H69.272.1

ca. 1910
39 in|102 in|141 in HIGH
(99.06 cm|259.08 cm|358.14 cm HIGH)
Museum Purchase
H69.272.1

California
Aftershock! Voices from the 1906 Earthquake and Fire. Great Hall, April 1 - August 13, 2006.

Large art glass globes. Description: made of leaded stained glass. a. "California Street" across globe in glass. History: formerly used on Dupont St., S.F. There are two globes. Originally six were installed along California and Grant Steets. They were commissioned by Sing Fat, an Oriental Art goods dealer. Although electricity was widely available in San Francisco, these burned oil. See donor file and artist screen for information re: California Art Glass Co. Helen Tryon 11/00 (researched Sept. 1987) THE CALIFORNIA STREET LAMPS The fine stained glass globes in the History gallery were once located in San Francisco's Chinatown at the corner of California Street and Grant Avenue. Originally, there were six lamps bordering the Sing Fat Company, three on the California Street side and three along Grant Avenue, then called Dupont Street. They were installed about 1910. The Sing Fat Company as a leading Oriental Bazaar importing oriental art goods. It was first listed in the San Francisco city directory in 1895 and last appeared in 1931. The building was 3-4 stories high with a pagoda on top. Flags of the United States, China and the Sing Fat Company flew from the building. When the Oakland Museum acquired the lamps, Mr. Chingwah Lee recalled that thelights were custom made for the company at the owner's expense. Although the street lights of the period were gaslit, we believe that these lamps were illuminated by oil which the merchant supplied. The globes were probably made by the California Art Glass Company. Both globes were restored by the Oakland Museum. A volunteer craftsman for the History Department and an instructor at Laney College, Fred Loeser, did the most recent restoration on one of the globes. These two lovely lamps provide insight into early San Francisco history and, in particular, to its rich multicultural heritage and a heretofore unknown contribution to the city's beauty by Chinese citizens. From the History Information Station: Object: Street lamp, "California Street." History: This is one of six ornamental street lamps installed along California and Grant Streets in San Francisco in 1910. They were commissioned by Sing Fat, an Oriental Art goods dealer, and were part of the rebuilding of Chinatown after the 1906 earthquake. Although electricity was widely available in San Francisco by that time, these lamps were oil-lit. The globes were created by the California Art Glass Company, one of the major producers of stained glass in the area. The coompany was founded in 1879 by William Schroeder, who had learned the craft in Germany. California Art Glass won a silver medal at the Paris Exposition of 1900 for the windows it exhibited there. The cast-iron lamp post was used in Oakland at the same period. Additional material fron the History Information Station, entered Jan.25, 2001 by P. Mendelsohn. CALIFORNIA ART GLASS WORKS WILLIAM SCHROEDER (History docent Erwin Strohmaier's grandfather) Proprietor and President of California Art Glass Works, 768 Mission Street, San Francisco. The California Art Glass Works, established in 1879 and incorporated in 1893, is the most prestigious institution of its kind west of Chicago. The principle feature of the factory is the manufacturing of lodge and church memorial windows. The work of the establishment, wherever exhibited, has received the highest endorsement and awards. The Chinese Dragon and Cupid and Psyche, wrought in glass, were sent to the Paris Exposition in 1900 and received the gold medal. Their work is unsurpassed either in this country or in Europe. William Schroeder, who established the business is preeminently an artist of the highest reputation. William Schroeder was born in New Orleans on January 11, 1851. He was an only child when he moved with his parents to Nauvoo, Illinois, where he attended school until his ninth year. Shortly after, young Schroeder went to Davenport, Iowa, and completed his education in one of the leading private schools there. Mr. Schroeder early evinced a remarkable aptitude for art, into which he has earnestly put his whole strength and soul. He takes great pride in the fact that he succeeded entirely by his own initiative. While attending school in Davenport, Schroeder studied and did fresco painting to maintain himself financially. At the age of twenty-one Mr. Schroeder had saved enough to take him to Europe. There, continuing his fresco painting, he was enabled by his earnings to study art-glass work under the best artists at Hamburg, Berlin, Dresden and Vienna. At one time he was a pupil of the great painter and sculptor Thorwaldsen, of Denmark. He returned to America in 1876, landing in New York, and in the same year went to Philadelphia, then in the midst of her preparations for the Centennial Exposition. There, William Schroeder worked under the exposition's chief architect, Schwartzman. From Philadelphia he went to Los Angeles to visit relatives, where he remained until 1878, when he came to San Francisco and established the business in which he has since been engaged. Mr. Schroeder is an art enthusiast. Some years ago he deliverd a masterful lecture on the history and development of the art-glass work from the time of the Phoenicians to the work of the modern world. Although an artist of established reputation, both in the United States and Europe, Mr. Schroeder shuns publicity. He is extremely modest concerning his accomplishments, as is generally the case with men genuinely great in any given field. His principal social connection was with the San Francisco Turn Verein Club. In 1911 he was saddened by the death of his brother, John A. Schroeder, who was throughout life a friend and comrade, as well as a brother, and with whom William had constantly attended the club. In May, 1882, at San Francisco, William Schroeder was united in matrimony to Miss Julia Breuer. Two children are living: Juliet and Mrs. Jacob Strohmaier, whose husband is affiliated with the California Art Glass Works. (The above article is from Davi's Commercial Encyclopedia, 1911.) Addition, 1984. Mr. Jacob Strohmaier left the firm and went into the stove business in 1912 at 18th and Mission Streets. This became Gernhardt-Strohmaier Co. William Schroeder died in 1913. He had four grandchildren, Erwin Strohmaier, Walter Strohmaier, Lorraine Cook, and Viola Vasser, who currently reside in the Bay Area. WM-S File C

Used: San Francisco | Chinatown

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