orig. Johann Heinrich Belter
born 1804, Germany
died 1863, New York, N.Y., U.S.
German-born U.S. cabinetmaker and designer.
Trained in Germany, he settled in New York City in 1833. He opened a fashionable shop specializing in rosewood, walnut, and mahogany furniture. In 1854 he patented his invention of processing rosewood in many layers to achieve thin panels that, once shaped in molds through steam heating, could be finely carved. He opened a large factory in 1858, but soon competitive French imports and economic troubles associated with the American Civil War impaired his business, and the firm closed in 1867.