Page 135 - Sotheby's Fine Chinese Art, Porcelains, Jades, Bronzes 09/16 /17

Mina Merrill Prindle (1864-1963) and her
husband William Martin Prindle (1861-
1944) were prominent citizens of Duluth,
Minnesota at the turn of the 20th century.
Mr. Prindle was a nancier, a railroad
man who became a leading real estate
developer. A passionate advocate for
the region, he encouraged Easterners to
make their way west and settle in Duluth.
Mrs. Prindle was an avid world traveler,
an inveterate art collector, and an active
philanthropist, donating land for the
creation of Duluth’s public parks and
making important cultural contributions to
the city.

In 1905, the Prindles built an imposing
new home in Duluth at 2211 Greysolon
Road, choosing John S. Bradstreet to
design the interiors. Bradstreet’s rm,
Minneapolis Crafthouse, was one of the
earliest and most important workshops
and showrooms o ering Japanese
in uenced Arts & Crafts design in the
United States. Mrs. Prindle held such a
high regard for Bradstreet’s interiors that
some of the designs remained virtually
intact when the Minneapolis Institute of
Art acquired them over seven decades
later. They remain on display today.

In 1926 the family built a second home
in Pasadena, California. The ‘Prindle House’
was designed by the renowned architect
George Washington Smith. Unlike the
spare aesthetic of their Minnesota home,
the Pasadena residence was inspired
by Moorish architecture and its rooms
were lavishly appointed with a range of
international furnishings including a room
referred to as the ‘Chinese sitting room.’
Mrs. Prindle’s fascination with Chinese
art was undoubtedly in uenced by her
friendship with Sarah Pike Conger (1843-
1932), the widow of Edwin Hurd Conger
(1843-1907) who served as the United
States Ambassador to China in Beijing
during the tumultuous years of 1898-
1905. Mrs. Conger’s active engagement
with the culture and people, and unlikely
friendship with Empress Dowager Cixi are
all recorded in her famous memoir, Letters
from China: With Particular Reference to
the Empress Dowager and the Women of
China, Chicago, 1910. Mrs. Prindle acquired
several works of art from the Conger
collection and treasured her signed copy
of the book.