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  • About the Carrig-Rohane Shop records

    A Finding Aid to the Carrig-Rohane Shop Records, 1903-1962, in the Archives of American Art, by Jill Lundin (Download PDF Version, 79 KB [Download PDF Version])


    Historical Note | Description of the Collection | How to Use the Collection | Series Descriptions


    Historical Information [+]

    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. READ MORE

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    Description of the Collection

    Overview - Scope and Contents [+]

    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.

    Arrangement and Series Description

    The collection is arranged into seven series:

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    Subjects

    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.

    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.

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    How the Collection was Processed

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

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    How to Use the Collection

    Restrictions on Use

    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.

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

    Available Formats

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

    How to Cite this Collection

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

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    Series Descriptions

    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.

    Box Reel (Frames)
    box 1 4974 (000-099) Photographs of patterns #1-57, circa 1903-1962
    box 1 4974 (102-313) Photographs of patterns #1-92A and unidentified from slides, circa 1903-1962

    Reel Frames (digitized from microfilm)
    unfilmed Negatives of frame patterns, circa 1903-1962

    Box Reel (Frames)
    box 1 4974 (314-379) Bound photograph book of frame patterns (original collation), circa 1903-1962
    box 1 4974 (382-441) Bound photograph book of frame patterns (original collation), circa 1903-1962
    box 1 4974 (444-502) Bound photograph book of frame patterns (original collation), circa 1903-1962
    box 1 4974 (505-575) Bound photograph book of frame patterns (original collation), circa 1903-1962
    box 1 4974 (578-661) Bound photograph book of frame patterns (original collation), circa 1903-1962
    box 1 4974 (664-698) Bound photographs of frame patterns, circa 1903-1962
    box 1 4974 (701-772) Photographs of frame patterns (cyanotypes), circa 1903-1962
    box 1 4974 (725-764) Photographs of frame patterns, circa 1903-1962

    Box Reel (Frames)
    box 2 4974 (767-775) Price list of frame patterns, circa 1903-1962
    box 2 4974 (778-812) Frame patterns ordered, circa 1903-1962

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    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.

    Box Reel (Frames)
    box 2 4974 (813-895) Orders, 1904-1907
    box 2 4974 (898-980) Orders, 1907-1912
    box 2 4974 (981-1088) Orders, 1912-1916
    box 2 4974 (1091-1144) Orders, 1916-1918
    box 2 4975 (0-104) Orders, 1916-1918 cont.
    box 2 4975 (107-207) Orders, 1918-1919
    box 2 4975 (210-450) Orders/Ledger, 1915-1924
    box 2 4975 (453-1340) Orders, 1924-1928
    box 2 4976 (0-524) Orders, 1924-1928 cont.

    Box Reel (Frames)
    box 3 4976 (527-1486) Orders, 1924-1930
    box 3 4977 (0-890) Orders, 1924-1930 cont.
    box 3 4977 (893-1494) Orders, 1928-1952
    box 3 4978 (0-729) Orders, 1928-1952 cont.

    Box Reel (Frames)
    box 4 4978 (732-1318) Orders, 1930-1962
    box 4 4979 (0-124) Orders, 1930-1962 cont.
    box 4 4979 (127-811) Orders, 1936-1956
    box 4 4979 (814-914) Orders, 1923-1928
    box 4 4979 (917-964) Photograph frames and mirror consignments, 1919-1929

    Box Reel (Frames)
    box 5 4979 (967-1048) Frame profiles of orders, 1905-1906
    box 5 4979 (1051-1116) Mirror orders, 1905-1919

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    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.

    Box Reel (Frames)
    box 5 4979 (1119-1351) Invoices, 1923-1930
    box 5 4980 (0-950) Invoices, 1923-1930 cont.
    box 5 4980 (953-1267) Invoices, 1931-1939
    box 5 4980 (1270-1411) Accounts receivable, 1915-1923
    box 5 4981 (0-369) Accounts receivable, 1915-1923 cont.
    box 5 4981 (372-636) Accounts receivable, 1917-1937

    Box Reel (Frames)
    box 6 4981 (372-636) Accounts receivable, 1917-1937 cont.
    box 6 4981 (639-736) General ledger, 1908-1911

    Reel Frames (digitized from microfilm)
    4981 (8 sol) 739-827 General ledger, 1923-1939

    Box Reel (Frames)
    box 6 4981 (829-848) Consignment accounts ledger, 1915-1916
    box 6 4981 (851-930) Consignment accounts ledger, 1915-1922
    box 6 4981 (933-943) Income tax forms, 1911-1914
    box 6 4981 (946-1155) Accounting reports/notes, 1909-1936, undated

    Box Reel (Frames)
    box 7 4982 (0-130) Accounting reports/notes, 1909-1936, undated cont.

    Reel Frames (digitized from microfilm)
    4982 (9 sol) 133-220 Cash book, 1909-1918, undated

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    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.

    Box Reel (Frames)
    box 7 4982 (223-225) Transcribed history notes of R.C. Vose, circa 1903-1939
    box 7 4982 (228-237) Letters (scattered), 1926, 1927, 1953, 1955, undated
    box 7 4982 (240-250) Thulin-Murphy Incorporation documents, 1911
    box 7 4982 (253-313) Meeting record book, 1911-1939
    box 7 4982 (316-366) Stockholder records, 1911-1915, 1922-1933
    box 7 4982 (369-405) Thulin-Murphy stock certificates, 1911-1922
    box 7 4982 (408-419) Insurance Policies, 1914
    box 7 4982 (422-430) Lease extensions, 1906-1913
    box 7 4982 (433-463) Inventories, 1926, 1927, 1929, 1936-1938
    box 7 4982 (466-481) Notes, undated
    box 7 4982 (484-485) Ephemera, undated

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    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.

    Box Reel (Frames)
    box 7 4982 (488-496) Printed Material, 1906

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    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.

    Box Reel (Frames)
    box 7, OV 10 4982 (499-566) Sketches of frames, 1931, 1936, undated

    Box Reel (Frames)
    box 7 4982 (569-572) Print and watercolor, undated

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    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.

    Box Reel (Frames)
    box 7 4982 (575-584) Photographs of Sketches, undated
    box 7 4982 (587-597) Photographs of Sculpture, undated
    box 7 4982 (600-end) Photographs, Miscellaneous, undated

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