Renard Koehnemann Collection

Renard Koehnemann (1918-1999). Trained in the Arts and Crafts tradition, Renard Koehnemann designed and created silver chalices that combined his devout Catholic faith with a belief in modern design. Koehnemann studied religious art in the College of Fine Arts at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and philosophy at DePaul University in Chicago. At DePaul, Koehnemann discovered in the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas a confirmation of the importance of originality and craftsmanship. He apprenticed with Daniel Pederson at the Kalo Shop, the finest workshop for silver work in Chicago. Koehnemann's hand-raised silverwork and lathed stones, as well as his streamlined, geometric designs, reflect the Kalo Shop's Arts and Crafts style. Koehnemann began his own business in 1946, initially sharing the Kalo Shop facilities at 222 S. Michigan Avenue in Chicago. The bulk of his work consists of about 270 hand-wrought chalices and patens for priests from the Chicago area and the Midwest. Although Koehnemann sent potential clients photographs and descriptions of completed work to spur their imaginations, he stressed the originality and craftsmanship of each chalice. Koehnemann also designed wedding bands and Nativity displays that reflected his interest in a streamlined, modern style for religious imagery. Tax disputes forced him to close his business in 1967.

Robert Riddle Jarvie (1865-1941). Born of Scottish parents in Schenectady, New York, Jarvie moved to Chicago and worked as a city clerk, designing metal objects as a hobby. In 1904, he left his position to found the Jarvie Shop. With little formal training in metalsmithing, Jarvie designed and created candlesticks, lanterns, bowls, trophies, and other objects, first in copper, iron, and bronze, and later in silver. Jarvie's designs adhered to the Arts and Crafts Movement principles of simplicity, natural motifs, and an emphasis on handwork. His metalwork attracted a large and enthusiastic clientele in turn-of-the-century Chicago. This success led Jarvie to relocate his workshop to the Old English Cottage at the Chicago Stockyards. With the outbreak of World War I, the demand for handcrafted silver declined; after 1917, Jarvie abandoned his workshop and worked as a salesman for the silver department of Peacock's Store.

The Renard Koehnemann Collection includes photographs, writings, and drawings of chalices custom-made for ecclesiastical use. This collection relates to American ecclesiastical decorative art during the 1950s and 1960s and its development from the Arts and Crafts Movement of the early twentieth century designers such as Robert Riddle Jarvie. The bulk of the materials dates from the 1950s and 1960s. Series I, Koehnemann Papers, includes writings by Koehnemann pertaining to his religious and artistic philosophy and information on chalices for clients. This series also includes design drawings for chalice ornamentation. Series II, Photographs, includes images of chalices in color and black and white prints. Series III, includes published materials on Robert Riddle Jarvie collected by Jarvie's grandniece, Nina Jarvie Little and pertaining to her research on Jarvie's genealogy.

SERIES I: RENARD KOEHNEMANN PAPERS. Materials are arranged chronologically by date.

SERIES II: PHOTOGRAPHS. Prints are arranged in order of appearance in two presentation binders. Most of the chalices have inventory numbers and dates; seventeen transparencies of chalices lacking numbers or dates have black and white printouts.

SERIES III: MATERIALS ON ROBERT RIDDLE JARVIE. Materials are arranged chronologically.

SERIES IV: TRANSPARENCIES. Color transparencies of photographs, arranged in order of inventory number when known. Copyprints of the seventeen unnumbered and undated chalices are found in Series II.

• Subject
  • Koehnemann, Renard, 1918-1999--Archives.
  • Jarvie, Robert R., 1865-1941.
  • Arts and crafts movement--Illinois--Chicago.
  • Art metal-work--Illinois--Chicago.
  • Chalices--Design.
  • Chalices--Illinois--Chicago.

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Four chalices and patens, 2000.1.1-2 through 2000.4.1-2, designed and created by Renard Koehnemann are in the permanent collection of the Department of American Arts at The Art Institute of Chicago. The Department also holds curatorial files on Koehnemann.

Portions of this collection are restricted; wherever possible, surrogate copies are provided for patron use, as noted in the series listings. The remainder of collection may be accessed by users in the Reading Room of the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries at The Art Institute of Chicago. Collections maintained on-site are available for patron use without prior arrangement or appointment. Collections maintained in off-site storage will be retrieved with advance notification; please consult the Archivist for the current retrieval schedule. For further information, consult https://www.artic.edu/archival-collections/contact-usage-and-faq.

The Art Institute of Chicago is providing access to the materials in the Archives’ collections solely for noncommercial educational and research purposes. The unauthorized use, including, but not limited to, publication of the materials without the prior written permission of the Art Institute is strictly prohibited. All inquiries regarding permission to publish should be submitted in writing to the Director, Art Institute of Chicago Archives. In addition to permission from the Art Institute, permission of the copyright owner (if not the Art Institute) and/or any holder of other rights (such as publicity and/or privacy rights) may also be required for reproduction, publication, distribution, and other uses. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of any item and securing any necessary permissions rests with the persons desiring to publish the item. The Art Institute makes no warranties as to the accuracy of the materials or their fitness for a particular purpose.

Renard Koehnemann Collection, Ryerson and Burnham Art and Architecture Archives, The Art Institute of Chicago.

Mr. Walter Placko donated this archival collection to The Art Institute of Chicago in memory of Koehnemann.

This collection was processed by Amy Babinec in 2002. This finding aid was revised and expanded by Annemarie van Roessel in 2003.

This collection was transferred from the Department of American Arts at The Art Institute of Chicago to the Ryerson and Burnham Archives in 2002.

All restricted transparencies in Series IV have copy prints available in Series II.