Greene & Greene

Belle Barlow Bush, Pasadena, CA
YWCA, Pasadena, CA
Architect James Warren Larson, Pasadena, CA, ca. 1959
Thence by descent 

Randell L. Makinson, Greene & Greene: Furniture and Related Designs, Salt Lake City, 1979, p. 46 (for a design drawing of the model) and p. 47 (for a period photograph showing the model in the Hall workshops in 1907)

In July of 1906, architects Charles Sumner Greene and Henry Mather Greene began designs for a second residence for their former client, Dr. William T. Bolton.  Dr. Bolton died unexpectedly before the house was completed, when only the dining room furniture had been built.  Mrs. Belle Barlow Bush, the first rental occupant of the house, commissioned the Greenes to complete most of the remaining furniture as well as several additional designs.  The Bolton-Bush commission was a defining moment in the Greenes' career.  By 1906, their work had evolved to encompass every detail of the interior, allowing them to create a totally unified environment.  By this time they had also forged an important relationship with craftsmen Peter and John Hall, who were capable of producing the Greenes' sophisticated designs to exact specifications.  The Bolton-Bush furniture displays important hallmarks of the Greenes evolving style at this early stage in their career.  The use of square ebony pegs as a furniture detail, explored in varying sizes and profiles from piece to piece, is first introduced in this commission.  Additionally, mahogany was emerging as the architect's preferred wood for their furniture designs.      

This rare hall chair is one of only two examples designed for the Bolton House entry.  An archival photograph shows this tall-back chair model in the Hall workshops in 1907.  The chair is in the process of being constructed, and is still lacking its seat.  The model also appears in the architects’ preliminary sketches for the Bolton commission.  The chair's subtle “cloud lift” profiles, evocative of Asian furniture designs, and the exquisite integration of square ebony pegs are early hallmarks of the Greenes' mature high style from 1907 to 1911.  The dramatic linear composition of the tapering back and elegant balance of scale and proportion distinguish this chair as a masterwork in the Greenes' repertoire.  This bold design invites comparison to the progressive tall-back chairs designed by the Greenes' Scottish contemporary Charles Rennie Mackintosh.