Friends of Rohlfs House seek to acquire historically significant rocking chair for house museum collection

The Friends of the Rohlfs House (FORH) are currently trying to acquire another piece of furniture designed by Rohlfs for the collection of its house museum. If successfully acquired, the rocking chair will eventually find a home in the restored and converted home (on Park Street in Allentown) of Charles Rohlfs and Anna Katherine Green, which will one day be open to the public.

A year ago, FORH managed to purchase a pair of Rohlfs-designed bookcases at Christie’s (learn more). These bookcases, which originally came from the Park Street Library/Dining Room, are now lovingly restored by a Buffalo expert, while FORH continues to work with the home’s owner to finalize a purchase. The bookcases will be unveiled this fall, at which time the sponsors who helped make the purchase possible will be recognized.

The House of Rohlfs is particularly interesting in that Charles Rohlfs and Anna Katherine Green were considered “a true power couple of the turn of the last century.”

• Charles Rohlfs is one of the greatest designers of Art Moderne furniture in American history.
• Anna Katherine Green is the first woman to write a series of detective novels

As for the rocking chair (see the auction), here is a description from FORH:

(The rocking chair) comes from the library on Park Street and may have been used by Anna (who was a knitter) as a sewing chair. FORH looks forward to seeing it return to the House and invites all interested patrons to make a donation, which can be made through the Allentown Association.

FORH welcomes any financial support, which can be provided through the group’s fiscal sponsor, the Allentown Association, a 501c3, so that donations can be tax deductible. Interested parties can contact the Allentown Association by emailing [email protected] or calling (716) 881-1024. Also visit the Rohlfs Friends House on Facebook for more information or to direct message the group.