Purcell and Elmslie, Architects Firm active: 1907-1921 Minneapolis, Minnesota :: Chicago, Illinois Philadelphia, Pennsylvania :: Portland, Oregon

Images

Dining table and chairs  Sideboard and chairs

Notice in the archival photograph that the chairs are covered in a light-colored silk damask. As they now survive, the seats and backs have been smothered in a dark brown leather.  This fate of going from vibrant light to gloomy dark coverings has happened to both forms of the triangular-backed chairs known to survive, the other example of which is the Edna S. Purcell residence reading nook chair.

Illustration of this furniture appears in the catalog for the "Purcell & Elmslie, Architects" exhibition at the Walker Art Center in 1953

Texts

• Parabiographies entry, by William Gray Purcell