J.H. White Mfg. Co., 1929 (Rejuvenation archives)

Art Craft Fixture Co. #7, 1927 (Rejuvenation archives)

Other images

• J.H. White Mfg. Co., 1929 - Catalog Cover
• Art Craft Fixture Co. #7, 1927 - Catalog Cover

A Tale of Two Fixtures

We began our quest to create a family of rustic, romantic fixtures from the late 1920s and '30s by scouring dozens of original lighting catalogues in Rejuvenation's archives. The goal was to find designs with a simple yet assertive hand-wrought character that would suit a wide range of revival-inspired interiors. Remarkably, two of these treasures turned up side-by-side in a 1929 catalogue from the J.H. White Mfg. Co. of New York, N.Y. (at right).

By combining and adapting the best features of both originals, the Dunthorpe and Hermosa were created - two fixtures that exemplify how Rejuvenation's reproductions can be both authentic to their inspiration while also sensitively updated to offer better design and value.

A Tale of Two Companies

For you history detectives out there (i.e., "lighting geeks"), that 1929 J.H. White catalogue was just the beginning of the story. While developing the Hermosa and Dunthorpe we acquired a 1927 catalogue from the Art Craft Fixture Company of Newark, N.J. that included, to our surprise, the exact same "Dunthorpe" picture (at lower right). Manufacturer catalogues imprinted with distributor names are common - but who was the maker and who was the re-seller? Or did J.H. White buy Art Craft between 1927 and 1929? We may never know - and you may never care - but it's still fun to wonder.