Lot Details
Lot 228
William Hunt Diederich Art Deco Wrought Iron Stairway Balustrade Section With Coursing Greyhounds
1920's
Height 28 1/4 inches, width 7 feet 1/4 inch.
A wrought iron stairway balustrade section by William Hunt Diederich (1884-1953) featuring a closely related silhouette of two male greyhounds at play surrounded by whiplash motifs, however, modified by the addition of a modern metal stand, possibly from the same original commission, measuring 28 1/2 inches high and 7 feet 5 3/4 inches wide, was sold at Christie's, New York, Design, December 14, 2017, lot 39. A wrought iron balustrade section by Diederich identical to Christie's lot 39, measuring 28 1/2 inches high and 6 feet 6 inches wide, possibly the same, sold at Nadeau's Auction Gallery, Windsor, CT, April 12, 2008, lot 100.
A photograph published in House & Garden in 1927 depicts a stairway ceiling fixture and partial view of an upstairs wrought iron stairway balustrade featuring silhouettes of greyhounds at play designed and made by William Hunt Diederich for Henry "Harry" Cooke Cushing III (1895-1960) and his American heiress wife, Cathleen Vanderbilt (1904-1944), half sister of Gloria Vanderbilt, for their residence in Muttontown, Long Island. The couple were wed in 1923. The home was designed by the architectural firm Delano and Aldrich, a New York based firm that designed stylish homes for some of New York's most powerful and wealthiest families. The stairway balustrade by Diederich in Mrs. Cushing III's home is closely related to the present lot, differing only in that the silhouette of hounds is framed by thin parallel bars rather than whiplash motifs.
Design sketches by Diederich dating to the 1920s depicting stairway railings with greyhounds and other designs, gifts of the artist's daughter, Diana Diederich Blake, are in the collection of the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York City.
C
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