Mantel

The Aesthetic Movement flourished in Cincinnati with the production of art furniture as introduced and taught by three English expatriates: Henry L. Fry, his son William H. Fry, and Benn Pitman. Henry Fry had maintained a woodcarving studio in Bath, England, and had claimed to have assisted in important architectural commissions in London. He also boasted of having studied under Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin and Sir George Gilbert Scott, the most successful proponents of the Gothic Revival style in England.

The Frys immigrated to America in 1850, settled in Cincinnati in 1851, and soon obtained woodcarving commissions for the house interiors of prominent local citizens. Joseph Longworth, who helped establish the Cincinnati Art Museum and the Art Academy of Cincinnati, was one of the Frys' most important patrons. In the 1850s the Frys decorated the interior of Longworth’s country villa, “Rookwood.” The carved grapevine motif on this mantel from Rookwood is a tribute to Joseph Longworth’s father, Nicholas, who introduced grape cultivation to the United States.

Joseph Longworth’s called his estate Rookwood for the many crows (or rooks) living in the surrounding oak trees. Maria Longworth, Joseph's daughter, later named her famous pottery works after her family home.