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Thi s paper is a shortened ve rsion of the third chapte r of my dissertatio n, "Japan ism and the American Aesthetic inlerior, 1867-1892: Case stu li es by James McNeiH Whi s tl er, Lou is Comfort Tiffany, lanforcl White, and Frank Lloyd Wright" (Boston ni versily, 2010). I am gra teful lo Paul Miller of the Preservation Society of Newport Cou nty for making archival photographs, diaries, and Lran cripts of court records related lo 1 ingscote availabl e to me. M \\ U
CRIPT SOuHC loS
David King diaries, Preservati on Soc iety of Newport County, Newport, Rhode Isla nd ewporl Coun ty Probate Couit, 1ewporl
ewporl Histori cal Society, Newport
1. Since this text focuses on an English-speaking architect and patrons, and an American house, it uses the term "Ja pa ni sm" ra ther tha n the French "japonisme." Both refer Lo the Western fascina tion with all things Japanese after the Japa nese recom111encecl internati onal trade in 1854. A "Japa nist" denotes an enthusiast for Japanis111, and "Japa ne que" 111ea ns Japanese-influenced . 2. Many of McKi111 , Mead, and White's drawings and reco rds were discarded when their office moved in 1891 and 1894. Since Japa n ism was importan t in Wh ite's career for a relati vely short period, hi Loria ns of hi s entire output discuss the trend onl y brieDy. In his dissertation on White, Lawrence \Vodehouse, White of Mc Kim, Mead, ancl White ( ew York, 1988), pp.
1 24~25 .
for exa mpl e, 111enti ons the Japanese inrluence in the l(i ngscole dining roo111 but does not exp la in how it works. Si111ilarly, Vincent Scu ll y a nd Marilynn Johnson di scuss White's Japani s111 al Kingscole, but onl y in a cur ory manner. Vincen t Scully, The Shingle Style (New Have n, 1955), p. 137, writes of the house's cl in ing roo111: " Here the continuous pla te rail of the dining roo111, approx imately six fee t. ten inc hes above the Door, creates a hori zontal continuity of positi ve scale ... lt passes across the beautifully detailed gla block walls rlanking the fireplace, across the fireplace itself, a nd knits the space of the room together, in a definition not by planes of wall but by an interwo ven basketry of ske letal ele111enls. Here ... there is much of the Japanese." Johnson 1986, p. 127, writes that the Kingscole dining roo111 is " 111ore startling for its pe ri od a nd more obviously Japanesque'路 than 路white's contempora neous Isaac Bell House, but does not elaborate furth er. 3. On the Japanese di splay al the Centennial Exposition, see: Ryde ll 1984, pp. 29-30; and eil Harris. 路'All the world a melting pot? Ja pa n al Ameri ca n fair , 1876- 1904" in Mutual lmages: Essays in American}apanese Relations, edited by Aki ra Tri ye (Cambridge, Mass., 1975), pp. 2~54. On the Exposition's influe nce on American Japa nism, see Hosley 1990, pp. 29---46. 4. The house was named " Kingscote" in 1880 (Newport County Probate Court records, vol. 33. p. 157: June 1, 1880). T he best sources on the house' history are Chero l l 980 a nd Walter J. Fergu on, I ingscote:
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Newport Cottage Orne (Newport, 1977). 5. For the King fami ly history, see Co llins 2003. 6. Although he was the third Dav id King in three genera ti ons. the David I ing who commi ssioned the [ ingscole addition was known as David I ing Jr. and not Da vid King TU, as some authors have ca ll ed him. There was significant interest in Japan in New York and Boston before the 1876 Centenni al Exposition (Laidlaw 1996, p. 84). 7. David King Jr. Lo Sarah I ing and Dr. David I ing Jr. , Dece111ber 4, 1858; Newport Historical Society, box 144, fold er 2. 8. David King Jr. lo Dr. David King Jr., Jul y 1868; Newport Hi storical Society, box 144, fo lder 2. 9. On June 3, 1859 King wrote Lo his parents: "I shall send you a lot of Japane e lacqlue r] eel ware, by some of ou r ships Lo arri ve in November abo ut also a few of the Japa nese coins." David I ing Jr.. Lo a ra h King and Dr. Dav id l ing Jr.; ewporl Hi storical ociety, box 144, folder 2. I0. David King belonged Lo a number of organiza tions th rough which he could have met McKim, Mead, and White. He was a trustee of the Newport Hospital, a governor of the ewporl Casino, and a member of the ewporl Reading Room, ewporl Hi storica l Society, Newport's Redwood Library, and New York's Union Club. David King's obituary described him as "a gentleman of large wealth [who] held a high position in
Newport's summer society" ("Loca l malle rs," Newport Mercury, Ma rc h I0, l 894). 11 . Dav id I ing' diari es (Preserva tion Socif'Ly of 1ewporl County) indica te that he and Ella vis ited the Centen ni al Expos itio n on June 2, 3, and 5, 1876.
12. Cherol 1980. p. 479. 13. Jorcly and Monkhouse 1982, p. 18 1, also credit the 1876-80 redecoration of IGngscole lo Ella King. 14. Before White's work al f ingscole. the most extens ive re novation Lo the house's exterior were by the ewporl firm George Champlin Maso n a nd on, who enlarged Lhe d ining room and servicf' wing in J877-78. The Kings also added a Vermont red sla te roof and installed indoor plumbing a t th is ti me. 15. See Catalogue of a Collection of Books . .. Fanning the Library of Mr. Richard Grant W hite (New York , 1870). 16. La Farge began coll ecting Japanese prints in the late 1850s and experime nted with Japa nesque compositions and painting on Japanese lacque r beginning in the early 1860s. Tn 1870, he publi shed "An essay on Japanese a rt," the fi rst s ignificant America n stud y of Japanese art, in Raphael PumpeUy's fl cross flmerica and fl sia ( ew York, 1870). On La Farge and Japanese art, ee Adams l 985. 17. In an ] 878 leller. White described the Gilders as his acqua in tances (Stanford White