Nutting, Wallace, 1861-1941

Variant names

Hide Profile

Minister, photographer, expert on and producer of reproductions of early American furniture Wallace Nutting (1861-1941) was born November 17, 1861, in Rockbottom, Massachusetts. He attended Philips Academy (1880-1883), Harvard College (1883-1886), Hartford Theological Seminary (1886-1887), and Union Theological Seminary (1887-1888). On June 5, 1888, he married Mariet Griswold Caswell. Nutting served as minister to several parishes including Freyburg, ME (1887), Passaic NJ (1887-88), Newark NJ (1888-1889), St. Paul, MN (1889-1891), Seattle WA (1891-1894) and Providence, RI (1891-1904). Nutting took up photography in 1897, and soon began to copyright, publish and sell his photographs. In 1904 Nutting suffered a breakdown and gave up the ministry to pursue photography full time. In 1906 he and his wife purchased and restored a farm in rural Southbury, CT, christening it "Nuttinghame". They turned the barn into a studio with dormitory space for the girls who hand-tinted his photographs. In 1912 moved his business to Framingham, MA, and named his home mthere "Nuttingholm". In additional to landscapes, Nutting did photographs of historic scenes, many taken in a series of five historic houses he restored. Nutting became an expert on colonial furniture, publishing seve ral books and giving illustrated lectures on historic furniture. In the mid 1920s, Nutting sold his personal collection of early American furniture to J.P. Morgan, Jr., who donated it to the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford CT. Nutting had begun to manufacture reproductions of colonial furniture, first at Saugus and after 1917 in a factory in Framingham. In 1922 with Vermont Beautiful, Nutting's publishing house began to issue a series of nostalgic travel books, each one focusing on a state or country. Although Nutting extolled the past, he was adept at use of modern advertising techniques and the interrlated nature of his various ventures. Nutting was in demand as a public speaker, and also occaisionally returned to preaching. Wallace Nutting died July 1941. When Mariet Nutting died (August 31, 1944) her will transferred most of her estate to Berea College (Berea, KY), including the furniture factory's tool, equipment, plans templates and rights to the name Wallace Nutting". Berea then sold these to Drexel Furniture Company. Nutting's photographic business continued under Ernest John Donnelly (until 1945) and Esther Svenson. In 1971 Svenson closed the business and ordered the pohtographic plates destroyed. In 1973 Justine Monroe and a group of collectors established the Wallace Nutting Collectors Club.

From the description of Wallace Nutting papers. (Minuteman Library Network). WorldCat record id: 778376804

Clergyman, photographer, and author.

From the description of Photograph, [19--]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 70965701

Wallace Nutting was a Congregationalist minister who became a photographer and furniture maker. He also collected antiques and wrote a number of books on the topic, his most noted title being his three volume Furniture Treasury.

From the description of Drawings and templates, ca.1918-ca.1940. (Winterthur Library). WorldCat record id: 261233333

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Goodwin, William B. (William Brownell), b. 1866. William B. Goodwin research collection and family papers, 1845-1932. Connecticut Historical Society
referencedIn Fry, Joshua, 1700 (ca.)-1754. Photographs of "Viewmont", Fry home on Scottsville Road, south of Carter's Bridge taken November 1932 [manuscript] ca. 1932-1950. University of Virginia. Library
creatorOf Nutting, Wallace, 1861-1941. Letter, 1917 Dec. 20, Framingham Center, Massachusetts, to Harold G. Rugg, Hanover, N.H. Dartmouth College Library
creatorOf Nutting, Wallace, 1861-1941. Charles Nathaniel Vilas farm photographs, 1912. Wisconsin Historical Society, Newspaper Project
creatorOf Nutting, Wallace, 1861-1941. Photograph, [19--]. Frankenmuth Historical Association
creatorOf Nutting, Wallace, 1861-1941. Artist file. Brooklyn Museum Libraries & Archives
creatorOf Nutting, Wallace, 1861-1941. Drawings and templates, ca.1918-ca.1940. Winterthur Library
referencedIn Wallace Nutting Collectors' Club. Records 1896-1996. Bowling Green State University, BGSU Libraries
creatorOf Nutting, Wallace, 1861-1941. Photographs of early colonial furniture. New York Public Library System, NYPL
creatorOf Nutting, Wallace, 1861-1941. Typed letter signed "D" on behalf of Wallace Nutting to: "Hugh Fullerton" August 17, 1925. Wellesley College
referencedIn Century Company records New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division
creatorOf Nutting, Wallace, 1861-1941. Wallace Nutting papers. Minuteman Library Network
referencedIn Fogg Art Museum 20th-century history of photography collection, 1900-1984 (inclusive). Harvard University Art Museum
referencedIn Wendell family papers Houghton Library
creatorOf Nutting, Wallace H. The Wallace H. Nutting papers, 1950-1989. U.S. Army Heritage & Education Center
creatorOf Nutting, Wallace. Nutting, Wallace : [photography bio file]. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Thomas J. Watson Library
creatorOf Francis Patrick Garvan papers Archives of American Art
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Brown, E. Blanche. person
correspondedWith Century Company corporateBody
correspondedWith Dellenbaugh, Frederick Samuel, 1853-1935 person
associatedWith Donnelly, Ernest John. person
associatedWith Fry, Joshua, 1700 (ca.)-1754. person
associatedWith Fullerton, Hugh S. (Hugh Stuart), 1873-1945. person
associatedWith Garvan, Francis P. (Francis Patrick), 1875-1937. person
associatedWith Goodwin, William B. (William Brownell), b. 1866. person
associatedWith Nutting, Mariet. person
associatedWith Old America Co. corporateBody
associatedWith Rugg, Harold Goddard, 1883-1957. person
associatedWith United States. Army. Armored Division, 3rd. corporateBody
associatedWith United States. Army. Infantry Division, 1st. corporateBody
associatedWith Vilas, Charles Nathaniel. person
associatedWith Wallace Nutting Collectors Club. corporateBody
associatedWith Wallace Nutting Collectors' Club. corporateBody
correspondedWith Wendell family. family
Place Name Admin Code Country
New England
New Hampshire--Alstead
Central America
Massachusetts--Framingham
United States
Subject
Cabinetmakers
Commercial catalogs
Clocks and watches
Colonial revival (Art)
Costume
Family farms
Furniture
Furniture, Colonial
Furniture, Colonial
Furniture design
Furniture, Early American
Furniture, Early American
Furniture finishing
Furniture industry and trade
Furniture making
Furniture repairing
Korean War, 1950-1953
Low-intensity conflicts (Military science)
Photography
Photography of interiors
Rivers
Sermons
Shells in art
Vietnam War, 1961-1975
Vietnam War, 1961-1975
Women in art
Occupation
Artists
Photographers
Activity

Person

Birth 1861

Death 1941

Americans

English

Information

Permalink: http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6z3214h

Ark ID: w6z3214h

SNAC ID: 40642920