The National Texas Longhorn Museum

 

The Horn Furniture of
Herman Metz

Metz, a St. Joseph, Missouri fireman who died in the line of duty,
created masterpieces of horn furniture --
many with horn veneering!
His horn furniture was displayed at the 1904's World's Fair in St. Louis and
several sparkling examples are featured on this page.

Read more about Herman Metz, his incredible horn furniture and horn veneering

Largest Known Piece of Horn Furniture

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Stands an incredible 8 ft. 3 inches tall and 5 ft. 10 inches wide!

Constructed of oak, mahogany, and walnut, this three-mirror dresser is substantial and made for use. It is far heavier than two men can lift.

The entire 7-sided front wooden surface is covered with 1164 pieces of hand-cut, polished steer horn (horn veneer), fit together with a high degree of precision and abundant mitering, and held in place with glue and nearly 9000 brass finishing nails.

Eight drawers with pulls fashioned from horn.

Nineteen hooves adorn the bottom.

14 sets of buffalo and 8 sets of black cow horns decorate the front -- in striking contrast to the mostly yellow horn veneering.

Sits on 7 iron, wooden-wheel casters with an 1886 patent date.

An Enormous Undertaking!

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An Up-close View of Horn Veneering.

Drawer pulls made of horn.

Thousands of brass finishing nails.

Buffalo horns.

Horn veneering is the rarest form of horn furniture making and, to date, only six makers of horn-veneered furniture are known to me: Herman Metz, Wenzel Friedrich, Charles Puppe, and the three other makers are unidentified.     

Read more about horn veneering.

Horn Goblet

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11 inches tall       6 inches across

Carved hands and hearts of horn

Hinged top

Has little screws made from horn

 

A Truly Unique Item!

 

Buffalo Horn Hatrack

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Displayed at 1904 World's Fair

Trimmed with cattle horn folk-art pieces

About 26 inches tall   x    23 inches wide

Leather-covered shield

Beveled glass mirror framed with cattle horn

13 carved hands of horn
(In the Victorian period, hands were a symbol of friendship.)

5 bowties of horn

6 horn pockets

4 horn rosettes

46 handmade acorns of horn

A Classic Piece of American Horn Folk Art!

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Hands and bowties made from horn.

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Rosettes, pockets and acorns made from horn.

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Mirror framed with horn and acorns.

 

Child's Horn Rocking Chair

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Herman Metz probably made this rocking chair for his daughters in the 1890’s.

28 inches tall    14 inches wide

Cushioned seat covered with the type of material commonly used on buggies.

The back, arms, legs and rockers are fashioned in a framework of steel rods over which has been placed 533 pieces of drilled cattle horn.

Into these pieces are inlaid 525 dots of horn.

Into the back and arms were inlaid four stars and three diamonds made of horn.

The ends of the steel rods were fitted with nine hand-carved acorn finials also made of horn.

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Ella and Herman Metz

At home in St. Joseph, Missouri.
Between 1904-17. 

With a portion of his horn furniture, displayed at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, which includes this remarkable veneered horn table.

Metz is holding a horn cane, which features an inlaid dot pattern, a hallmark of his work.

 

 

 

Hall Tree

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The Herman Metz Hall Tree with Mirror

Believed to be about six feet tall.

The wooden surface covered with hundreds of pieces of cattle horn veneer and trimmed with 26 steer horns.

On display at the 1904 World's Fair.

Veneered horn furniture is the rarest class of all American horn furniture made.

 

To learn about horn veneering, click here.

 

Read about Herman Metz

 

 National Texas Longhorn Museum
Click on the following links to learn about old steer horns, horn furniture & related items!
** Home ** Alan Rogers ** Contact ** Horn Gallery 1 ** Horn Gallery 2 **
 ** Horn Chairs -- Compare the Chairs of Puppe, Friedrich, Mittmann and the Appel Bros. **   
** Horn Chairs ** Horn Hatracks ** Horn Tables ** Learn About Horn Furniture **
** Buckhorn & Horn Palace Photos ** Wenzel & Albert Friedrich -- and Billie Keilman's Horn Palace Information **
** Herman Metz Horn Furniture Photos ** Metz Information **
** Bobcat Twister ** Champion (The Famous Steer) ** Old Photos of Steers, Cows & Bulls ** Cattlemen's Banner **
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The Alan Rogers Longhorn Museum    2007-2018