(Re)constructing the Gilded Age: The Cornelius Vanderbilt II Ballroom
Between 1892 and 1894, the Paris decorator Gilbert Cuel created one of the most iconic rooms of New York’s Gilded Age in the ballroom of the Cornelius Vanderbilt II residence at 1 West 57th Street. The interior was based on the Galerie Dorée of the Hôtel de Toulouse (Banque de France), decorated by Robert de Cotte and François-Antoine Vassé in 1713–17 and renovated by Charles-Auguste Questel and others in 1865–75. In 1926, less than forty years after its completion, the ballroom was disassembled, and its architectural fragments were dispersed. Reuniting some of these fragments for the first time, this talk will consider the Vanderbilt ballroom as a case study in reconstruction – from the perspective of both historicist decoration, or ‘period’ style, and historical research. Focusing on carved wood panels (boiseries), which have conventionally fallen between the scholarly categories of architecture and furniture, it will demonstrate the care taken to adapt 18th-century materials to 19th-century uses and highlight the difficulty of salvaging interior stories from the débris of architectural demolition.
Laura C. Jenkins is an art historian and PhD Candidate at The Courtauld Institute of Art. Her research focuses on French 18th- and 19th-century interiors in New York during the Gilded Age and on overlaps between architectural décors and social identities.
All welcome
- this event is free to attend but advance registration is required.
Please note that registration for this session will close 24 hours in advance and a meeting link will be distributed on the morning of the session.
This page was last updated on 30 June 2024
