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Revision as of 02:59, 27 July 2009 by Cullen328 (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Dirk van Erp
Dirk van Erp (1860 - 1933) was an Dutch-American artisan and metalworker, best known for copper vases and especially for lamps made of copper with mica shades. He was a prominent participant in the Arts and Crafts Movement, and was active in Oakland and San Francisco, CA.
Life
Dirk Koperlager van Erp was born January 1, 1860, in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands. His family were coppersmiths. He immigrated to the United States in 1886, and came to San Francisco in 1890, where he went to work for Union Iron Works. In 1892, he married Mary Richardson Marino. In 1898, he traveled to the Yukon during the Klondike Gold Rush, but failed to find his fortune. He returned to work at the Union Iron Works.
In 1900, he moved to Vallejo, California, and got a job as a coppersmith at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard. He began making lamps from brass shell casings as gifts to friends. He began consigning metal art works to local shops. In 1908, he opened the Art Copper Shop in Oakland, and began exhibiting hos work at local Arts and Crafts exhibitions. In 1909, he exhibited more than two dozen prices at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, a World's Fair held in Seattle, Washington. He won a gold medal.
In 1910, he moved his shop to San Francisco, and entered into a partnership with D'Arcy Gaw, who had attended the Art Institute of Chicago. Although their partnership lasted less than a year, she exerted a strong influence on van Erp's design sensibility.
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