Potthast Family Collection

This organization has contributed to the following objects in the Encyclopedia.

In 1914, the Potthast brothers corresponded with Baltimore socialite and art collector Etta Cone about pieces she had purchased for…

This photograph shows John Potthast’s son Theodore (1905-1998), who served as the last president of Potthast Bros., Inc. When he…

This glass negative shows a Potthast Bros. buffet table, identified as item no. 251.

This calling card, which featured an image of a period couch, was circulated by Potthast Bros. salespeople. This card would…

From the very start, the Potthast brothers affixed a certification label to every repair or reproduction. The label attested to…

This glass negative shows a Potthast Bros. dresser, identified as item no. 262.

In 1907, Potthast Bros. participated in the Jamestown Exhibition in Norfolk, Virginia, a world’s fair celebrating the three-hundredth anniversary of…

In 1904, Potthast Bros. acquired additional space at 506-508 North Tyson Street. At that point, their existing quarters at 507…

Payroll and sales records, order books, and company letterbooks dating from around 1905 point to an increase in both staff…

This undated photograph shows the Potthast Bros. showroom at 924 North Charles Street in Baltimore. The showroom was located there…

Company order books and other remaining pieces of documentation are helpful insofar as they chart the ebb and flow of…

These payroll records show that the Potthast brothers paid at least twenty-seven employees for work performed during the week of…

In 1975, when the company finally shut down, it closed its retail store at 924 North Charles Street in downtown…

This sketch of a dresser was made for a custom order. The sketch included dimensions and listed the price as…

During the postwar period, as business slowed, the number of people employed at Potthast Bros. dropped to around twenty. This…

This undated sideboard, most likely from the 1930s, was modelled after one in George Washington’s private home. The piece, known…

This photograph shows the four Potthast brothers (from left to right), William, Vincent, Theodore, and John, along with their accountant…

In the late 1920s, the Potthasts decided to partner with various museums to manufacture handcrafted reproductions of pieces from certain…

In the late 1920s, the Potthasts began to manufacture reproductions of pieces from historically important museum collections. They created furniture…

In 1921, the Potthast brothers built a new factory at 1438 Wicomico Street. Their manufacturing operations were located there until…

This photograph shows Theodore J. Potthast, Sr., the last president of the firm, fastening a table top. He had begun…