Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum (LMMM) in Norwalk has received a donation of Herter Brothers furniture from R. Joseph Wiessinger, a collector and resident of Belleair, Florida, and frequent LMMM visitor. LMMM”™s new acquisition will be displayed for viewing in the museum”™s Period Rooms.
Wiessinger has been an avid collector of Herter Brothers furniture for the past 40 years, a passion that sparked when he received, from his parents, a walnut wardrobe from the 1870s.
The Herter Brothers firm was founded in 1858 by two German immigrants in New York City, Gustave and Christian Herter. Their company became among the most sought after in the U.S. providing custom-made cabinetry and interior design services.
Wiessinger said, “It has been a delight to search out and find wonderful historic pieces by high-quality furniture makers and then, after enjoying them in my home, to donate to museums so the public at large can see and enjoy them as well and learn about 19th century furniture.”
The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum is a National Historic Landmark.