It is
a wine kettle, "conceived by Wright as a way to heat wine over an open fire," according to the text of a book on Fallingwater. It was apparently only used there once -- and only after the wine was heated in the kitchen, first.
Because the Usonian Exhibition house was only a demonstration model, the logs in the fireplace were no doubt never lit.
Thanks, SDR--
Now that you've informed us that it was for wine, I was able to find a few more details (from a 1995 NYT article:)
"Wright and the Kaufmanns planned to dramatize the arrival of guests (and draw their eyes to the boulder fireplace) by presenting them with a cup of wine warmed in a huge cast-iron kettle that swings into the fireplace. It looks majestic. Unfortunately, the Cherokee-red paint that Wright loved to use on metal (he even painted his car Cherokee red) flaked off when the kettle went over the flames. Also, the lid on the wine warmer weighed 70 pounds, and the kettle was so massive that it took hours to heat. So the Kaufmanns warmed their wine like normal folk, in a pot on the kitchen stove."
(PS: Sorry to hijack this Danish chair thread and yammer on about the kettle... I'll stop now.)
Stow Davis?
Could they be Stow Davis or Gunlocke? If the Usonian houses were intended to be more accessible, might they have used a contract furniture maker to provide chairs that would take the wear, but still not be too terribly expensive?
I only think of Stow Davis because of a couple of the details: the reverse taper to the legs looks more like Robsjohn Gibbings than anything Danish, and also the arm which extends slightly beyond the front leg looks like some other "Danish style" details that Stow Davis employed. The upholstered portion looks too heavy and chunky to me to be Scandinavian, but makes me think of some vintage Gunlocke designs I've seen.
This is all speculation, I've never seen that design before. Still, if I had to bet, I'd say American rather than Danish.
Thanks
pegboard. That makes senes to me. And I would have expected Wright to "buy American" if at all possible. A similar chair, in light-colored upholstery, was used in his New York office, in a suite sometimes called Taliesin East, in the Plaza Hotel. He only mildly customized the rooms; there was even a crystal chandelier on the ceiling of the office space. "When in Rome. . ." ?
The Kauffman wine kettle was 22" in diameter, made of 3/8" steel. Way bigger than necessary. . .or practical.
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