| Dirk
van Erp was a master craftsman and coppersmith who established
a studio in San Francisco, California to produce very high quality,
hand worked production of lamps and other furnishings in the
Arts
and cCrafts style. Like most arts and crafts pioneers, production
was relatively limited. At his peak, van Erp employed no more
than 13 coppersmiths who manufactured his designs, and some reports
cite as few as 5 not including his son and his daughter Agatha
who worked at the company. Two of his metalsmiths, August Tiesselinck
and Harry Dixon, eventually established their own shops to produce
Arts and Crafts works similar to van Erp. Unlike Tiffany
Studios lamps which were produced according to blueprints
and forms, Dirk van Erp production was completely handmade and
resulted in subtle variations in size, style, and hammering of
the individual work.
Dirk van Erp was a native
of Leeuwarden in the Netherlands where he learned his craft
working in the family hardware business. van Erp emigrated to
the United States in 1886, traveling to San Francisco where
he began working metal forms by hand hammering vases from
discarded brass military shell casings while employed at the
Mare Island Naval Shipyards. He gave some pieces away to his
friends but increasingly sold them at crafts fairs, creating
positive word of mouth and growing success. He opened his first
retail store, The Copper Shop, in Oakland, California in 1908,
and he established Dirk van Erp Studios in San Francisco in
1910, producing primarily lamps with hammered copper bases and
mica shades. Dirk van Erp used only the very highest quality
materials and adhered to the principles of hand working with
simple tools and limited production of items. These principles
distinguished van Erp work from similar styles produced by Roycroft
which evolved into more of a mass market operation. In addition
to lamps, van Erp manufactured an assortment of hand hammered
trays, bowls, candlesticks, bookends, desk accessories, and
vases according to the same principles of quality and craftsmanship.
Most work was in copper although brass, iron, and other metals
were also used. The van Erp mark of a windmill (reminding him
of his origins in Holland) over the name Dirk van Erp appears
on most all Dirk van Erp Company production.
All period Dirk van
Erp production is well collected today, with lamps bringing
the highest values and usually considered the pinnacle of Arts
and Crafts design. Most of his lamps were produced on a commission
basis and represented approximately 25% - 35% of total output.
Dirk van Erp lamps were expensive even at the time of their
production, retailing for approximately $25 to $150. Van Erp
occasionally collaborated with other top arts and crafts manufacturers
such as Grueby,
but for the most part van Erp Studios continued to produce finely
styled and hand crafted metalwork with only the handful of skilled
craftsmen he employed.
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