TABLE OF CONTENTS

Collection Overview

Administrative Information

Historical Note

Scope and Content Note

Arrangement

Index Terms

Frame Patterns, circa 1903-1962

Frame Orders and Specifications, 1904-1962

Financial Records, 1908-1939, undated

Business Records, 1903-1955, undated

Printed material, 1906

Works of art, 1931-1936, undated

Photographs, undated

Carrig-Rohane Shop

A Finding Aid to the Carrig-Rohane Shop Records, 1903-1962, in the Archives of American Art

by Jill Lundin

1994

Contact Information
Reference Department
Archives of American Art
Smithsonian Institution
Washington. D.C. 20560
www.aaa.si.edu/askus

Administrative Information

Provenance

The Carrig-Rohane Shop records were donated by Robert Churchill Vose, Jr., Duxbury, Massachusetts, April 4, 1974, January 13, 1975, April 5, 1984, February 1, 1986, and March 17, 1987.

Funding for the processing and microfilming of this collection was provided by a grant from the Eli Wilner & Company, Inc., New York, New York.

Restrictions on Access

The collection is open for research. Patrons must use microfilm copy.

Ownership and Literary Rights

The Carrig-Rohane Shop records are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.

Alternative Forms Available

The collection is available on microfilm reels 4974-4982. The microfilm is available through interlibrary loan.

Preferred Citation

Carrig-Rohane Shop records, 1903-1962. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Processing Information

The collection was processed and the finding aid written by Jill Lundin in 1994.

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Historical Note

In 1903 Herman Dudley Murphy, Walfred Thulin and Charles Prendergast began making frames and in 1906 H.D. Murphy opened "The Frame Shop of Herman Dudley Murphy" on Clarendon Street in Boston.

According to the meeting minutes, on June 13, 1911, the frame shop incorporated under the name "The Thulin-Murphy Co." with Walfred Thulin as the President. The shop name was then changed to "Carrig-Rohane" on February 5, 1914, and on October 23, 1915, the shop came under the management of Robert Churchill Vose, Sr. and Nathaniel Morton Vose.

The corporation was eventually dissolved on March 29, 1939, and the framing operations moved to the Vose Galleries' premises.

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Scope and Content Note

The Carrig-Rohane Shop records date from 1903 to 1962, and measure 6.6 linear feet. The records document the founding of the company, frame design and production, and the financial transactions of the shop. Series 2: Frame Orders and Specifications is particulary valuable for researching the frames used for late 19th and early 20th century American works of art. The frame patterns can be cross-referenced with the orders to obtain visual documentation of the frame desing used with a specific work of art. The frame patterns are also useful for researchers interested in the history of frame design.

The records of the Carrig-Rohane Shop also include financial and business records, printed material, sketches of frames, and photographs of sketches and sculptures.

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Index Terms

This collection is indexed in the online catalog of the Archives of American Art under the following index terms. People, families and organizations are listed under "Names" when they are creators or contributors and under "Subjects" when they are the topic of collection contents.

Subjects:

• Murphy, Hermann Dudley, 1867-1945
• Thulin, Walfred, 1878-1949
• Vose, Robert Churchill, 1873-

Subjects-Topical:

• Art, American
• Art, Modern -- 20th century -- United States
• Picture frame industry -- Massachusetts -- Boston
• Picture frames and framing

Types of Materials:

• Photographs
• Works of art

Names:

• Carrig-Rohane Shop (Boston, Mass.)
• Thulin-Murphy (Firm : Boston, Mass.)
• Vose Galleries of Boston

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Arrangement

The collection is arranged into seven series:

• Series 1: Frame Patterns, circa 1903-1962 (boxes 1-2, 1 linear ft.)
• Series 2: Frame Orders and Specifications, 1904-1962 (boxes 2-5, 3 linear ft.)
• Series 3: Financial Records, 1908-1939, undated (boxes 5-7, 1.9 linear ft.)
• Series 4: Business Records, 1903-1955, undated (box 7, 0.4 linear ft.)
• Series 5: Printed Material, 1906 (box 7, 0.1 linear ft.)
• Series 6: Works of Art, 1931, 1936, undated (boxes 7, OV 10, 0.1 linear ft.)
• Series 7: Photographs, undated (box 7, 0.1 linear ft.)

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Series Descriptions/Container Listing

Series 1: Frame Patterns, circa 1903-1962(boxes 1-2, 0.9 linear ft.)

This series contains photographs of the various frames that were constructed at the shop. Most of the photographs include the pattern number assigned by the Carrig-Rohane Shop for order purposes. There are two groups of numerically ordered frame patterns, one assembled from loose photographs in the collection and the other made from a set of negatives found in the collection. The six bound photograph books, the cyanotype photographs, and the loose photographs of frame patterns are primarily unordered duplicates of the two numerical sets. Included is a price list of frame patterns, as well as a book of frame patterns ordered.

Series 2: Frame Orders and Specifications, 1904-1962(boxes 2-5, 3.1 linear ft.)

Information about frame orders and specifications can be found in this series in the order books dated 1904 to 1962. Information includes the patron or gallery who ordered the frame, the artist and often the title of the work of art, the frame pattern number, frame measurements, the color of the frame, and the materials used. The dates for the frame orders extend past the closure of the Carrig-Rohane Shop because frames continued to be made on the premises of Vose Galleries. The Order/Ledger Book contains order numbers 1333-3692 and can be used to cross-reference information about these particular orders which are also found in the general order books. Indexes in several of the Order Books include the order number printed above the page number where the order can be found. Also included are records of frame orders for photographs and mirrors.

Series 3: Financial Records, 1908-1939, undated (boxes 5-7, 1.9 linear ft.)

Financial records are standard and include invoices, accounts receivable ledgers, general ledgers, consignment account ledgers, income tax forms, a cash book, and accounting reports and notes. The reports contain accounts receivable, accounts payable, and trial balances recorded every six months.

Series 4: Business Records, 1903-1955, undated(box 7, 0.4 linear ft.)

Business records found in this series include scattered official and legal documents for Thulin-Murphy, Inc. and the Carrig-Rohane Shop. Several routine letters can also be found here.

Series 5: Printed material, 1906(box 7, 0.1 linear ft.)

This series consists of one folder containing a copy of an article, Individual Treatment of the Picture Frame, by Frederick W. Coburn. The article includes discussion of the work of Herman Dudley Murphy, Charles Prendergast and Walfred Thulin.

Series 6: Works of art, 1931-1936, undated(boxes 7, OV 10, 0.1 linear ft.)

This series contains detailed sketches of frames drawn in pencil and ink. Most of the sketches have notations such as measurements of the works of art they were intended for, as well as the names of clients purchasing the frame and artists who had produced the artwork to be framed. Some of the sketches are oversized. The series also contains a print and a watercolor sketch by unidentified artists.

Series 7: Photographs, undated(box 7, 0.1 linear ft.)

This series contains 3 folders of photographs. There are several photographs of sketches by famous artists, several photographs of sculpture, primarily of women with children, and a folder of miscellanous photographs showing interiors with frames, furniture, and unidentified individuals.