Jacob Wieners Collection: Mystery Burke

6/18/26 21 Comments

Authored & Curated By

M.J.G.

Jacob F. Wieners, Jr. was a Queens, New York–based photographer working in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, with known ties to both Flushing and College Point. His photographs offer a rare look into the homes, streets, businesses, and social life of Queens during a period when many of its older village communities were beginning to change. Rather than simply documenting buildings from the outside, images attributed to Wieners often preserve the more personal side of local history: interiors, furnishings, family spaces, and the quiet details of daily life that are usually lost first. One such photograph, identified as the Burke Residence, opens a small but fascinating window into a well-appointed home of the period. We do not currently know whose home this was, but perhaps by opening the question to the board, this mystery can finally be solved.

Listed only as “The Burke Residence,” this view offers a glimpse from a dining room and a second photo in the opposite direction into an adjoining room. The space has very tall ceilings, older nineteenth-century plaster ceiling moldings, and arched doorways, suggesting a room constructed in an earlier architectural style. Its decoration, however, reflects later nineteenth-century taste. The walls appear to be painted in a flat color, with a paper border or frieze above the picture rail. The ceiling is painted in corresponding tones and finished with simple stenciling, giving the room a layered effect that combines older architectural form with more up-to-date decorative fashion.

A closer look at the dining room table shows a plant placed at the center, adding a soft decorative note to the room. The chairs are also worth noticing, with leather seats and backs bordered by heavy upholstery tacks, a detail that gives them a substantial late nineteenth-century character.

The homeowner has moved the rubber plants close to the window, where they could receive filtered light. Houseplants were very popular in late nineteenth-century homes, especially as part of the broader taste for bringing natural elements indoors. Those fortunate enough to have a sunroom or conservatory could keep plants there, then move them throughout the house when decorating for company. This kind of practice was recommended in some period design and horticultural books, where plants were treated not only as living specimens, but also as decorative furnishings.

The plant on the floor appears to be a possible Chinese fan palm, placed near one of several sideboards visible in this room. Notice how it looks like terra cotta pots are simply place into the ornamental bowl?

The sideboard has a beautiful round mirror, with another object or decorative element visible to the right, though it cannot be clearly made out. The cabinet section above the lower case is asymmetrical, giving the piece a more unusual and visually interesting form.

Here is a closer look at the gasolier hanging in the center of the room above the table. This fixture would have provided the main light for the dining room, supplemented by the gas sconces mounted around the room.

The ceiling is painted with flowers coming out of the corners.

In this view, we see the first of several bird paintings found throughout the room. Below it is one of two glass cabinets in the dining room, with its doors obscured by curtains. The doorway on the left almost certainly leads into the butler’s pantry or kitchen. Screens were often used to soften or obscure access to these more service-oriented areas of the house, and this type of treatment appears in many dining room photographs from the period.

A closer view of the screen reveals the details of its sunburst design and the draped fabric panels.

1889 Briggs & Leibius catalog (Toledo, OH) attached. That screen sold for $20 when most of the other screens in their catalog which ran between $4 and $8.
Thanks again to Bo @ Arcalus for finding this!

The lower portion of the sideboard is very artistically executed, with carved decorative details and bowed proportions that give the piece a graceful, sculptural quality. You can also get a view here of the lower portion of the screen.

The top portion of the sideboard does not shy away from artistic embellishment either. Its supporting columns, carved details, and the small cabinet built into the upper section all add to the elaborate design of the piece. A very simple clock sits on top of the cabinet, providing a quiet contrast to the more decorative woodwork around it.

The glassware offers a small window into the crystal and glass collections the owners not only used, but also wanted to display. Arranged behind glass, these pieces become part of the room’s decoration, reflecting both household use and the pride taken in presenting fine objects.

Moving to the side of the room where the screen stands, then turning back around, we get a view across the dining room toward the hall and into the room beyond. This angle helps show how the dining room connected to the surrounding spaces of the house.

This cabinet is a matching twin to the one on the other side of the room behind the screen. The owner has installed curtains on the glass to obscure what is inside.

This side of the room continues the theme of bird paintings or prints. On each side of the doorway are very large gas sconces, positioned to light the entrance and draw attention to the opening. This was a recurring treatment in dining rooms of the period, with large sconces arranged so they project partly over the doorway or adjacent woodwork. Also notice the glass globes are not the same as the ones on the chandelier. Sometimes done intentionally, sometimes just because they broke. Bo @ Arcalus mentioned to the board the following information that adds more information here. the shades on the wall brackets differ from the shades on the fixture, but this deserves more commentary… In fact the shades on the wall brackets are original to the 1870s fixtures – note the smaller 2-5/8″ shade holders – while not only have the chandelier shades been changed but so have the shade holders as well, to the later 4″ style (which allowed more air to pass through the bottom of the shade to feed the burner).

This is an attractive sideboard, arranged with candles fitted with covers to soften and obscure the harshness of the flame. The effect would have added both decoration and a warmer, more diffused light to the room.

Another view of the chandelier can be seen here, giving a clearer sense of its placement within the room.

Thanks to Bo @ Arcalus for finding the same fixture from the 1871 Mitchell & Vance catalog. This style of fixture was certainly fashionable in the 1870s and may date closer to the construction of the house, rather than to the later decorative treatment seen in the room.

This view looks through the arched doorway into the hallway. The woodwork is very wide and nicely executed, giving the opening a substantial architectural presence. To the left, the tops of the doors have curved glass panels shaped to fit within the arched doorway. Sheer curtains have been somewhat awkwardly tacked across the top. Looking farther through the hall and into the room beyond, we can see another paper frieze.

This room appears to be a billiard room. The billiard table is covered, with a billiard gas light hanging above it. Notice the potted plant placed in the middle of the doorway, another small example of how plants were used decoratively throughout the house.

There are actually two glass plate negatives of this room. In the other view, it appears that someone decided halfway through the exposure to open the doors. Looking closely, you can still see the transparent outline of the pocket doors in their closed position, which gives a better idea of the shape of the door panels. Also notice that, in this view, there is no plant on the floor.

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