Early 20th Century Design

The Fetcher House in Winnetka, Illinois was designed by local architect Augustus Higginson and built in 1901 for Edwin S. Fechheimer (who later changed his last name to Fetcher). Higginson was a Winnetka resident and member of the Chicago Arts and Crafts Society at Hull House and was therefore the ideal architect to design Fetcher’s home in the desired Arts and Crafts style. In April 1905, The House Beautiful featured the home, praising the architecture and interior design as “simple, sincere, and unpretentious.” [1]

Over the following century, there were several additions and renovations to the home as it passed through three owners before James Hansen purchased it in 1979. Hansen was a passionate and knowledgeable collector, who valued and preserved the history of The Fetcher House. As an artist and industrial designer himself, he had a deep appreciation for the Arts and Crafts movement for its creation of beautiful, functional objects made from natural materials as a reaction against mass production.

Hansen built his collection to fit the style of the home including striking examples of works by important early 20th century makers such as Tiffany Studios, Roycroft, Stickley, and Grueby, as well as Chicago metalsmiths Robert Jarvie and Jessie Preston. Freeman’s | Hindman is honored to present this eclectic and inspired collection in our Early 20th Century Design auction on May 20, 2025 and Artist and Artisan: Fetcher House and the Collection of James G. Hansen auction on June 6, 2025.

[1] Robie, Virginia, “A Bachelor’s Cottage in the Country,” The House Beautiful (April 1905), 30-31.

In overall stable and ready to place condition. There are no breaks, losses, cracks or repairs to the ceramic body. Please note that the underside appears to have been ground down to be more level, perhaps in a past attempt to eliminate visual chips to the lower rim or to even out glaze flow to the underside.

NOTE; The outer ring of the underside is smooth and unglazed showing the raw ceramic. This underside ring has likely been ground down. This is not visible when the vase is placed and the vase retains a clearly visible stamp to the underside. Please see or request additional images

One glaze bubble to the lower face, and some smaller glaze bubbles inherent to the manufacturing process are visible. The top lip is slightly uneven, but without chips Very minor wear to some of the sharp outside edges of the fern-leaf handles not readily visible.

Please see additional images.

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