More on the marble colums of the New Study... There were 5 in one set and 3 in another. They were ordered from Nassauische Marmorwerke , a marble working firm located in Nassau Villmar on der Lahn in Germany. The pillars were ordered through the Anton Ohlert, a company with operations in germany and Russia.
There were quarries at Villmar, but I was told the marble was from quarries in Austria. The factory began work in the 1800's and I believe it is still in business. in 1900 the company was famous for its production of speciality shapes and a huge variety of stones. Through their equipment and the skill of their workers they produced many marble pieces in Art Nouveau style. Meltzer ordered from them because they had a fast turn-around time and guaranteed safe delivery. The columns cost over 3,000 marks, but I am not sure of the exact cost because the receipts here are hard to understand.
Anton Ohlert was a Russian merchant who was born in Russia in 1840 to a family of German origin. he arranged for the sale of Russian commodities like fur and timber for transport to Germany. His Berlin ofice was opened in 1871. Ohlert was the exclusive representive of Singer in Russia and he built and operated the first Singer factory in Russia in the city of Podolsk. He sold the firm in 1900 to the Ulrich family, who still run the company today in Germany. The company halted its operations in Russia during WWI and ended them altogetehr during the revolution. Later in the 1920's the company entered into deals with the young Soviet Government.
Bob
