# Side Chair

- By: Herter Brothers (New York)
- Date: 1877–85
- Medium: Ebonized cherry, various inlaid woods, and upholstery
- Classification: Furniture
- Dimensions: 95.9 × 43.6 × 42.5 cm (37 3/4 × 17 3/8 × 16 3/4 in.)
- Culture: New York City
- Credit line: Mrs. Alfred S. Burdick Fund
- Museum: [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/45003)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/03eed777-63a7-f98e-8ffa-8a8c63da4882/full/!1920,1080/0/default.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

The influence of Japanese artistic techniques and motifs abound in this cabinet, from the dazzling gold-field butterfly plaques set into the left and right cabinet doors, to the stylized floral inlays of the ebonized central compartment. Herter Brothers was one of the leading firms that designed furniture and interiors for the American upper class during the Aesthetic Movement, a cultural trend that emphasized beauty, particularly in the home. In the late 1870s, Herter Brothers began to incorporate such Japanese-derived elements in their designs, even as the furniture forms themselves derive from European and American precedents. It was common in the period to embrace eclectic motifs as long as they achieved a sense of visual harmony.

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0