Specializing in fine examples of California Craftsman 
and the American Arts and Crafts movement 1896-1916.
 Shop hours: Saturdays, 11 to 4 or by appointment.
Isak Lindenauer
4143 19th Street
San Francisco, California
94114
415 552-6436
[email protected]. 

A few new wonderful things....

Large Wheatley jardiiniere with leaves and buds. 8"H x 10"W. c.1910

Sweet Dirk van Erp boudoir lamp. 12"H. broken box, San Francisco mark. c. 1915.

Deep blue Grueby lobed vase. 6" x 6". artist signed. Ruth Erikson. $2,400.

William Seltzer Rice woodblock. The Arastra, also known as Mill in the Mountains. The print itself is 9" x 12" and framed measures 16" x 20". c. 1925

Rare and early closed box mark van Erp ginger jar lamp (1911-1912), replacement shade made by William van Erp in the sixties. 20 1/2" H. x 18 1/2" W. $10,000.

Harry Dixon Viking ship bookends. Fine original condition. 6"H x 61/2"! x 3"D. $1200 the pair.

Charles Stickley three piece set in the Glasgow style: armchair, settle, and rocking chair. settle: 58" W, 37"H, 27"D. $5,600, the three.

Lillian Palmer shade on Gorham-influenced hammered copper base with mixed metal applied leaf decoration. The base is likely made by the Charles Parker Company of Meriden, Connecticutt at the beginning of the last century. 21"H x 18" D. $4,500.

Rookwood scenic vellum by Lenore Asbury. 1914. 8"H. $1,100.

Gustav Stickley coal bucket. #350. Height of bucket only. 15" $7,500.

Sydney J. Yard watercolor. Cows in pastureland. image: 10 1/2" x 13 1/2". frame: 18" x 21". $1200.

Very large Harry Dixon charger. Diameter: 18". $1350.

Mathews polychrome lidded jar with floral decoration and Dirk van erp copper liner. $8,000.

Weller matte green elephant leaf jardiniere. Excellent original condition. 15"W x 13"H. $1,800. with Louie in the window tonight.

Three new pieces to the shop's inventory.

A rare and important lamp by D'Arcy Gaw/Dirk van Erp lamp. 1910. 17"H x 15"D. The earliest lamp known from the San Francisco workshop. $45,000.

See article below for more detailed information. "A Most Important Dirk van Erp Lamp."

Rare Limbert cut out lamp table #240. 30"H x 20" x 20". Burned in signature under top.

Three lobed ovoid form, the sides modeled with buds and stems alternating broad leaves, glazed in matte 'curdled' green with yellow glaze to the buds impressed circular manufacturer's stamp, incised artist's cypher for Ruth Erickson 9 1/⁄2" H., 5 1⁄/2 "W . $5,500.

Cincinnati Shop of the Crafters drop front desk #279. Quartered church oak. Leaded glass in doors. H. 48", W. 43", D. 18". $3,100.

William Seltzer Rice woodblock. "Redwoods". Image only: 9 3/4" x 12 1/4". frame: 21" x 17". $6,500.

Arthur Putnam puma pair. "The Lovers". 1904. (posthumous casting), bronze sculpture, signed and dated on base, overall: 7"h x 18.75"w x 7"d. Gallery label reads "Posthumous cast from an original plaster purchased from the Estate of Earl Cummings". $15,000.

Lifetime single door bookcase, signed. 55"H x 27"W x 131/2" D. $2,250

Xavier Martinez, "Madonna and Child". red pencil. image only: 8 1/4" x 10 1/4".

L. &J.G. Stickley clip corner table. Handcraft label. 18" x 18" x 29"H.

Lakeside Crafts footstool with dropfront storage. Lakeside Crafts Shop Dropfront Footstool c1910. 16.25″w x 9″d x 17″h . $1,450.

Benedict Studios humidor/box. 6 3/4" H x 10 1/4"L x 6 1/2 "D. $1,475.

Kataro Shirayamadani Rookwood with Angel Wing cactus in bloom as its design. 1936. 8" H. $5,500.

Rookwood Sea Green vase with seagull over a stormy sea. 8 1/4". 1901. E.T. Hurley. $4,100.

Engelbert Lap woodblock. "Autumn". 10 1/8 in. x 7 3/8 in. $2,200.

"Only a short edition will bee issued." !

Rare Liberty pewter mirror with inlays of mother of pearl in a peacock feather and snail design and attendant cabochons also in mother of pearl. May, 1911. 27"H x 17"W. $4,800.

Rare Brandley and Hubbard genie lamp. Perfect original condition. 11 1/2"H. Signed. $1975.

Newcomb five color banded floral vase. 4 1/2"h x 7"w. 1918 Sadie Irvine. $3,500.

L.D. G. Stickley library table. Handcraft label. 48"W x30"D x 29"H. $1950.

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                                      A MOST IMPORTANT DIRK VAN ERP LAMP

     This unusual van Erp lamp, anomalous in so many ways, is arguably the earliest example of a table lamp
designed by Dirk van Erp and Elizabeth Eleanor D'Arcy Gaw in 1910. It belonged to an elderly Southern California
couple who were its original owners. A good number of D'Arcy Gaw/Dirk van Erp lamps are in major collections across
the country. Dating individual lamps other than those marked D'Arcy Gaw/Dirk van Erp is an inexact science. They are
not dated except in rare instances when the year certain lamps were made to honor specific individuals was known or
inscribed in a dedication on the lamp itself. There are less than a handful of these "gift" lamps which, as an example,
were given to someone retiring after many years of service in a firm. I developed the basic dating system which has been generally accepted as serviceable for the last thirty years based on the number of lamps and other objects this writer had seen and/or owned, predicated on the assessment of what a probable maximum production number may have been for a one year period in the first years of operation. It became clear then that there were more examples with a certain mark than
could have been produced in a single year when only a small number of people were employed by the workshop. A similar
formula was used regarding the production and the number of known pieces in the years which followed in which there were
more workers and corresponding examples were also greater. Finally. the third period covered the production in the middle
years of van Erp senior's tenure until the date he retired. Consequently, that system separated the studio's work into a
series of arbitrary but reasonable time frames based on the differing hallmarks in conjunction with production projections.

 That system is as follows:

D'Arcy Gaw/Dirk van Erp in a closed box-1910,
the "ghost of D'Arcy Gaw/Dirk van Erp in a closed box-1911-1912,
D'Arcy Gaw/Dirk van Erp in a broken box-1913-1914,
and Dirk van Erp in a broken box with the word "San Francisco"-1915-1929.

   Although arbitrarily constructed, it  has seemed reasonable enough to provide a basic framework which allows us to divide the
studio's craft into a series of three distinct periods. That framework has functioned successfully and should continue to
do so until there is new information which allows us to modify it, reject it, or reconfirm it with greater accuracy.

   As just stated, with scant exception, the only van Erp lamps which can be dated to one specific year are those lamps crafted
during the partnership of D'Arcy Gaw and Dirk van Erp in 1910. The two only worked together the better part of that year.
Because of its practically unique design elements, the current example may well be the first lamp they made after forming
their brief, formal partnership which lasted such a short period of time. It is wonderful to have discovered this special lamp
more than a hundred years after their creative partnership ended.


   In speaking about the extraordinary design elements which set this small table lamp apart from all the other examples,
perhaps most striking is its large, very prominent, beautifully hammered cap which rises significantly above the shade.
Its dominance might be considered a total exaggeration were it not for the wildly flaring base which opposes it. This base
or foot is equally as strong as the cap, pooling out much more widely than most van Erp bases ever do. This stretched or
extended foot is the cap's parallel which creates balance in so far as the lamp's rare design proportions are concerned.

   As well as these forceful elements, it is striking to see the outer rim of the shade which is a flat, everted rim unlike any
other van Erp lamp. All van Erp lamps have either a single rolled rim, a drop and roll rim, or a double rolled rim. This example
is the only signed Dirk van Erp lamp to exhibit this early rim element. It is appealing in an entirely new way to most of us who
love and have collected van Erp lighting. Some might see this treatment as somewhat primitive. It certainly is as simple a shift in
the shade's structure as has ever been seen. It does conjure up the crafter and his design energies in a very new light. How to
finish the shade? This small lift does the trick in the most economical way. It's both basic and delightful--and Arts and Crafts in
the neat way it addresses the aesthetic need to "finish" the shade's outward movement with a "dash".

  Another subtle element to the lamp's design are its arms. The three arms rise at a dramatic angle, adding a strong upward thrust, which elevates the shade from its flattened base and culminates under the force and weight of its cap. They are a reconciliation as it were between those two strong opposing sections. Quite subtly and unobtrusively, the lamp is unified by this rise. It is a third strong design element. It should also be noted that the arms are hollow tubes of copper which have been flattened at the outer ends and everted to support and secure the shade. The use of hollow copper was an early choice which was soon abandoned in favor of solid copper arms. Perhaps that was changed to be certain that the shades had adequate support.

  The battens which comprise the borders for the mica in the shade are riveted three times at the rim and rise into the side of the
large cap and are again riveted to the side with three more rivets. The rivets are set from inside the shade leaving the rounded heads of the rivets to mirror the dome of the cap. With an economy of choices this little lamp presents itself as a pleasing, unified whole, crafted at the very beginning of the newly opened San Francisco shop.


  The lamp has one light, the socket of which is connected to the base in a singular way. The lamp's standard ends in a clean
shearing of the tube itself which is capped by a delicately hammered top to which a socket is soldered. That cap fits neatly onto
the top of the tube and has two almost invisible opposing pin holes in its side. They are there for a reason which is not immediately apparent and one wonders if there are pins missing which would secure the top to the base. But: No. The side of the base has a circular opening at its upper end through which the pull chain and the brass bell-form which houses it extend. When the socket is aligned with that hole so that the "bell" housing and pull chain can be centered on it and the chain pulled through, the barely visible pin holes in the cap are perfectly aligned with parallel holes in the top of the lamp base. It is for that reason they are not permanently pinned. They are there to confirm the proper alignment of the socket housing. When one needs to change the socket's wiring, the top of the standard lifts up and away allowing access for that reason or for any other repair or rewiring. Considering the construction, this is an ingenious way of allowing entrance to the inside of the lamp should it become necessary which might otherwise be impossible. This construction is a unique design which has not been seen in any other van Erp lamp to date. The delicate hammering on the cap and its matching patina make it clear this portion is original to the lamp. It may however have been considered awkward and was therefore further streamlined out of existence in ensuing lamps. It is simply early, elemental construction which emphasizes the prototypical nature of this lamp.

   It remains to be seen if other early examples surface in the future which can be proven to pre-date this signed one, but at this point, it is the earliest known example of a lamp, perhaps the actual first lamp, crafted in the studio and workshop of D'Arcy Gaw and Dirk van Erp.
                                                                                 Isak Lindenauer

Specializing in Stickley, Limbert, Roycroft, van Erp, Grueby, Newcomb, Rookwood, Handel lamps, plein air paintings, woodblocks, and more; fine examples of the American Arts and Crafts movement 1896-1916.

You can email me at [email protected]. or call me at 415 552-6436, any time from 10 a.m. to 5.p.m (the shop number).  If you want to make a purchase, I accept Paypal and Square payments. 
Isak Lindenauer
4143 19th Street
San Francisco, California
​94114