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Learn about three Corinthian Hall artifacts in need
of conservation in our Adopt-an-Artifact program
Three artifacts in the collection of Corinthian Hall grand salon furnishings have been selected by Museum staff as candidates for conservation, supported by the Friends organization. This settee is a significant piece in the collection and needs substantial work to preserve its integrity.
We appreciate your interest in this valuable work, and invite you to make a tax-deductible gift to support the conservation of this piece in the Corinthian Hall furnishings collection of the Kansas City Museum.
Made of wood and tapestry fabric upholstery
1963.159.1.a
The sofa used by the Long family in the grand salon of Corinthian Hall was an exquisite settee adorned with an elaborate Aubusson tapestry fabric. The piece was a Louis XVI style reproduction, commissioned and used by the Robert A. Long family in the salon of the Corinthian Hall mansion they called home in 1910.
This was the main sofa among several settees and chairs in the drawing room, where the Long family would receive guests and have family portraits taken.
Physical description:
This settee features authentic Aubusson tapestry wool upholstery with delicate designs in pink, green and brown. The wood trim is detailed with decorative carvings.
Condition:
The delicately woven tapestry on the upholstered seat and back of the settee is in serious disrepair and needs considerable work. Structural repair work is also needed on the legs and frame of the settee.
Recommended treatment:
Structural support
Stabilization of materials
Restoration of upholstery and decorative tapestry
Wood repair and refinishing
Cleaning
About the Corinthian Hall Furniture Collection
The Robert A. Long family home at Corinthian Hall was completed in 1910, and in its day, was the grandest mansion in Kansas City. Long, a lumber entrepreneur, civic leader and philanthropist, took his family on an extensive European excursion in search of furnishings and accessories for their Kansas City home, while it was under construction. Architect Henry Hoit designed the 70-room stone mansion in Beaux-Arts style with a classic Greco-Roman influence.
At Hoit’s suggestion, Long awarded the contract for all interior finishing of Corinthian Hall – including furnishings for the period-style rooms – to Baumgarten and Company of New York, which counted the Breakers and Shadow Lawn among its clients. The artisans at Baumgarten designed and built most of the period-style furniture for Corinthian Hall, because Long disliked real antiques. Martha Ellis Leland said that her grandfather thought it was ridiculous to buy something old and “full of worm holes” and what he considered “second hand,” when finely crafted copies of antiques in good, solid wood served the same purpose
Corinthian Hall Collection courtesy of the Kansas City Museum and Union Station Kansas City.
