Hunter Gets Graphic

Image: Pomegranate

Pomegranate, publisher of a growing line of books on Frank Lloyd Wright (including Frank Lloyd Wright Art Glass of the Martin House Complex) announces a new book on one of Wright's Roycrofter contemporaries:  Dard Hunter.  Along with Denslow, Hunter was one of the most distinctive designers to work with Elbert Hubbard's East Aurora Arts and Crafts collective, infusing Roycroft products with deft reinterpretations of British Arts and Crafts, Mackintosh and Jugendstil motifs.  Lawrence Kreisman's new book, Dard Hunter: The Graphic Works focuses on Hunter's distinctive design contributions to the Roycroft Press and stained glass.

Image: Pomegranate

Coincidentally, Hunter's designs are represented in the Martin House by way of a reproduction tea set - Dard Hunter Studios' "Viennese Pendant" pattern - shown in the Reception room. While the pattern is not original to the house, it provides a period-inspired replacement for the unidentified china pattern shown on the tea table in historic photos. In 1908, Hunter spent his honeymoon amidst the Judendstil splendor of Vienna.  Surrounded by designs that resonated with his own aesthetic sensibilities, he purchased some china with forms and decorations characteristic of the fin de siecle style on both continents. Inspired by Hunter’s Jugendstil finds, Dard Hunter Studios has created their "Viennese Pendant" line of china with careful attention to such antique precedents, while incorporating an original design by Hunter for the “pendant” ornamentation.  The design, originally drawn by Hunter for a Roycroft advertising brochure, is an elegant, organic motif influenced by Hunter’s time in Vienna.

"Viennese Pendant" tea set in the Martin House Reception room.