made in Grand Rapids and Holland,” without specifying that this Holland was a city in Michigan.

ON VIEW in Promenade Gallery 2

Markings branded signature

Credit Line Collection Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art

Accession Number 2012.0682