5. The Woodwork is By Artisans Who Worked in the White House

Detail of Ark of Central Synagogue
Pottier & Stymus Co., which made the ark and other woodwork in Central Synagogue was a nationally-renown company. Its factory was just nearby on 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue and the company made furniture for the White House including furniture for President Ulysses S. Grant’s office, the conference table in the Cabinet room, along with furniture for the Secretary of the Treasury’s office.
Auguste Pottier was born in France and came to the United States in 1847 at around the age of 23. He worked in various furniture making companies in New York until founding his own firm with William P. Stymus. The company also did work for Thomas Edison‘s estate, the grand mansion of Henry Flagler in Palm Beach, Florida, and Leland Stanford, among other important Americans of the era. Today you can see Pottier’s work also in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.