Adolph Holstein was an Austrian immigrant to America. He was a fine woodcarver by trade. He found his way to Syracuse, New York, and, in 1890, opened the Syracuse Ornamental Company (also known as "Syroco"). With a handful of hired carvers, Adolph began supplying beautiful hand-carved wooden objects for the late Nineteenth Century building boom: mirror frames, furniture, moulding trim and other ornamental interior embellishments. Syroco even produced hand-carved funeral caskets.
Syroco's early years were productive and profitable. But the slow and laborious hand-carving would always limit the amount of production Syroco could enjoy. In the 1920's, Adolph developed a method of mass-producing handsome wood-product items—which benefited from his taste and skill as an expert woodcarver. He blended a slurry of wood pulp (90%), flour and resin binders, creating a mixture which could be cast in (beautifully-carved) moulds. Each piece would then be hand-finished to create an item which appeared hand-crafted. Although the finished items were not hand-carved, the original wooden model had been crafted by a master carver (and Syroco had the talent to create exquisite originals). The company produced mirror frames, clocks, bookends, desk accessories, tie racks, religious decor and boxes (like the one shown above). Syroco developed this mass-production side business while continuing to produce original hand-carved items throughout the Twenties.
With the Thirties—and the onset of the Great Depression—Syroco abandoned the hand-carved business and put all its effort into the cast "Syrocowood" objects. They were able to make beautifully-designed items, which looked and felt like wood, but at a modest cost. This formula helped Syroco weather the bad economy. It was at this point that the Art Deco aesthetic began to inform Syroco's design strategy.
Shown above, a "Syrocowood" box bearing the handsomely-sculpted profile of a race horse. Although the box itself was cast in a mould, the crisp rendering of the horse's profile testifies to the skill of the model-maker sculptor. This box may have been used for cigarettes or as a desk and dresser box to keep-safe little items—from cufflinks to paperclips. Click on the photo above to learn more about it.
Though our Greenwich Village store is now permanently closed, LEO Design is still alive and well! Please visit our on-line store where we continue to sell Handsome Gifts (www.LEOdesignNYC.com).
To arrange a visit our Pittsburgh showroom (by private appointment only), please call 917-446-4248.