A Fine American Renaissance Paint-Decorated Mahogany and Maple Bedroom Suite, c. 1875, attributed to Pottier and Stymus, New York, inscribed "29030 Knickerbocker", comprising a bedstead and dresser; the bed with arched headboard centered with a painted panel of a Naiad, baluster and volute stiles, bracketed rails, footboard centered by an engaged urn flanked by two panels and curved sides, height 82 in., width 64 in., length 76 in.; the dresser with arched and blocked mirror crest with Limoniad panel, candle shelves on architectonic stiles, blocked case with inset marble top, three graduated drawers and bracket plinth, height 92 1/2 in., width 53 in., depth 24 in. Note: The use of a four or five-digit numbering system by Pottier and Stymus before 1888 is well-known and documented in Kristin Herrons' article on Glenmont, the Thomas Edison residence in West Orange, New Jersey. The digits on a Pottier and Stymus example could be penciled, impressed, or stenciled in black ink. In addition to the n mber, the client's name also appears, ("Pedder" in the case of the Glenmont furnishings or "Knickerbocker" on the lot seen here). (1) Herron also notes that the numbers were probably assigned chronologically; low digits, such as "Ingersol 3924" on an Egyptian Revival chair at the Metropolitan Museum of Art dates from c. 1870, and a c. 1882 wardrobe at Glenmont is marked with a higher number "Pedder 66595". (2) Much of what is known about the Pottier and Stymus numbering system can be gleaned from the 1875 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition's Golden Book of Celebrated Manufacturers and Merchants in the United States. The exhibition catalogue describes how the firm scrupulously photographed and tracked "...each piece, from the cheapest to the most expensive...and (it) retains the same number til it comes forth in one of the numerous elegant productions..." and "...encased (photographs) in elegantly bound albums, for the inspection of the patrons of the establishment." (3) An 1888 fire in the manufactory destroy d the documentation described in 1875, and probably terminated use of the numbers in subsequent work from the firm. (4) The inscribed number in ink on this suite "29030" indicates manufacture before 1878 An important Pottier and Stymus cabinet in the Foote Collection bearing the number "35023" was commissioned for the c. 1878 George M. Pullman Residence at 1729 Prairie Avenue, Chicago. (5) Reference: (1) Herron. "The Modern Gothic Furniture of Pottier and Stymus." Magazine Antiques. (May 1999) p. 765 (2) Ibid. p. 768, pl. XIII-XIV and note 15 (3) Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition. Golden Book of Celebrated Manufacturers and Merchants in the United States, p. 12 (4) Herron. Ibid, p. 769, note 17 (5) Chicago Historical Society Photography Archive.