Robert Graves Company Explained

The Robert Graves Company was an American wallpaper manufacturer based in New York City. The company was active between 1843 and 1929.[1]

The company, founded by the Irish immigrant Robert Graves, first operated from a five-story showroom and factory building on East 35th Street, in the Madison Square area.[1] The company's success necessitated larger premises; in the 1860s Graves moved the company to Brooklyn, near Fulton Street and Carlton Avenue.[1] In the 1870s, the Brooklyn architect William B. Ditmars was commissioned to expand the Carlton street building, adding a new five-story building behind it.[1]

The New York Times reported that the Brooklyn factory was scheduled to be sold at auction April 8, 1930.[2]

Wallpapers produced by the company are in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art,[3] the Brooklyn Museum,[4]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Spellen . Suzanne . Robert Graves Wallpaper Company: A Piece Of Brooklyn History . Brownstoner . 1 September 2015.
  2. Web site: FACTORY AT AUCTION.; Brooklyn Plant of Graves Company to Be Sold April 8. . The New York Times . 23 March 1930.
  3. Web site: Wallpaper . www.metmuseum.org.
  4. Web site: Brooklyn Museum . www.brooklynmuseum.org.