RosenThe Rosen Association, Seattle

Forty-four pieces, 1913–1979

The heritage collection

Pieces the house made for itself, to prove a point or to keep its makers at the bench, kept in working order at the House and shown on any visit. None is autonomous, and none has needed a license.

The Copyist’s hand at his desk. A slant-topped writing desk with a sheet of paper carrying four lines of upright copperplate. The clerk’s hand, in a buttoned cuff, holds a steel pen to the page; an inkwell with a feather stands at the top corner of the desk. NO. 8
Atelier drawing 8, 1913The Copyist

The Copyist

A seated clerk who dips his pen and writes, in a fair hand, the first Article of the Association.

1913 · RA.1913.2

The Lark Lantern. A domed cylindrical cage of thirteen brass bars on a moulded base with a winding key. A small bird with its beak open stands on a perch inside. NO. 41
Atelier drawing 41, 1922The Lark Lantern

The Lark Lantern

A singing bird in a domed brass lantern, with three songs and a pause between them that visitors fill without meaning to.

1922 · RA.1922.4

The Sleeping Hound on its cushion. A greyhound curled asleep on a tufted velvet cushion with tasseled corners, its long head resting on its outstretched forelegs and its tail drawn around its hind feet. Its eyes are closed and its ear folded back. NO. 64
Atelier drawing 64, 1931The Sleeping Hound

The Sleeping Hound

A greyhound asleep on a velvet cushion at the foot of the main stair. It breathes, and when it dreams its forepaw twitches.

1931 · RA.1931.1

The Correspondent at her typewriter. A full-size typewriter of 1957 with a sheet of paper in the platen showing four typed lines, its four rows of round keys reached by the Correspondent’s two hands, which rest with their fingers curved over the keyboard. NO. 117
Atelier drawing 117, 1958The Correspondent

The Correspondent

A woman at a typewriter who writes the house’s reply to every letter: that it will answer within the week.

1958 · RA.1958.3

The Penfield tone cabinet, 1979. A walnut cabinet on four turned feet, with a slatted grille below and a single round dial flanked by two knobs above. NO. 163
Atelier drawing 163, 1979Penfield tone cabinet, Mk I

Penfield tone cabinet, Mk I

The first Penfield instrument: a walnut cabinet with twelve registers, made by Eldon Rosen as the piece that elected him an Associate.

1979 · RA.1979.1

Pair of finches in a gilt cage. A domed gilt cage on a molded base with two small finches on separate perches, facing each other, one with its beak open. NO. 14
Atelier drawing 14, 1914Pair of finches in a gilt cage

Pair of finches in a gilt cage

Two finches that sing to each other in turn, the second always a little late, as finches are.

1914 · RA.1914.1

Further records

  • The Weather Child, 1934A child in a yellow coat who opens a small umbrella about an hour before it rains. RA.1934.1
  • The Listener, 1971A bronze bust of a woman who turns, slowly, toward whoever in the room is speaking loudest. RA.1971.2

Also in the collection

A selection of the other thirty-six pieces
YearPieceAccession
1919The Draughtsman’s Cat, which washesRA.1919.2
1925Mantel clock with a sleeping foxRA.1925.3
1946Nightingale in a silver cage, for the reserveRA.1946.2
1951The Chess Clerk, who resigns gracefullyRA.1951.1
1964A pair of hands at a piano, playing one hymnRA.1964.4

The full catalog, with a record for every piece, is kept in the Archive and may be consulted by appointment. Pieces are not lent. Keepers of pieces made by the house for private clients before 1979 may write to the Archive for a heritage extract.

Studies

The house also keeps the studies it made on the way to its larger pieces. They are not part of the collection, which ends in 1979, the year of the first Penfield. One is shown: Nexus-1 study, finished in 1998 (RA.1998.1). The later Nexus studies are not shown.