Posts Tagged ‘art nouveau furniture’

WINE-GLASS, BLUE GLASS CASED OVER
GLASS, with ACID-ETCHED DECORATION
Benjamin Richardson, England, 1857
I It. 143 mm (563 in.)
Acid Etching: Although acid-etched glasses
arc known to exist from the 17th century,
the process was not generally used in glass-
making until the 19th century, with the
discovery of hydrofluoric acid. Heinrich
Schwanhardt (d.1693), son of the Nurem-
berg engraver Georg Schwanhardt, is
recorded to have engraved glasses with
acid, one example attributed to him being
dated 1686. The technique can be used
either to cut through one layer of glass to
another, as in the glass illustrated, or to
provide a single-layered glass with a matt
finish. An acid-resist such as wax paraffin
covers the parts that are not to be affected,
the pattern having been cut through the
resist. The surface of the glass is then
treated in an acid bath (such as a mixture
of 100 parts of water, 10 of potassium
fluoride and t part hydrochloric acid).
Benjamin Richardson of the Richardson
firm of Stourbridge took out a patent to
etch glasses in 1857.
VASE WITH ACID-ETCHED DECORATION
J. & J. Northwood, England, r.1878.
Ht. 216 mm (85 in.)
It was only in the 19th and 20th centuries
that acid-etching became at all an accepted
mode of decoration. In England it is
known that the Dudley firm of Thomas
Hawkes used the technique in the 1830’s.
Besides flat glass objects, wine-glasses,
bottles and vases were being acid-etched
by the 1840’s. John Northwood and T.
Guest were involved in the Richardson
experiments with acid-etching, and in the
186o’s established themselves as individual
firms specialising in etching. They were
known as J. 8c J. Northwood, and Guest
Brothers respectively, and produced a
quantity of etched work in the later 1860’s
and 1870V The skill and delicacy of the
etching they achieved can be seen on the
vase illustrated, made at the J. 8c J.
Northwood works and shown at the Paris
Exhibition of 1878. Acid-etching was by
no means a technique confined to England,
however.
The Techniques of’Taking Away
As Maurice Marinoi of Trance grew to
understand the nature and working of
glass, he experimented with its ornamen-
tation. In 1922 he began using the
technique of acid-etching in a manner
distinctly his own. The process had been
used by French glass-makers since the
mid-19th century. F.mile Galle, comment-
ing on the technique, had said that it would
not do for delicate work, but ‘it cuts into
certain glasses in a manner of its own’. He
used it in his factory from 1890 onwards,
and the Daum factory had also used it to
some extent. Marinot took up acid-etching
because it suited his purpose better than
any other decorative technique. When he
employed acid-etching he used the massi v e
forms he had always favoured, in trans-
parent, occasionally tinted, glass. The
etched designs cut deeply into the surface,
giving an almost sculptural look to the
glass. The whole surface of the glass was
subjected to the treatment, with the most
varied results.
Acid-etching has been used to give a matt
surface to the colourless glass vase illus-
trated. This slender vase has a round foot,
w ith a long stem widening slightly towards
the bowl, which is of an exaggerated tulip
shape. It is just one example of the beaut]
of modern Swedish glass. Even such an
aesthetically difficult technique as etching
has been triumphantly used to give .1
beautiful all-over textural and eye-catch-
ing finish. It has been said that ‘Sweden’s
great contribution to modern design was
to transform Functionalism from an in-
tellectual theory into a practical instru-
ment for better living’ (Polak, 1962). This
was eminently shown in her glass-making;
but besides qualities like fitness for prac-
tical purpose, toughness in wear and
cheapness of production, the general aim
from the beginning was to create objects
of beauty. The Swedes succeeded in their
glassware perhaps more than in any other
branch of modern design.
ENGRAVED AND SAND-BLASTED VASE
Hy Sverre FtTterscn, Hadeland, Norway, 1038
Sand-blasling: In the process of sand-
blasting a stream of sand, crushed flint or
powdered iron is directed on to the surface
of the glass in a jet of air. The parts of the
glass to be left plain are covered with a
stencil plate of steel, or an elastic varnish
or rubber solution painted on to form a
protective shield. The type of finish is
varied by altering the size of the nozzle, or
the abrasive, or the air pressure. The
technique has been in use since 1870,
though it has rarely been applied to vessel
glass, except for lettering on mass-pro-
duced items, and is mainly used on glass
panels for decorative architectural use.
One of the more successful uses of sand-
blasting on vessel glass was by Sverre
Pettersen of Norway (1884-1959), who
was engaged as designer to Hadelands
Cilasswerk in 1928—at that time the only
factory for table glass and decorative glass
in Norway. During the ‘thirties he pro-
duced some very interesting pieces with
sand-blasted decoration.
PLATE WITH SAND-BLASTED ENGRAVING
By I adislav Oliva, Czechoslovakia, 1959
Diam. 362 mm (1425 in,)
Such are the difficulties attached to using
sand-blasting for anything but the heaviest
surface decoration that only very occasion-
ally are satisfying examples of the tech-
nique to be found. One of the exceptions is
this plate, designed and executed by
Ladislav Oliva (b. 1933) in Czechoslovakia.
The plate, in clear colourless lead crystal
glass, has a slightly raised rim, and the
grille-like decoration is in the form of cuts
about to mm (4/ioths in.) deep. Oliva
manages through this technique to give
the glass a new and exciting appearance.
His decorative themes always seem to
result from the natural lights of the heavy
glass mass. The matt finish that sand-
blasting imports to the glass can be very
pleasant to the touch, although sometimes
it can give a fairly rough effect.
The  century has been called the ‘golden
age of glass”, for it added many new tech-
niques to the glass-maker’s repertoire. This
sudden burst of activity can be put down to
many factors, including ‘the industrial revo-
lution, the relaxation of government controls
on the industry (specifically in England) and
a pride of craftsmanship born of freedom’
I Revi, i<)5g). Not since the Italian Renais-
sance had there been such an interest in new
glass-making ideas. In America the larger
firms hired scientists to discover new methods
of colouring glass, one of the best-known
being the Englishman Joseph I^ocke. In
Britain and on the Continent there was keen
rivalry in producing new types of art glass
for a highly competitive market. Demand
rem lied its zenith towards the end of the
I ii torian era. Since then, though new
techniques have still greatly interested glass-
makers, the art glass produced has reflected
the inherent qualities of the material, rather
than added decorative effects.
Pearl Satinglass, also known as Pearl Ware,
Mother-of-Pearl Satinglass and Verre de
Soie, can be found in a variety of patterns
and colours, but basically it shows the
technique of keeping a symmetrical or
controlled pattern of air traps within the
body of a vessel. The vase illustrated shows
a typical example in the so-called hobnail
pattern. Benjamin Richardson of England
filed the first patent for this technique in
1857. His method was quite simple. A
gather of glass was blown into a mould
which carried the pattern in projected
form. The piece, thus indented, was
covered by a further gather of glass, which
caused air traps to form over the pattern.
Another method current in England and
America in the late 19th century was to line
a heated mould with glass tubes, either
clear and colourless or coloured, and to
blow a bubble of glass into this mould.
BOWL OPAQUE IVORI
COLOURED GLASS CASED WITH A P.AIJi RUBY OUTER
LAYER
Stevens & Williams, England, about 1885
lit. 140 mm (55 in.)
The tubes would thus be caught up and
marvered into the body of the glass. By
twisting the paraison the worker produced
articles of glass with pearly swirled stripes
on the outer surface. This method was
probably used to produce the body of the
bowl illustrated, which has been further
worked to form a frilly rim, and has the
heavy applied decoration current around
1885, Patents to produce Pearl Satinglass
were filed by firms in New York in 1881
and France in 1885. The Mt. Washington
Glass Company of the U.S.A. filed patents
in 1886, which also suggested using heat-
sensitive metal to colour the glass, and
giving the article a lustreless finish by
using an acid bath, or by sand-blasting.
The Phoenix Glass Company of Pennsyl-
vania filed patents in 1886, 1887 and 1888;
the final patent described the use of two
moulds, one to pattern the inner wall of
the article, the other to be used after the
outer casing of glass had been applied.
FAIRY LAMP IN PEARL SATINGLASS, RAINBOW STRIPED
IN BLUE, ROSE, YELLOW AND APRICOT
About 1885. lit. 152 mm (6 in.)
The finished product made by the tech-
nique last described displayed a criss-
crossed network of pearly-indented lines
contained in the body of the article.
William Webb Boulton, who had the
Audnam Bank glass-house in England,
filed a patent for Pearl Satin Glass in 1885.
Other English glass-houses manufactured
this type of glass, notably Stevens &
Williams of Brierley Hill, who called it
‘Verre de Soie\ Much of the Pearl Satin-
glass produced in the late 19th century
came from Bohemian and French factories.
These cheaper wares, supplied by factories
at Steinschonau and Altrohlau, Bohemia,
effectively ruined the market for the finer
wares of England and America. Many
different means were used to colour Pearl
Satinglass. The rainbow striping suggested
in this fairy lamp was produced by laying
coloured rods of glass on the body of the
article before it was fully formed.
VASE IN PEARL SATINGLASS
Thomas Webb & Sons, England, probably early
iSoo’s. Hi. 260 mm (1025 in.)
The technical development of trapping air
in moulded recesses between an opaque-
glass body and a tinted layer was further
refined by Thomas Webb & Sons of
England. In the magnificent example
illustrated the vase has a diamond air-lock
pattern between opaque and translucent
layers of glass, but has been covered by an
outer layer etched away to form a floral
pattern in relief; the whole article has a
satin finish. In 1889 Thomas Webb
patented this process for manufacturing
cameo relief designs on articles of Pearl
Satin Ware. After the diamond air lock
pattern had been produced in the usual
way, an extra coating of opaque white or
coloured glass was applied. The design
was painted on to this coating with acid-
resisting inks; when the article was plunged
into an acid bath, the acid dissolved away
all glass not protected by the resist. The
glass-maker had to be extremely careful
not ti) leave the object in the acid too long,
lest the acid reached the air traps.
FOOTED VASE, WITH CORAIE1NE DECOR AI ION
Last quarter of iqih century. 111. 127 mm (j in.)
Corulene: ‘The vase illustrated displays a
type of decoration that became popular
from its introduction in the last quarter of
the 19th century and is known as
‘Coralcne’. A design was painted in enamel
on the surface of a glass. Tiny glass beads,
which could be clear, coloured or opales-
cent, were then applied and stuck to the
enamel paint of the design. The object was
next put into a muffle-kiln, where the
enamel and beads were fired firmly into
place. Decoration could be in the shape of
coral, but is also seen in fleur-de-lis,
herringbone, sheaf of wheat and many-
other patterns. This type of decoration is
found in all colours and on all types of
glassware. Coralenc was so named by the
Mt. Washington Glass Company in the
U.S.A., and by several Continental and
English glass manufacturers. Its use was
not restricted to any one factory.
Amberina is generally recognised as a
clear amber glass shading to red at the top.
The patent for it, dated July 24, 1883, was
granted to Joseph Locke of the Libbey
Glass Company. This remarkable man was
born in Worcester, Kngland, in 1846 and
worked first as a potter. Guest Brothers of
Stourbridge, etchers and decorators of
glass, engaged him, but later he was
persuaded to join the firm of Hodgetts,
Richardson & Company, where he pro-
duced his copy of the Portland vase. After
various employments, Locke finally went
to America in 1882, where he was signed
on by the New Kngland Glass Company
of Cambridge, Mass., later to become the
Libbey Glass Company of Toledo, Ohio.
‘Amberina’, ‘Pomona’, and ‘Agata’ glass
are only a few of his achievements while in
their employment. Amberina was the first
patented method for producing shaded
and parti-coloured glassware from a sen-
sitive homogeneous metal.
To produce Amberina a very small amount
of gold in solution was colloidally dis-
persed in a transparent amber glass metal.
When an object had been made from this
mix, it was allowed to cool below a glowing
red heat and then certain parts were re-
heated at the ‘glory hole’ (a small opening
in the furnace). This caused a red colour to
strike in the reheated portions—but over-
firing caused a fuchsia or purple shading.
Further patents were issued either to
Locke or to Kdward D. Libbey. An
interesting development was the produc-
tion of blanks composed of sensitive
Amberina glass which, after moulding,
were reheated to produce a deep ruby
colour on the outer surface only. A design
would be cut through to the undeveloped
amber colour below, giving a rich effect.
Amberina was made in Cambridge, Mass.,
between 1883 and 1888 by the New
Kngland Glass Company. A fine though
short-lived revival was made between 1917
and 1920, when the firm had moved to
Toledo, Ohio; one of its products is
shown above.
New England Glass Company, U.S.A., 1886
Ht. 178 mm (7 in.)
Almost every glass company in Europe and
America probably made Amberina at some
time during this period. A new technique
was patented for the New England Glass
Company in 1883 and was called ‘Plated
Amberina’; this was unique to that firm.
A piece of opal or opalescent glass plated
with a gold-ruby mixture was reheated at
the ‘glory hole’, so that it would develop
deeper and lighter shadings on its outer
surface. When Amberina metal was used,
the shading would of course be amber-to-
red. However, other colours could be
made: a sensitive cobalt and ruby glass
mixture would produce a plated ware
shading from blue to ruby. Canary, blue
and green colours were also mentioned in
the patent. Plated Amberina invariably has
moulded ribbed decoration, as in the
example shown, though this had no par-
ticular bearing on the specifications men-
tioned in the patent. It was manufactured
only from 1883 to 1886.
PARFA1T oi.ass in rose amber glass
Ml Washington Glass Company, U.S.A., 1886
Ht. 127 mm (5 in.)
The Mt. Washington Glass Company,
New Bedford, Mass., attempted more or
less successfully to produce its own
Amberina glass under the name ‘Rose
Amber’. This was in every way similar to
Locke’s Amberina. Needless to say, the
New England Glass Company had an
injunction granted in 1886 in their suit
against the Mt. Washington Glass Com-
pany for infringement of their patent.
The Circuit Court of the United States
forbade the New Bedford firm to produce
its Rose Amber wares. However, it did not
seem that this injunction had any effect.
The New Bedford Board of Trade Report
of 1889 describes the making of Amberina,
Rose Amber, by ‘two companies, of which
the Mt. Washington was one’, and de-
scribes how ‘it caught the popular fancy
and was all the rage for about two years’.
According to this report it was the success
of the Amberina glass that caused Mt.
Washington to go in for an opaque shaded
ware—Burmese glass.
AMBERINA GLASS
New England Glass Company, U.S.A., iS
iii. 121 mm (475 in.)
WINE-GLASS IN ALEXANDRITE GLASS
English, beginning of 2olh century
Ht. 114 mm (45 in.)
Quite a number of Amberina pieces were
pressed or press-moulded. This piece can
definitely be attributed to the New Eng-
land Glass Company, since it follows a
design sketch made by Joseph Locke in
1884 when he was head designer for the
Cambridge winks. I lobbs Brockunier &
Company of Wheeling, West Virginia,
were licensed to manufacture pressed
Amberina by the New England Glass
Company in 1886. Sowerby’s Ellison Glass
Works Ltd., Gateshead-on-Tyne, Eng-
land, were also licensed to produce pressed
Amberina in 1883. A transparent, homo-
geneous glass shading from pale amber to
a delicate rose tint was press-moulded by
the firm of CristalletICS de Baccarat of
France from 1916. Known as ‘Rose Teinte’,
or to collectors as ‘Baccarat’s Amberina’,
it was reintroduced in 1940 as a popular
item. Its delicate colours were a result of
using less gold salts in the glass, but its
similarity to the American Amberina and
Rose Amber is undisputed.
‘Alexandrite’ glass, a single-layer glass of
three blended colours, first appeared about
1900, and is reputed to have been made by
the two English firms of Thomas Webb &
Sons and Stevens & Williams. 11 started off
as an amber glass; a portion would be re-
heated to rose, and reheated again to blue
on the outer rim, producing an exception-
ally beautiful effect. It is found in plain as
well as patterned surfaces. Stevens &
Williams used a differing technique to
produce the same effect. They cased a body
glass of transparent amber with rose and
blue glass. The outer casings of blue and
rose were then cut away, to reveal the
yellow glass beneath. Kolo Moser, a glass
designer of Bohemia of the early 1900’s,
produced an amethyst transparent glass
which carries the mark ‘Alexandria, but
this one-colour ware should not be con-
fused with the work attributed earlier to
Webb and Stevens & Williams.
PITCHER IN RUBY GLASS WITH DEVELOPED
OPALESCENT DESIGN
I hi i ijih century. I It. 279 mm (11 in.)
Opalescent Glass: In the late 19th century
glasses with raised opalescent white de-
signs became very popular. A coloured
gather of glass was heavily coated with a
sensitive, clear colourless glass containing
bone ash and arsenic. This was blown into
a patterned mould to give it the raised
design. It was then cooled slightly and
reheated, the raised parts striking an
opalescent white, while the background
retained the original colour. Inexpensive
glassware in this technique was produced
by Hobbs Brockunier & Company of
Wheeling, West Virginia; Alexander J.
Beatty & Sons of Steubenville, Ohio;
Phillip Arbogast of Pittsburgh, Pennsyl-
vania ; John Bryce & Company of Pitts-
burgh ; King & Company of Pittsburgh;
and Doyle & Company of Pittsburgh, and
others. Thomas Davidson of George
Davidson & Company Ltd. the Teams
Glass Works, Gateshead-on-Tyne, Eng-
land, patented in 1889 a process for making
a pressed, shaded version, in which the
opalescence was either white or of the
same shade as the body metal.
VASE IN BURMESE GLASS
Ml. Washington Glass Company, U.S.A., 1885
Ht. 305 mm (12 in.)
‘Burmese’ glass is a single-layered glass
shading from opaque greenish-yellow to
deep pink at the top. It was developed by
the Mt. Washington Glass Company,
New Bedford, Mass. Frederick S. Shirley
patented his formula for Burmese in 1885
for the firm. He produced the glass by
adding small amounts of fluorspar, feldspar
and oxide of uranium to essentially the
same ingredients as used by Joseph Locke
to make his Amberina glass. The fluorspar
and feldspar gave the glass its translucency,
and the uranium oxide made the ordin-
arily translucent white glass melt a pale-
yellow in colour; the gold made the glass
sensitive to thermal changes so that when
reheated at the ‘glory hole’ it struck a
salmon pink colour, which shaded down
to the original yellow. A second reheating
caused the pink glass to revert back to its
yellow colour, a feature quite often seen
on the rim of a piece of Burmese glass.
Frederick Shirley’s formula for Burmese-
glass was patented in England in 1886.
Thomas Webb 8i Sons of Stourbridge,
England, purchased a licence to copy-
Burmese products as well as to produce
their own shapes and designs. Most ol t he-
English Burmese ware is acid-finished,
though Mt. Washington produced both
glossy and acid-finished Burmese ware.
Thomas Webb & Sons called their glass
‘Queen’s Burmese Ware’. The glass was
much used for the patent ‘fairy lights’ or
small individual candle shades so popular
in England and America in the late
‘eighties. Queen Victoria ordered a tea-set
in Burmese glass from the Mt. Washington
Glass Company, enamelled with what was
to become known as the ‘Queen’s’ design.
The ornamentation of Burmese ware was
often of a highly decorative order. Verses
by well-known poets, Egyptian scenes, and
bird and animal portrayals were included
in enamelled motifs. Occasionally, finely
wrought applied decoration w ould be used.
Peach Blow: When a ‘Peach Bloom’
coloured Chinese porcelain vase was sold
for $18,000 in 1886, this caused such a
sensation that products labelled ‘Peach
Bloom’ or —slightly changed ‘Peach
Blow’ attracted many sales. ‘The glaze on
the vase was described as being the colour
of ‘crushed strawberries’. The magic of
the name attracted the attention of manu-
facturers of coloured art glasses, who tried
to devise new types suitable for this name.
Hobbs Brockunicr & Company of Wheel-
ing, West Virginia, produced such a glass
and called it ‘Wheeling Peach Blow’.
Replicas of the ‘Morgan’ vase were made,
like the example illustrated, in both glossy
and acid finishes. The moulded Stand with
its five-headed griffin is in an unimportant-
quality amber glass, hut the vase itself is
made of white opal glass plated with 1
transparent amber glass, made heat-sensi-
tive with gold salts. Reheating caused the
glass to strike a ruby colour, shading to
yellow or amber.
The Mt. Washington Glass Company
filed trade-name papers on the terms
‘Peach Blow’ and ‘Peach Skin’ through
Frederick S. Shirley in 1886. As a
colourant for their new products Shirley
substituted a small amount of cobalt or
copper oxide, instead of oxide of uranium
as in making Burmese. This produced a
homogeneous glass shaded pale grey-blue
to a delicate rose tint in the reheated
portions. When plunged in acid the surface
acquired an all-over slightly grey cast. As
it is a single-layered glass, the shading is
the same on the inside as on the exterior.
The Mt. Washington Peach Blow wares
were manufactured in similar shapes to
their Burmese ware. Moulded and applied
decoration were used, as well as gilding
and enamelling. The example illustrated
shows the ‘Queen’s’ design, as ordered by
Queen Victoria from the firm. The pattern
is of conventionalised flowers in raised
enamel, much of the decoration done in
pure gold reduced with acids.
The success of its Amberina glasses caused
the New England Glass Company to
experiment further with heat-sensitive
glasses. One of the resulting products was
patented by Edward D. Libbey in 1886
and called at first ‘Wild Rose’, later ‘Peach
Blow’. It is a single-layered glass shading
down from red to white in the lower part
of the piece. To produce it, an opal glass
was combined with a gold-ruby glass in
one pot. When a vessel had been formed,
reheating produced the rose colouring in
the required parts. Glasses made from this
metal were moulded, decorated with gild-
ing and enamelling and also acidized to a
satin finish. Occasionally, they would be
left in the original glossy state. The vase
illustrated was decorated by Joseph Locke
for his daughter Nora. The etched reliel
designs covering the surface of the glass
have been outlined and highlighted with
gold traceries and a dark brown mineral
stain.
At about the same time that the U.S.A.
glass-making firms were experimenting
with heat-sensitive glasses, both Thomas
Webb & Sons and Stevens & Williams of
England manufactured shaded wares
which they termed ‘Peach Glass’ or ‘Peach
Bloom’. Webb’s Peach Glass was cased,
the inner layer being creamy coloured with
a slight ly greenish cast in the upper portion.
It is similar in appearance to Hobbs
Brockunier & Company’s ‘Wheeling Peach
Blow’. Stevens & Williams of Stourbridge
produced a glass called ‘Peach Bloom’
which was also very much the same in
appearance. The English Peach glasses
were produced in both glossy and acid
finishes, and arc frequently found with
elaborate gold decoration on both finishes.
Occasionally, Webb’s Peach Glass will
have the Webb incised mark on the base;
Stevens & Williams ware also sometimes
bears a mark under the foot.
The Boston & Sandwich Glass Company,
Sandwich, Mass., manufactured a glass
known as ‘Sandwich Peach Blow’. This
was a single-layered glass, strawberry ice
cream pink in shading, often found in
moulded and twisted swirl decoration; see
the example above, which also has the
characteristic thorn handle of the period.
Overlay decorations in a camphor or
greyish colour are quite usual, the com-
plete piece having an acid finish. Many-
other types of glass are loosely termed
‘Peach Blow’, but basically, apart from a
slight variation in colour shading, the
products can be summarised as follows:
Webb and Wheeling Peach Blow are
always lined, but Mt. Washington, New-
England and Sandwich Peach Blow are
never lined. The Bohemian manufacturers
soon cashed in on the vogue of Peach Blow
wares, producing far cheaper glasses,
which forced the better products off the
markets, though their wares in no way-
resembled those made in America and in
England.

ART NOUVEAU CHAIRS: UPHOLSTERED ARMCHAIR, LAYERED WOOD CHAIR, SLAT-BACK ARMCHAIR, BENTWOOD SIDE CHAIR, UPHOLSTERED ARMCHAIR, CANED-SEAT ARMCHAIR, CURVED DESK CHAIR

ART NOUVEAU CHAIRS

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WHEN  IT CAME TO the chair, Art
Nouveau designers let their imaginations run wild. Designers from Glasgow to Nancy used the chair to illustrate and promote the Art Nouveau ideal.
Breaking free from traditional methods of design and construction, designers experimented with flowing, abstract shapes influenced by nature, and bending or elongating wood into sculptural pieces.
The Scottish architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh left an indelible mark on Art Nouveau furniture, especially with his ground-breaking chair designs. Well proportioned with attenuated backs imparting an almost ecclesiastical appearance, his cube-based chairs decorated with geometric cut-out patterns were influential, especially on designers
working in Germany    Austria, who embraced this more linear approach.
The French strand of Art Nouveau produced a contrasting style. with its sinuous, organic. fluid chair designs which were made by Louis Majorelle and Hector Guimard in exotic woods. These were often lavishly decorated with intricate inlays, marquetry. and carved botanical motifs on top rails, legs, and aprons.
A taste for the exotic also provided another decorative and extremely influential outlet in chairs – from Japanese and Moorish-inspired designs to bizarre seat furniture created by Carlo Bugatti and Antoni Gaudi using a variety of materials. Bugatti and Gaudi used imaginative combinations of wood and metals, embellished with materials such as leather, vellum, and silk.

The curves on this piece were achieved using the bentwood technique.
Aluminium nails decorate the replaced leather seat and back.
The beech frame is stained the colour of mahogany.
UPHOLSTERED ARMCHAIR
This chair is constructed from bent beechwood stained the colour of mahogany. The curved shape was achieved by steaming the wood, then applying even pressure. The prolific architect and founder of the Vienna Secession, J.M. Olbrich, designed this armchair for Thonet of Vienna. c1902.

ARMCHAIR
This mahogany armchair has an upholstered crest, a slat back and carved arms. The seat and back panel are upholstered in velvet. The slat back forms a back leg and the piece
terminates in bun feet. c. 1900.
LAYERED WOOD CHAIR
This is one of a set of four chairs made in the style of the early Vienna Secession. The chair is made of cut beechwood and layered wood which is stained in two shades. The seat is covered in black leather, but is not original. c.1900.
This stained beech and elm chair was probably made by Wylie & Lochhead of Glasgow. The curved top rail sits above three splats. The seat is inlaid with boxwood lining. The legs are joined by double stretchers that terminate in upholstered, panelled feet. L&T I
This Viennese slat-back armchair is constructed from veneered and polished nut wood massif. The design is accredited to Josef Hoffmann. A low, D-shaped stretcher unites the straight legs near to the base of the chair. c.1905.
ARMCHAIR
SLAT-BACK ARMCHAIR
BENTWOOD CHAIR
This beech chair, made and signed by Austrian manufacturer Thonet, has a flowing bentwood frame made of bent rods, which curves without the use of carving and joints. It has a shaped seat rail and a reversed, heart-shaped back that sweeps below the seat to form stretchers. The triangular seat is made of cane, although it is not original. The chair terminates in three legs. c.1900.

This is one of a pair of side chairs made of oak. The back of the chair has curvilinear rails linking tapering uprights above a drop-in seat.
Square-section, tapering legs terminate in pad feet.
This early J. & J. Kohn side chair was designed by Josef Hoffmann. It has a bentwood back and tapering legs, and there are four wooden spheres under the seat rail. The brown leather
upholstery is tacked on to the seat and back, obscuring the stamped mark.
SIDE CHAIR
BENTWOOD SIDE CHAIR
ARMCHAIR
This is one of a pair of mahogany armchairs designed by J.S. Henry. The tall, upholstered back has sinuous leaf finials, curving open arms, and an upholstered pad seat. The seat is supported on turned and tapering legs linked by an arched stretcher at the front and straight side
stretchers.

MARQUETRY ARMCHAIR
Designed by Louis Majorette, the back splat of this mahogany armchair is decorated in marquetry depicting branch and leaf designs. The chair has moulded “U”-shaped crinoline arms that have distinctive duck’s-head terminals. The seat is upholstered in velvet.
UPHOLSTERED ARMCHAIR
This mahogany armchair, designed by G.M. Ellwood, has a tapering back containing an oval upholstered panel and elegant vertical splats. The piece has open upholstered arms and an upholstered seat. The legs terminate in tassle carved feet.
ARMCHAIR
This stained mahogany armchair features distinctive, wavy, horizontal splats positioned above and below the rectangular panelled back. The downswept, open arms and
upholstered panel seat are raised on turned, tapered legs.
CANED-SEAT ARMCHAIR
This is one of a pair of “Model 511″ chairs by Thonet, constructed from bent beech. The splat is pierced with holes, with parallel slats below. The back continues in a curve down to the feet. The seat is made of woven caning. c.1904.
This mahogany desk chair by Louis Majorelle has open arms featuring galleries of tapered spindles. Red-leather upholstery on the back and scat is fixed to the frame with studs. The twisted form of the legs emphasizes the sinuous, feminine design.
This carved walnut armchair designed by Henri Rapin has a wing back and bold scrolling terminals. The tapering legs lead to splayed spade feet. The heavily patterned upholstery is not original. 1910.
This Louis Majorelle carved mahogany desk chair (part of a desk set) has moulded arms leading into sweeping, reverse-curved supports. The chair has a distinctive, low upholstered back. The front legs are cabriole in shape. c.1903.
This armchair was designed by Josef Maria Olbrich and made by Josef Niedermoser of Vienna. The frame is black-varnished maple, the chair is upholstered with yellow leather covers, and the feet are metal. 1898 99.
DESK CHAIR
OPEN ARMCHAIR
CURVED DESK CHAIR
ARMCHAIR

Art Nouveau Furniture: FRENCH CABINET, ENGLISH HALLROBE, SCOTTISH BOOKCASE, VIENNESE SIDEBOARD, VENEERED CUPBOARD, STAINED-GLASS CABINET, MAHOGANY CABINET, OAK BOOKCASE

ART NOUVEAU
CASE PIECES
THE CABINET CONTINUED to be one
of the most expensive and impressive pieces of useful furniture in European houses. Both decorative and functional, cabinets were used as writing chests, for locking away precious jewels, for storing important papers, and for the display of small, treasured collectables.
Art Nouveau cabinets were made in a variety of styles. The Anglo-Japanese cabinets, such as those designed by E.W Godwin, were embellished with brass mounts and painted decorations.
Charles Rennie Mackintosh, C.EA. Voysey, and E.W Gimson combined simple designs and an attention to the details of fine craftsmanship with
the use of rich timbers, such as oak, walnut, satinwood, and mahogany.
These designers influenced the design of cabinets in the Art Nouveau style in Europe, especially the austere, geometric style favoured in Germany and Austria.
In contrast, French cabinets
were more sensuous in their
design, with Rococo and Oriental elements combined to produce asymmetrically shaped pieces, decorated with curvilinear plant, flower, and vegetable motifs. Louis Majorelle created superbly crafted cabinets of extraordinary luxury, in fine-quality woods. These pieces were often embellished with finely wrought gilt-bronze or wrought-iron mounts, or included decorative inlays of mother-of-pearl or metal.
This elegant cabinet is made of walnut. It is decorated with a marquetry design depicting a clematis and a bird, executed in exotic hardwoods. The top section provides open storage, which is accessed via a rounded
opening, surrounded by relief carving. The piece was made by Louis Majorelle. His sinuous and fluid style, evident here, was inspired by 18th-century Rococo furniture. c.1900.
Carved circular supports
are decorated with
a twisting tendril and root-like design.
The cabinet body is made from walnut
with marquetry in exotic hardwoods.
The marquetry incorporates floral motifs.
FRENCH CABINET

ENGLISH HALLROBE
top of this hallrobe supports Classical carved panels. The panelled front is adorned
stylized copper hinges and handles and
interior is fitted. This piece was made by
the prominent commercial furniture manufacturer, Shapland and Pettey.
SCOTTISH BOOKCASE
This oak bookcase by leading furniture-maker, Wylie and Lochhead of Glasgow, is in the style of the Scottish school. The intricate floral panels are in stained glass and flanked by angular, stylized, copper, repousse panels, all above a long drawer and a bottom cabinet. c.1900.
VIENNESE SIDEBOARD
This impressive walnut veneer sideboard is by the school of Josef Hoffmann. The piece is decorated with intarsia. The symmetrical, clean design is typical of Hoffman and the linear style reveals the influence of Charles Rennie
Mackintosh. The upper section is enclosed behind glazed doors that form a geometric pattern. The mirrored central section is supported by rounded columns. The base has a marble top and contains cupboards and a drawer. The plinth and the handles are made of brass. c.1902.

The straight lines and gentle curves of this cabinet are typical of the Glasgow School, as is the stained-glass window depicting a pastel-coloured flower design. The piece has a broad, projecting cornice, which was a feature of many Glasgow School cabinets.
This walnut veneer and brass dining room cabinet is part of a set by Otto Wytrlik. The matching table, stool, pair of commodes, four armchairs, and two further chairs are solid, dark pieces with strongly geometric lines, and would have given the room a masculine look. c. 1901.
This small, mahogany-veneered cupboard from Austria is raised on four slender legs. The two cupboards, two drawers, and shelves all have nickel fittings. The distinctive top cupboard has three sides of panelled glass with ornamental silver decoration. c.1900.
Anglo-Japanese influences are evident in this mahogany music cabinet decorated with stylized, floral, stained-glass panels. The fine, string ebony and boxwood inlay is enriched with delicate floral carvings. The arched apron is reflected in the curved pediment. c.1895.
STAINED-GLASS CABINET
DINING ROOM
VENEERED CUPBOARD
MUSIC CABINET

INLAID CABINET
This ornate mahogany display cabinet is elaborately inlaid in copper, pewter, and specimen woods with decoration of stylized flower-heads and leafy tendrils. The central panel is mirrored and flanked by two glass doors opening onto glass shelves.
MAHOGANY CABINET
The shaped, raised back, and moulded finials of this highly decorative display cabinet have whiplash-style foliate and floral marquetry inlays. The leaded and stained-glass panel doors are decorated with a floral design, and are enclosed by marquetry panels.
FLORAL CABINET
This mahogany display cabinet, attributed to the Scottish designer Ernest Archibald Taylor, has silver plated repousse decoration on the glass. The architectural form is decorated with a butterfly centrepiece and floral designs in sycamore and tulipwood inlay. c.1903.
OAK BOOKCASE
This bookcase cabinet has a projecting dentil cornice above three open compartments, flanked by pierced decorative brackets. The twin doors, enclosing adjustable shelves, have leaded clear glass panels with stained-glass decoration on the top.

Art Nouveau English Furniture: WARDROBE, UPHOLSTERED ARMCHAIR, OCCASIONAL TABLE, WRITING DESK.

BRITISH FURNITURE DESIGNERS took
the basic themes of Art Nouveau and interpreted them in two different ways: some experimented with a more understated version of the flowing, feminine lines popular in France and Belgium; others, most famously Scotland’s Charles Rennie Mackintosh (see pp.364-65), favoured the restrained, rectilinear style seen in Germany and Austria. In fact, the Viennese Secessionists later drew inspiration themselves from the bold, architectural furniture that Mackintosh designed. Interestingly, the Art Nouveau movement in Britain also evolved from the stylized forms of Aesthetic period furniture (see p.326).
WELL-CRAFTED FURNITURE Towards the end of the 19th century, the quality of British furniture had started to decline, as mass-production enabled manufacturers to churn out hundreds of identical pieces at affordable prices for the growing middle classes.
The work of William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement had started to reverse this by championing furniture handmade by craftsmen. The trend was continued by designers and craftsmen working in the Art Nouveau style, who, despite using machines to produce their furniture, also put a premium on quality.
Many British Art Nouveau furniture-makers used satinwood or walnut as well as mahogany for their designs. Some of the most spectacular examples of their work are display cabinets or cupboards that feature intricately cut and inlaid designs.
SHAPLAND AND FETTER
Although perhaps best known for their work in the Arts and Crafts tradition, the firm of Shapland and Petter produced elaborate, high-quality furniture in exotic woods such as mahogany Based in Barnstaple, Devon, they also made oak pieces decorated with good-quality carving, colour-stained panels, or stylized copper panels, as well as ceramic roundels made locally by the Brannam pottery works.
Their team of designers remained anonymous, but Shapland and Petter supplied stores across Britain,
including Marsh Jones and Cribbs in Leeds, and Wylie and Lochhead in Glasgow. Their work also sold abroad. Although their furniture was mass-produced, it was very high quality.
DECORATIVE INLAYS AND MOTIFS Shapland and Petter, together with the architect and designer, Ernest Gimson, used inlays of ivory, silver, abalone shell, mother-of-pearl, and fruitwoods to
decorate their designs.
As in France and Belgium, motifs from the natural world — stylized peacock feathers, snowdrops, and lilies — were worked in marquetry or metal inlays; designs for decorative hinges and door pulls were often inspired by the sinuous, whiplash lines that were favoured by Continental makers.
The Glasgow firm of Wylie and Lochhead also made pieces in this style, sometimes combining elements with the angular look favoured by Mackintosh and the Glasgow School.
ARTS AND CRAFTS HYBRID
Some of the designers and craftsmen who had been working in the Arts and Crafts style — including Charles Frances Annesley Voysey and Charles Robert Ashbee — were influenced by Art Nouveau motifs, and combined them with a more sturdy Arts and Crafts form to create a hybrid look.
Voysey, for example, used decoration sparingly, preferring to let the grain and beauty of the woods he used speak for themselves. However, when he occasionally used metal mounts or panels, these were often in a flowing style inspired by Art Nouveau.
The London store Liberty & Co. (see right) helped to popularize Art Nouveau by championing the work of the most innovative designers,
such as Voysey and Mackintosh, and also by commissioning commercial imitations. Much of Liberty’s furniture was made in oak and mahogany, and the designs they commissioned from Leonard E Wyburd and E.G. Punnets for oak cupboards, tables, and chairs are among the store’s most widely
recognized items of furniture. Liberty furniture was known for its simple construction, symmetrical design, and the restrained use of decorative motifs, and it was often marked “Liberty & Co.” on a rectangular plaque.

UPHOLSTERED ARMCHAIR
OCCASIONAL TABLE
This mahogany armchair has distinctive, horizontal, slatted arms and a drop-in seat. The top rail is inlaid with a band of five stylized seedpods. The seat and back are upholstered in a floral fabric. L&T
This table has a shaped lower tier beneath the hexagonal lobed top. There are three elaborately pierced supports, each terminating in a pair of slender, curved legs.
LIBERTY &_ CO.
THIS EMPORIUM ON LONDON’S REGENT STREET WAS FOUNDED IN 1875,
AND WAS AT THE VANGUARD OF THE NEW STYLE.

In 1883, Liberty & Co., already famous for its Oriental wares and Art Nouveau fabrics, opened a Furnishing and Decorating Studio under the direction of Leonard L Wyburd. The Studio’s aim was to meet the growing demand for fashionable, decorative, and affordable furniture that incorporated the design vocabulary of Art Nouveau. The furniture borrowed freely from pioneering designers such as C.EA. Voysey and Charles Rennie Mackintosh, who also contributed designs. By 1887, Liberty was selling a highly successful range of simple chairs and country-style oak furniture embellished with inlaid decoration, elaborate strap hinges, leaded glass panels, and tiles. bringing Art
furniture to a wider audience.
A signature Liberty & Co. ivorine plaque
Walnut dressing table The table has original hinged copper handles. The simple construction and restrained decoration are typical of Liberty.

WRITING DESK
The pierced gallery at the back of this mahogany desk, and the embossed copper panels depicting owls and stylized plants, place this piece firmly in the Art Nouveau period. The desk is thought to be the work of either Shapland & Pettey or Wylie & Lochhead — both highly regarded furniture
manufacturers.
CORNER CHAIR
Specifically designed to stand in a corner, and a direct descendant of the corner chairs of the late 18th century, this chair has backs on two sides of the square rush seat. The moulded top rail is supported by shaped splats. The chair is raised on turned legs, linked by parallel stretchers, and ending in bulbous feet. L&T
The door and drawer fittings are handmade.
A central tabernacle provides open storage.

DISPLAY CABINET
This ornate and curvaceous mahogany cabinet features marquetry decoration of flowers and whiplash tendrils. This fashionable technique was used extensively on expensive furniture during the period. The cabinet doors, positioned below the oval mirror, are made of leaded glass decorated with a tulip pattern.
This mahogany wardrobe is a high-quality combination of traditional craftsmanship and machine technology typical of its maker, Shapland & Pettey. A decorative feature is made of the plated metal-hammered door and drawer fittings, and the central cupboard door is inlaid with distinctive foliate motifs.
The marquetry panel has a stylized and geometric floral design.
The door hinges, handles, and escutcheon are decorated with bold geometric motifs.
The wooden case was made by machine.

THE GLASGOW SCHOOL
AT THE HEART of the Art Nouveau
movement in Scotland, the Glasgow School of Art sowed the seeds of an artistic revolution.
The enterprising director, Francis Newberg, and his wife Jessie, were instrumental in taking the Glasgow School of Art beyond its traditional role as an institution for formal
instruction in painting. A great admirer and champion of the teachings of William Morris, Newberg urged his students to learn as much as they could from the Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau movements. He set up art studios where artist-craftsmen provided
broad range of commercial crafts, including bookbinding, woodcarving, ceramics, stained glass, and metalwork.
KEY DESIGNERS
An influential team of designers and architects closely associated with the Glasgow School included Charles Rennie Mackintosh, J. Herbert MacNair, and the sisters Margaret and Frances MacDonald. Known as “The Glasgow Four” or “Four Macs”, they created furniture and interior decoration inspired by Arts and Crafts ideology, but which developed as a movement in its own right and was
“Glasgow Style”. This style incorporated natural imagery together with a strong, psychological identification with the city – then booming economically and culturally – powered by its engineering and industrial skills.
It was a decidedly Scottish and occasionally modest interpretation of the Art Nouveau. Simple, geometric furniture designs were decorated with stylized patterns of flowers, plants, animals, figural patterns, and Celtic-style decoration. These
were shown in unusual colours drawn from local scenery, such as heathery purple, misty greys, and soft green. The Glasgow style won international acclaim, especially at the 8th Secessionist Exhibition in 1900 in Vienna, and exercised a
potent influence on the architects of industrial design in Germany and Austria. The rooms furnished by the group for the 1902 Turin International Exhibition of Modern Decorative Arts focused on controlled line, eschewing serpentine curves, and favouring symmetrical flowers,
elongated figures, and intricate linear designs in glass, metal, and enamel.
THE ROSE EMBLEM
Nature always inspired the Glasgow Four and was occasionally approached from a scientific perspective. Even the group’s emblem – the two-dimensional rose, which was designed by
Mackintosh and featured frequently on its architecture and furniture – was
inspired by a cabbage cut in half. Other talents associated with the Glasgow School were Ernest Archibald Taylor, lauded for his clean, elegant, and highly refined designs in the style of Charles Rennie Mackintosh; George Walton, with his delicate and subtle designs for furniture, textiles, and glass; and Talwin Morris, who worked in a variety of media, from furniture to textiles, metalwork, and glass.
The Glasgow School of Art This building was designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh in 1896 and is regarded as one of his most notable architectural achievements.

A Glasgow School hammered brass mirror This piece has a repousse, stylized, floral motif design with long, flowing tendrils ending in a swirl, and a circular bud design with striking blue, enamel.

MAHOGANY CUPBOARD
This inlaid cupboard is made from mahogany and consists of elegant, vertical lines embellished with a projecting and moulded cornice. It is raised on a plinth. In contrast to the simple lines of the piece, the fielded, panelled door is inlaid with florid, geometric, stylized flowers, plant forms, foliage, and stems, and is flanked by similarly inlaid panels.
The moulded hinges and handles are elaborately decorated with foliate motifs. The plinth is pierced at the front and sides with a repeating heart-shaped pattern that echoes the inlaid design. The cupboard was possibly designed by J.S. Henry, a Glasgow wholesale company that often supplied furniture to Liberty and Co. and worked with leading
designers such as George Walton.
HALLSTAND
This hallstand is made of stained oak. It was designed by Wylie and Lochhead and shows the influence of Mackintosh. The moulded cornice above a central bevelled plate is flanked by repouss6 copper panels showing stylized briar roses. Decorative supports in the form of flower stems add to the overall design.

ART NOUVEAU BELGIAN FURNITURE: LADY’S BUREAU, MAHOGANY AND MIXED-WOOD TABLE, MAHOGANY SCREEN, WALNUT TABLE, COIFFEUSE.

IN LATE 19TH-CENTURY Europe, Art
Nouveau reached its creative peak in Belgium. Its success there was largely due to the fact that people were encouraged to explore fresh, exciting ways of looking at the arts.
The same, spirited Art Nouveau message that called fora cohesive, unified interior — so successfully accomplished elsewhere in Europe —took root in Belgium in the work of a number of innovative artist-architects, such as Victor Hotta, Henry van de Velde, and Gustave Serrurier-Bovy
The Belgian version of Art Nouveau had much in common with its French counterpart. Both embraced free-flowing, sinuous, sculptural furniture, and had a rich vocabulary of decorative motifs in organic shapes — plants, Hower blossoms, trees, butterflies, and insects — all drawn from the natural world.
HENRY VAN DE VELDE
Henry van de Velde won universal acclaim for the design of his own home near Brussels — Bloemenwerf —where furniture, carpets, and wall coverings combined to create a harmonious whole. He forged strong links with France by showcasing and selling his furniture at prestigious retail shops in Paris, including Siegfried Bing’s FArt Nouveau and La Maison Modern owned by Julius Meier-Graefe. Widely celebrated
throughout Europe, van de Velde was influenced by the writings of William Morris and believed that art should always follow organic form — a theory that underlined his furniture designs. Echoing nature’s subtle curves and lines, they were rendered in light-coloured, native timbers such as walnut, beech, and oak, and had minimal decoration. Despite van de Velde’s theories, function was key to his sturdy yet elegantly simple cabinets, tables, and writing desks.
VICTOR HORTA
Another Belgian pioneer of the Art Nouveau style was the architect and designer, Victor Hotta, who designed spectacular buildings such as the
splendid Hotel Tassel in Brussels. His interiors coalesced into harmonious and integrated ensembles: from wall panelling, ceilings, and door frames to furniture and metalwork fixtures, using an exciting range of new
materials, such as iron and glass.
The cross-fertilization between French and Belgian Art Nouveau resulted in Horta’s energetic, curving style — with its signature whiplash curves — influencing Parisian designers such as Hector Guimard. His expensive furniture was skilfully crafted in luxurious timbers such as maple, mahogany, and fruitwoods, and lavishly upholstered in fabrics such as velvet and silk.

GUSTAVE SERRURIER-BOVY
Like van de Velde and Horta, Gustave Serrurier-Bovy adopted many familiar Art Nouveau decorative motifs to complement his furniture, including plants and flowers, sinuous curves, and high-wrought mounts of pewter or brass. Determined to produce well-designed furniture for everyone, Serrurier-Bovy was also inspired by the English Arts and Crafts Movement, as seen in his robust, rectilinear furniture and in his preference for oak.
The influence of these highly original Belgian designers reached beyond their national borders to set the cultural standard for Art Nouveau furniture throughout much of Europe.
The Musee Hotta This building was originally built by Victor Horta as his own studio and residence. This view shows the integrated interior, with both the staircase and glass dome featuring his
characteristic whiplash curves. 1898.

COIFFEUSE
This mahogany coiffeuse was designed by the artist-architect, Gustave Serrurier-Bovy, as a piece of bedroom furniture. The mirror is comprised of three panels, contained within a gently curving frame. The table section has
two pairs of drawers above and two drawers below. The elegant, curved lines of the top of the piece are echoed in the arched stretchers joining the legs, and the arch at the front of the table, which creates the kneehole. 1899.
BED FRAME
s bed frame has a bold, curvilinear shape is made from stained oak. It was designed Henry van de Velde. The head has bowed and arched profiles and ’s of raised and fielded, shield-shaped
panels. The piece terminates in splayed feet, which form part of the overall curved shape, and rests on brass casters. Henry van de Velde believed that art should follow an organic form and this influenced the shape and decoration of his furniture. c.1897-98.

SIDE CHAIR
This mahogany chair was designed by Victor Horta and illustrates his use of sumptuous materials and curving style, as shown in the design of the chair back, legs, and stretchers. The seat
is covered with a generously upholstered cushion.
c.1901.
WALNUT TABLE
This walnut occasional table has an overhanging circular top, arched apron, and curving, cabriole legs that terminate in stylized feet. The piece was designed by Henry
van de Velde. c.1916.
MAHOGANY SCREEN
This mahogany screen, designed by Gustave Serrurier-Bovy, has three glass panels that create strong vertical lines. In contrast, the top of the piece is sinuous in shape. While the glass in the lower half of the screen is original, the upper pieces are replacements.
1899.

MAHOGANY AND MIXED-WOOD TABLE
This side table is made of mahogany decorated with marquetry. The top is inlaid with a floral decoration above a short drawer, and the cupboard is inlaid with a daffodil design. The supports are embellished with sinuous tendrils and brass fittings.
c. 1902.
LADY’S BUREAU
Designed by Henry van de Velde and made by H. Scheidemantel in Weimar, this bureau design is typical of the work of van de Velde. The curved lines of the wood are used to create an unusual and organic shape, avoiding applied, inlaid, or any elaborate decoration. The only detailing is the unobtrusive, copper key mounts and the brass shoes. c.1903.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF the Parisian thread of French Art Nouveau is distinguished by a group of forward-looking individuals who formed artistic groups to experiment with new forms, and who were supported by a circle of entrepreneurs. The most important patron was the influential dealer, Siegfried Bing (see p.355). An enthusiastic collector with a special interest in Oriental art, Bing played a crucial role in Le Japon Artistique, a publication that was instrumental in popularizing Far Eastern Art in 19th-century Europe, before he moved on to promote Art Nouveau.
AN ENTERPRISING ENDEAVOUR Key to the success of the “new art” in Paris was Binds transformation of his antiques shop in Paris into the gallery L’Art Nouveau in 1895. He dedicated this to exhibiting a host of decorative objects, which embodied the new directions in art while also being inspired by French tradition. He assembled a group of innovative artists – not only from France but also Henry van de Velde of Belgium and the American, Louis Comfort Tiffany –and showcased their latest works. Bing succeeded in bringing Art Nouveau to a wealthy, fashion-conscious clientele and was joined in this endeavour by the German art critic, Julius Meier Graefe who established La Maison Moderne in 1898. His aim was to offer more affordable decorative wares in the Art Nouveau style, made using industrial methods.
THE PARIS AND NANCY STYLES Although both the Paris and Nancy Schools pioneered the new, curvilinear, organic furniture style, the leading designers of both schools – Hector Guimard in Paris and Louis Majorette and Emille Galle in Nancy – each drew inspiration from nature in a very different way. At the Ecole de Nancy, the style was much more exuberant and florid: the finely crafted pieces had sculptural shapes and were richly veneered in exotic woods, with motherof-peal inlays, marquetry, and gilt-bronze mounts.
The Parisian strand of Art Nouveau was lighter and more restrained, and owed much to the work of the architect and furniture designer, Hector Guimard.
One of a talented group of cabinetmakers, Guimard – who was a disciple of Victor Horta in Belgium and is best remembered for his Paris Metro entrances – was one of the most innovative and progressive. His bold and energetic three-dimensional furniture designs were imaginative, sculptural evocations of the natural world. At first these were made in solid mahogany, but later he used a soft pearwood that was easier to model.
DECORATIVE INSPIRATION Although the decoration favoured by the Paris School took its inspiration from nature, it was stylized. Other furniture designers who were part of Siegfried Bing’s influential gallery and retail shop,

and who formed the core of the Paris School of Art Nouveau, included Eugene Gaillard, the Dutchman Georges De Feure, and German-born Edouard Colonna.
ROCOCO INFLUENCE
Gaillard’s robust, dynamic furniture looked back to the 18th-century Rococo style of Louis XV for inspiration, and included pieces such as the magnificent display cupboard in walnut that was shown at the 1900 International Exhibition in Paris (see pp.354-55), as well as light and airy tables and chairs with sinuous decoration in aquatic plant patterns.
The slender and refined gilded wood furniture created by De Feure was delicately carved with plant
motifs and combined with silk fabrics. His sophisticated designs drew inspiration from the 18th-century French tradition of furniture-making, especially the Louis XVI style.
Colonna’s furniture was a quieter version of Art Nouveau. Its simple forms and scrolling, decorative patterns were carved with a light and delicate hand.

WALNUT-FRAMED CHAIR
This carved walnut chair was designed by Eugene Gaillard. The chair has a distinctive pierced, asymmetric floral and foliate carved frame decorated with sinuous curves and plant tendril carving on the back. The chair seat and back are upholstered with the original floral embossed brown leather, which is fixed in place with brass studs. The chair stands on flared feet. This style was influenced by leading Paris School artist-craftsmen such as Hector Guimard. c. 1905.

OAK SERVER
A more restrained Art Nouveau style is shown in this oak and purple-heart server designed by Leon Jallot. The piece has an arched, raised back with pierced, stylized leaf motifs above Iwo frieze drawers and open shelves.
DESK CHAIR
This Tony Selmersheim desk chair is made from padouk, a type of rosewood. The chair has a wavy top rail above a cartouche-shaped padded back with inscrolled arms and a
padded seat. The piece stands on gently splayed tapering legs. c.1902.
MAHOGANY SIDE TABLE
Designed by Camille Gauthier and Paul Poinsignon, this table has a concave-shaped rectangular top with delicate, floral-motif fruitwood marquetry. It sits above an arched frieze with daffodil-design marquetry, on spiral-carved, tapering legs. c.1900.

GLASS-FRONTED CABINET
This cabinet is made of lemonwood and satinwood and carved with foliate motifs. The stained glass cabinet doors contain simple, swirling foliate designs in coloured glass. The piece was designed by Edouard Colonna for Siegfried Bing. 1900.

In the 1890s, public and private interiors in France underwent a period of radical change, reflecting a burgeoning interest in modern materials, nature-inspired decorative motifs, and imaginative forms of Art Nouveau. One of the most original French Art Nouveau architects, Hector Guimard, was celebrated for his sinuous, decorative, wrought-iron entrances for the Metro stations in Paris.
Guimard made his mark as an architect with a distinctive block of flats he built in Paris from 1894 to 1998, which was known as Lc Cassel Beranger, located at
Entrance to Boissiere Metro station This is one of the curvaceous cast-iron Paris Metro entrances designed by Hector Guimard. 1899-1904.
10 rue dc la 1bntainc. Loth the exterior and interior of the flats boast hold, abstract ornament. Ile used variegated colour on the facade, and built an interior courtyard to allow more light into the apartments.
Guimard understood the need to create brightly coloured living spaces that were open and hilt of light. With the Castel ir3cianger, he demonstrated how the decorative arts, in a wide range of materials, could successfully work together with architecture to create a unified, modern scheme.

WALNUT SELETTE
This two-tier walnut selette stand was designed by Edouard Diot. Beneath a flat top, distinctive, delicately curved supports decorated with carved, twisting floral motifs extend from the upper tier via open supports. The piece rests on out-splayed carved feet.

French Art Nouveau Furniture: DISPLAY CASE, TWO-TIER TABLE, TABLE LAMPS, ROSEWOOD AND WALNUT VITRINE.

FRANCE: THE NANCY SCHOOL
MANY OF THE FINEST WORKS of French
Art Nouveau were created at the Alliance Provincale des Industries d’Art, or Ecole de Nancy, in the province of Lorraine. It was founded in 1901 by the innovative furniture and glass designer Emile Galle, and was based on the example set by the English Arts and Crafts guilds. A design school and workshop that was profoundly influenced by the Symbolist movement in art and literature, the goal of the enterprise was to modernize technical training in both the decorative and applied arts.
The natural world inspired and informed the artists and craftsmen
who gathered around the brilliant Galle at the Ecole de Nancy, and the school gave a coherent identity to the diverse craftsmen working there.
Among those who ran the Nancy school with Galle were some of the finest craftsmen and designers of the day, including Louis Majorelle, Eugene Vallin, Victor Prouve, and the Daum brothers, Auguste and Antonin.
BOTANICAL INSPIRATION
In addition to history of art and Symbolist poetry and literature, Galle’s rich influences included the study of local flora and fauna — cow parsley, thistles, insects, and so on — which
was to furnish him with creative inspiration for shapes as well as decoration. His romantic vision of nature, a delight in plants, animals, and other living creatures, and a passionate faith in the mystery of creation lay at the heart of his most inspired designs.
FURNITURE STYLES
Galle’s emotional connection with the vitality of nature and his love of symbolism resulted in highly original, imaginative furniture that seemed to breathe with life.
Tables and cabinets were made
from richly coloured or exotic woods,
including rosewood, maple, walnut, or fruitwoods such as apple or pear. The pieces stood on carved supports in the shape of dragonfly wings, or boasted cornices featuring carved
creatures such as snails, moths, and bats. Decorative bronze mounts resembled insects, and fruitwood inlays in extravagant compositions depicted natural motifs, including flower blossoms, leaves, fruit, cars of corn, snails, and butterflies.

Many of Galles pieces were unique, and were signed and frequently engraved with verses by Victor Hugo, Paul Verlaine, or Charles Baudelaire.
LOUIS MAJORELLE
The other great furniture designer working at Nancy – Louis Majorelle –turned his back on the Louis XV taste, which had been the staple of many established workshops, and created some of the finest pieces of Art
Giltwood Aubepine table by Louis Majorelle This occasional table has a circular marble top above a moulded gilt frieze. The tapering moulded legs are decorated with foliate carving.
Nouveau furniture. Although his desks, tables, chairs, and bedroom suites lack the symbolic poetry found in the works of Galle, his finely crafted furniture is beautiful in its own right.
Majorelle established several workshops so that he could increase his output. He was a trained cabinetmaker, and although much of his furniture incorporated some machine-made parts, the quality was superb. Majorelle’s furniture was usually made
of dark hardwoods such as mahogany and rosewood, with fluid outlines and massive, sculptural gilt-bronze mounts shaped as orchids or water lilies,
alongside delicately carved, inlaid, or marquetry decoration in fruitwoods, pewter, or mother-of-pearl. He also collaborated with the Daum brothers, who were famous for their glassware, to produce a wide variety of decorative lamps with glass shades and elegant bronze or iron mounts.

ROSEWOOD AND WALNUT VITRINE
This rosewood and walnut vitrine by Emile Gallo is inspired by organic motifs. The upper section has glazed doors with carved foliage surrounds extending to a central support to form a heart motif. The back is decorated with fruitwood leaf-form marquetry. 1900.
ARMCHAIRS
These mahogany chairs by Louis Majorelle have rectangular padded splats, stuff-over arms on unusual, sweeping, reverse-curved supports, and stuff-over seats on moulded legs. This is a graceful variation on the traditional chair style with gently curving lines. c.1900.
This is an unusual pair of glass and bronze lamps made in Nancy by Daum Freres and Louis Majorelle. The tapering, gilded, bronze shaft has a flower motif in high relief and three raised supports for the domed, mushroom-shaped shades. The lamp shades are made of clear flashed glass with powder inclusions in rose, greenish-yellow, and dark violet. They are signed “Daum Nancy” and have a Cross of Lorraine on the rim of the shade. c. 1904.
TABLE LAMPS

Made rom mahogany and makasar, this display case by Louis Majorelle rests on curved diagonal legs. The doors have distinctive blossom ornaments. c.1920.
This rosewood occasional table by Emile GaIle has three out-splayed supports and scroll legs with carved hoof feet. The table is decorated with floral marquetry. c.1900.
This sumptuous, blonde mahogany, goose-design cabinet by Louis Majorelle is decorated with marquetry, pierced wood, and exotic timbers. The piece has pierced side panels, a frieze drawer with bronze goose-head drawer
DISPLAY CASE
NEST OF TABLES
These Emile Galle tables Aux Magnolias are made of fruit- and rootwoods and decorated with magnolia and butterfly design inlays, and carved branch patterns on the legs of the largest tables. c.1900.
TWO-TIER TABLE
ARMCHAIRS
This pair of Marrons d’Inde armchairs by Louis Majorelle have splats with exotic wood marquetry, bent and curved arms, tapering legs, and stuff-over upholstered seats. 1905-10.
Pierced side panels
are decorated
with repeated scrolling motifs.
Bronze drawer pulls are in the shape of goose heads.
The goose motif is continued on the front doors.
GOOSE DESIGN CABINET
pulls, and cupboards inlaid witn exotic wood showing a gaggle of geese. A superb designer and highly skilled technician, Majorelle created flamboyantly luxurious pieces of unrivalled
quality. c.1900.

Art Nouveau: Furniture
Furniture
The French, the main exponents of Art Nouveau, adapted Arts and Crafts designs to create inventive, sculptural furniture, embellished with fine organic decoration. Elsewhere in Europe interpretations of the style varied, although nature was always the main source of inspiration. In Belgium designers such as Victor Horta and Gustave Serrurier-Bovy combined originality
with traditional influences; in Austria the firm of Gebruder Thonet developed the bentwood technique, and the Wiener Werks6tte created rectilinear pieces. In Spain the designs of Antoni Gaudi were exotic, asymmetrical, and idiosyncratic, while in Italy those of Carlo Bugatti were highly inventive and inspired by North African motifs.
The two main centres of Art Nouveau furniture production in France were Nancy, in north-eastern France, and Paris. The Nancy School (est. 1901) drew heavily on nature for inspiration – a theme that was central to all Art Nouveau design. Furniture by members of the school typically features superb, Intricate marquetry panels, used to decorate organic-, naturalistic-, even zoomorphic-shaped supports and mouldings. The furniture made by the Paris School also took inspiration from nature but in a much more THE NANCY SCHOOL
Although perhaps more strongly associated with glassware, Emile Galle (1846-1904), one of the most prominent members of the Nancy School, also produced some of the most exquisite Art Nouveau furniture. He often ignored the conventions of traditional furniture construction and created sinuous, curving forms such as tables supported by huge dragonflies’ wings, bronze mounts in the form of insects, and handles in the shape of snails, grapes, corn, and barley. Much of his furniture. is embellished with fine marquetry decoration. In 1885 a cabinetmaking and marquetry workshop was added to Galle’s glassworks in Nancy: tea-tables, screens, nests of tables, and gueridons were produced until 1890, after Which larger, more sophisticated and exclusive furniture Was made. Furniture was produced in Galle’s workshop after his death, but these pieces are more traditional and have less inventive decoration than items produced during his lifetime.
Another celebrated member of the Nancy School was Louis Majorelle (1859-1926). An accomplished cabinetmaker with a sound knowledge of wood and veneers, Majorelle stayed within the established limits of furniture design, applying superb floral decoration to largely conventional carcasses. He combined dark, exotic, strongly grained hardwoods with mother-of-pearl and metal inlays. Majorelle worked mainly to commission, so his work is rare and highly sought after. Distinctive characteristics such as superb marquetry, often incorporating a chicory-leaf motif, pleated silk back panels, inlaid decoration, and symmetrical forms are found on his individual, elegant pieces. His finest pieces were produced between c.1898 and 1906 and were decorated with beautiful ormolu mounts of waterlilies and orchids. From 1906 to 1908 Majorelle’s workshop was industrialized and produced a wide range of lightly sculptured furniture, which was aimed at a more general market than his earlier, one-off pieces.
THE PARIS SCHOOL
Samuel Bing’s gallery, La Maison de I’Art Nouveau, provided a focus for the Paris School, with members including Hector Guimard (1867-1942), Eugene Gaillard (1862-1933), and Georges de Feure (1868-1928). Pieces were more restrained and sculptural than those of the Nancy School, but decoration was still based on nature. Guimard, heavily influenced by Victor Horta, whom he met in Brussels in 1895, is best known for the wrought-iron entrances he designed for the Paris Metro, which are the epitome of Parisian Art Nouveau. His finely made furniture, crafted mostly from fruitwoods, was equally stylized and sculptural. The same balance between naturalistic forms and elegant design is evident in the work of Gaillard and De Feure, whose symmetrical, graceful forms with bold outlines often feature organic marquetry designs and carved whiplash decoration.
The Nancy School
• STYLE most designs are highly imaginative in form, typically inspired by nature, and extremely decorative
• DECORATION this is important: designers used exotic-wood veneers, mother-of-pearl and metal inlay, ormolu Mounts, and superb marquetry, often with chicory-leaf or whiplash motifs
• COLLECTING all pieces are rare and valuable
The Paris School
• STYLE this is more stylized than that of the Nancy School, with nature often used symbolically
• DECORATION whiplash motifs are typical
Belgium Art Nouveau first took a clearly defined form in Brussels with the building of the Hotel Tassel, designed in 1892-3 by Victor Horta (1861-1947), but the style was short-lived and was quickly moderated after the International Exhibition of 1905 in Liege. However, Horta’s influence was longer-lasting, with his ideas and motifs – in particular his whiplash design –reinterpreted by many European designers. Elsewhere in Europe, although nature’s curves were a source of inspiration for all designers, interpretations of Art Nouveau were varied. Austrian designers preferred rectilinear, often severe forms, and Spanish and Italian designers created highly idiosyncratic furniture.
The painter, architect, and graphic designer Van de Velde gained renown after he created three rooms for
La Maison de I’Art Nouveau, the Parisian gallery owned by Samuel Bing (1838-1905) that acted as a centre of artistic inspiration for the Paris School. Van de Velde’s designs – similar to those of the Paris School – are characterized by an overall restrained sculptural form with little applied decoration. Chairs typically have slender splats, out-curving legs, and upholstery held in place by studwork. Van dc Velde designed whole interiors, including that of his own
house, Bloemenwerf, at Uccle, near Brussels, which he completed in 1896. He produced furniture mainly to commission, so his designs are rare, and correspondingly keenly sought after.
AUSTRIA
One of the major factors in the development of Art Nouveau furniture in Austria was the pioneering of the bentwood technique by the innovative furniture designer Michael Thonet (1796-1871). The process involved steaming
solid or laminated wood so that it could be bent into shape, allowing angular corner joints to be replaced by gentle curves. The sinuous curves associated with Art Nouveau featured heavily in the first catalogue of bentwood furniture, produced by the Viennese firm of Gebruder Thonet (est. 1819) in 1859; the first bentwood rocker was created the following year.
One of Thonet’s major designers was the architect Josef Hoffmann (1870-1956), a leading member of the Vienna Secession, an independent group of architects and designers who aspired to introduce a purer, more abstract style of design. Hoffmann was one of the founders of the Wiener Werkstatte (1903-32), an association formed with the aim of producing
V Recliner by Gebruder Thonet
The elegant, curving shapes typical of bentwood furniture were a precursor of the Art Nouveau style and have remained popular. Larger examples, such as bentwood rocking-chairs, are highly sought after and valuable. This Austrian bentwood and cane recliner (no. 7500), with an adjustable back hinged in the centre, is a rare and collectable model.
aesthetically pleasing objects, including furniture,
for everyday use. Hoffman’s furniture designs for the Wiener Werkstatte were strongly influenced by the work of the Scottish architect and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928), and included tables and chairs made from beechwood, mahogany, limed oak, and other ebonized woods. The forms were characteristically linear and geometric, although his bentwood designs have gently rounded corners. Decoration consists largely of open-centred rectangles or squares, with a ball motif at intersections. From 1903 these rectangular and rectilinear shapes replaced the more French-influenced floral and curving style of the earlier Austrian Art Nouveau style.
SPAIN
In Spain the Art Nouveau style was dominated by a small group of Catalan architects, most notably Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926). Gaudi’s highly idiosyncratic furniture was generally designed for the interiors of his extraordinary, sculptural buildings: for example, he designed a kidney-shaped chaise-longue and dressing-table for the Guiell Palace (1885-9) in Barcelona, the home of the textile-manufacturer Count Eusebi Guell, who was one of Gaudi’s major patrons. Especially striking in the designer’s work is his bold rejection of symmetry and his use of twisting, strangely contorted forms. The employment of the central Art Nouveau theme of nature is evident in Gaudi’s preference for extremely sculptural, curving, organic
structures over straight lines, and his frequent use of floral decoration. In common with other Spanish Art Nouveau
furniture, Gauch’s pieces often serve multiple roles: sofas sometimes incorporate
small tables, while display-cabinets house mirrors and cupboards. Gaudi’s preferred wood was oak, but other Spanish designers used pale woods including ash, birch,
Lind sycamore, which were characteristically combined with burnished metal and fine marquetry decoration.
ITALY
The major designer of Italian Stile Liberty (Art
Nouveau) furniture was Carlo Bugatti (1855-1940), who, like Gaudi, designed furniture for specific locations, notably the Moorish interior he created for the Italian Pavilion at the Turin International Exhibition of Modern Decorative Arts in 1902. The influence of North Africa is evident in his use of subdued colours (largely browns and blacks), circular seat-backs, strips of beaten and pierced metal, tassels, and vellum upholstery. Bugatti’s lavish use of ivory, brass, and pewter inlay is also a predominant feature, but such intricate decoration is very vulnerable and often slightly damaged. However, the rarity and desirability of Bugatti’s work means that even less than perfect examples are still highly collectable. His range of designs included larger pieces
such as sectional bench seats, elements of which were produced as cabinets, tables, and chairs. As with Gaudi, Bugatti’s designs were highly inventive and often involved a combination of different elements – scats had integral lamps, and tables sometimes included cabinets. Another Italian designer of this period was Carlo Zen (1851-1918), whose furniture is typified by inlaid mother-of-pearl, silver, and brass and restrained forms similar to those of the Paris School.
Belgium
• STYLE Serrurier-Bovy: designs are more restrained than French pieces; Van de Velde: pieces have a restrained, sculptural form with no applied decoration; most chairs have slender splats and out-curving legs, with upholstery (often leather) held in place by studs
• COLLECTING commissioned furniture is rare and sought after; Serrurier-Bovy: Silex furniture is more accessibly priced; fakes are virtually unknown
Marks
Serrurier-Bovy: the Silex range is all clearly stamped “SILEX”; Van de Velde: work is rarely marked; pieces can often be identified from contemporary photographs
Austria
• STYLE Thonet; bentwood furniture is strongly characterized by sinuous curves; Wiener Werkstatte: their work is typified by geometric, angular designs
• COLLECTING Thonet: bentwood chairs with cane seats were mass-produced in various designs and in large quantities so arc readily available; more desirable are the rarer large rocking-chairs and recliners
Marks
Wiener Werkstatte: pieces are rarely signed but the quantities of original designs and contemporary photographs that survive make identification easier
A Dressing table designed by Antoni Gaudi
The keynote to this dressing-table, designed for the Guell Palace in Barcelona, is asymmetry The piece rests on five inlaid and carved legs, each of which is a different shape, with a curved iron stretcher. The mirror is placed at an angle, and the cylindrical cupboards at the sides are placed at different levels. Such a rejection of traditional forms is absolutely typical of Gaudi – both in his fantastic architectural work and in his furniture design.

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Coloured glass
Coloured glass is made by adding metallic oxides to the glass batch. This technique was widely practised in ancient Egypt and Rome, where brightly coloured glass was often favoured over clear glass. In the 15th century opaque white glass, slightly translucent glass, and glass in imitation of hardstones were produced in Venice; in Bohemia glass in bold colours of blue and
ruby-red was widely produced before 1800. In the 19th century, with advanced technical and mass production methods production was much more widespread with notable firm operating not only in Italy and Bohemia but also in Britain France, and the USA. Experimention with new staining any overlay techniques produced a wide array of coloured designs.
EARLY GLASS
The Egyptians experimented with coloured glass, exploiting their extensive trade routes to acquire the necessary materials. Ancient Egyptian glass comes in a myriad of bright, pure colours. One of the most common was bright turquoise blue, coloured by adding copper oxide to the batch. Antimony and tin oxide, imported from Assyria, were used to colour glass an opaque white, while pure opaque yellow was trailed over dark blue core-formed objects, with white or pale blue, and
combed into festoons or feathery patterns and zigzags. Fine alabastra (bottles or flasks) known as “gold-band” incorporate stripes of real gold.
The Romans continued to experiment with coloured glass, producing most famously dark blue glass overlaid with opaque white and cut with cameo decoration. Mosaic glass was made from brilliantly coloured canes of glass cut into tiny slices and fused together in a mould. Most coloured glass was blue, although purple and amber pieces are also found. Much excavated Roman glass will have an iridescent surface; this is the result of a chemical reaction with the metal oxides in the earth after the glass was buried. Roman wares include bowls, bottles, flasks, and cups.
VENETIAN GLASS
From the mid-15th century the sophisticated know-how of Venetian glassmakers gave rise to many different types and effective combinations of coloured glass. In the late 15th century a “milky” opaque-white glass made by adding tin oxide to the batch was developed. This glass (known as lattimo in Italy) resembled porcelain, and it became particularly popular in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, when imported Chinese porcelain was in vogue. From the late 15th century a fine marbled glass known as “chalcedony” ” or “agate” glass was created by mixing together coloured opaque metals to resemble hardstones. Opaline glass, which was slightly translucent and less dense than opaque-white glass, was probably first made in Venice in the 17th century by the addition of oxides and the ashes of calcified
bones to the batch; when held to the light it can be distinguished from opaque-white glass by a red or yellow tint, which is known as the “fire’
BOHEMIAN GLASS
In the 16th century a distinctive dark-blue glass was produced in Bohemia by the addition of cobalt oxide. The clear vivid body colour was a perfect canvas for the brightly coloured naive enamelling popular at that time. At the end of the 17th century a deep pink glass was invented by by Johann Kunckel (c.1630-1703), a chemist and director at the Potsdam Glasshouse (est. 1679). The colour was produced by adding gold chloride to the batch. This “gold-ruby” glass (known as “Kunckel red” or, in German, Rubinglas or Goldrubinglas) was also produced in Nuremberg and other glasshouses in southern Germany. Gold-ruby glass was decorated with engraving, cutting, or gilding, and was considered a luxury product.
• MAIN AREAS OF PRODUCTION ancient coloured glass was made in Egypt and Rome; it was produced from c.1450 in Venice and from the 16th century in Bohemia
• TYPES blue glass; porcelain-like “milk” glass; coloured glass in imitation of hardstones; opaline glass; gold-
ruby glass
• FORMS densely coloured pieces may appear heavy bodied
• COLOURS ancient glass: many pieces have dark blue bodies sometimes with yellow and white decoration
• COLLECTING ancient Egyptian glass is very rare and valuable; generally colour will not play an important part in its value; gold-ruby glass is rare and valuable
Bohemia
The 19th century was an age of experimentation in glass technology. Glassmakers, some of whom were also skilled chemists, developed new colours, new ways of applying colour, and innovative techniques to produce glass
The most celebrated types of Bohemian glass from this period are “Lithyalin”, “Hyalith”, stained, and flashed glass.
LITHYALIN AND HYALITH GLASS
Count Georg Franz August Langueval von Buquoy 1811-1851), the owner of a number of glasshouses in southern Bohemia, produced an opaque black glass c.1817, which was inspired by the black basalt wares produced from the end of the 18th century at the Wedgwood factory (est. 1769) in England. In 1819 lie produced another dense opaque glass, known as -Hyalith”, usually in sealing-wax
red or jet-black. Hyalith was usually decorated with gilding.
Von Buquoy’s experiments may have inspired Friedrich Egermann (1777-1864), who in 1829 at his factory in Haida, northern Bohemia, patented “Lithyalin” glass, a polished opaque glass that resembled hardstones, which he continued to produce until 1840. The surface of the glass was brushed with metal oxides to resemble veining and marbling. Strong colours are typical, especially red; more unusual are dark-green, blue, and purple. Wares were usually cut and polished and occasionally gilded or enamelled. Lithyalin glass was used mainly
~, vases,
for purely decorative items, notabl
and scent bottles. Lithyalin glass was also produced at the Harrach Glassworks (est. 1`14) in Neuwelt (now Novy Svet in the Czech Republic), and by Hautin & Co. in France. Although these copies are difficult to distinguish from pieces by Egermann, they are usually slightly lighter in colour.
STAINED, FLASHED, AND OVERLAY GLASS Egermann also invented an effective and inexpensive method of colouring glass with a
thin stain of colour, which was called flashing. This involved painting a clear object with a stain and firing it at a low temperature to fix the colour. This gave a solid, even, pale colour. Egermann is particularly noted for his yellow coloured stain, developed in 1818 using silver chloride, and his ruby-red stain, perfected in 1832, using gold
chloride and copper oxide. Wares were often cut through to the thin colour to reveal the clear glass beneath.
In casing – a technique reinvented by Egermann –the glass vessel is covered in a differently coloured glass and then fired; as the glass cools, the two layers fuse together. Some pieces were “double-cased”, i.e. dipped into two differently coloured batches of glass to give a multicoloured effect. The flashing technique is sometimes confused with casing as the terms were used interchangeably by some glassworks; however, in casing the layers of glass are much thicker. If there is a sharp line between the two colours, this suggests flashing, whereas shading or thinning between two colours suggests overlay. Flashing and staining are characteristic of 19th-century Bohemian glassmakers as they are inexpensive methods of colouring glass and thus well suited to the mass-produced wares made during the 19th century.
OTHER COLOURED GLASS
During the 1820s and 1830s a series of
industrial exhibitions held in Prague gave rise to the development of other types of coloured glass, including violet, pink, green, and blue. Further experimentation with colour in the early
I 9th century sparked the discovery in Bohemia of other ways to colour glass. Of particular note is the work of Josef Riedel (active 1830-48), who in the 1830s used uranium to produce a vivid fluorescent greenish-yellow (Annagriin) and yellowish-green (Annagelb) glass, both named after his wife Anna. However, this glass was mildly radioactive, and the process was later abandoned.
Lithyalin and Hyalith glass
• CONDITION ceramic restoration techniques are often used, so repairs can be difficult to spot
• COLLECTING display vessels such as vases and bowls arc most common; display cups and saucers and pieces with gilt oriental and chinoiserie decoration are rarer; lithyalin overlaid on dark-green hyalith is valuable
Flashed, stained, and overlay glass
• CONDITION check pieces carefully, as damage is often hard to detect on coloured glass; good condition is vital
• COLLECTING the condition and depth of the colour determine the value; beware when collecting blue stained glass as it fades easily and can lose value
Other Bohemian coloured glassTYPES
• vivid green Annagriin and Annagelb glass
Britain, France, and the United States after 1800
Coloured glass was widely produced during the 19th century in Britain, France, and the USA. In Britain two important events gave a new impetus to the manufacture of coloured glass in the middle of the century. The first was the removal of excise tax on glass in 1845, which encouraged makers to experiment with new techniques and styles, among them coloured glass. The second was the Great Exhibition held in London in 1851 at which glassmakers from Europe and the USA were keen to show their new skills and techniques. In France glassmakers at all the major factories manufactured coloured glass in a range of styles and forms, and in the USA firms experimented widely with colour, producing an extensive range of designs, most characteristically in delicate pastel shades with subtle
BRITAIN
All blue, green, and amethyst glass produced in Britain from the end of the 18th to the middle of the 19th century is generically described as “Bristol” glass. The most characteristic colour is a brilliant royal blue, produced by adding cobalt oxide to the batch; such glass is frequently embellished with cold gilding. Drinking glasses were generally green, ranging from grass green to a turquoise green. Amethyst glasses are rare, but when found the colour is true and clear, with no sign of red, unlike the plum tone found on later Victorian glass.
In the mid-19th century the influence of coloured glass manufactured by well-established glass companies in Bohemia became increasingly visible in the products of British factories. Not only did important Bohemian factories such as the Harrach Glassworks (est. 1714) in Neuwelt (now Novy Svet in the Czech Republic) exhibit quantities of coloured glass at the Great Exhibition, but Bohemian glassworkers were also employed by British factories where, freed from the constraint of having to produce wares in traditional styles, they were able to manufacture very exciting wares in an outstanding range of new colours.
In the late I 870s a type of
type
opalescent glass, known as
“Vaseline” glass due to its greasy,
vaseline-like appearance, was developed
in Britain and designed to resemble 15th-
and 16th-century Venetian glass. The opalescent colour was produced by using tiny amounts of uranium together with other metal oxides to create shades of yellow, green, blue, and, more rarely, red. Stevens & Williams Ltd (est. 1847), of Brierley Hill, near Stourbridge, was one of the leading innovators in the field of patent colours and colour combinations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The company’s rare double-cased “Rockingham” ware is particularly sought after, as are the Bohemian-style
pieces with alternating panels of engraved colour-flashed and clear glass produced by WIT.,
B. & J. Richardson (est. c.1836), also near Stourbridge. Amber was the most commonly used colour for the vases, decanters, and claret jugs in this style, although some pieces were also produced in purple, green, and red.
Gold and uranium oxides combined with sodium nitrate were used to manufacture the “Queen’s Burmese” range of glass by Thomas Webb & Sons (est. 1837), near Stourbridge, patented in 1886. Queen’s Burmese was inspired by the “Burmese” glassware patented in 1885
by the Mount Washington Glass Co. (est. 1837), in South Boston, Massachusetts, and favoured by Queen Victoria who ordered a set – hence the name. It had a body colour that shaded from a pale lemon-yellow (sometimes light green) at the bottom through to salmon-pink at the top. Some pieces feature enamelled and gilded designs. Although Queen’s Burmese ware was made by other British companies – including WIL, B. & J. Richardson –pieces by Webb are the most desirable. Typical wares include vases, posy bowls, and lampshades. Another type of glass introduced by Webb was “Peach” glass, a type of cased glass that shaded from pink through to a deep red.
A Tazza
The tazza is a distinctive Venetian form of serving dish. The revival of 15th- and 16th-century Venetian glass forms and styles of decoration was started in Venice during the mid-19th century and gradually spread throughout Europe. In Britain the Revival was supported by William Morris, who disapproved of the heavily cut glass prevalent at the time. One of the leading British manufacturers of Venetian Revival glass was James Powell & Sons (est. 1834), which produced “Vaseline” glass wares similar to the example shown above, and in delicately tinted glass from the 1870s.
FRANCE
In France, the Baccarat Glassworks (est. 1764 as the Sainte-Anne Glassworks) in Baccarat, near Luneville, Lorraine, produced glass c.1880 in a distinctive, delicate shade of pink known as “tinted-rose”.Many
wares feature acid-etched Classical decoration. Another fashionable trend was the production of coloured opaline glass, a semi-opaque white glass, opacified by the addition of the ash of calcined bones and coloured with metallic oxides. The Venetians had been the first to introduce this translucent glass, which was later made in Bohemia and Britain, but the French opaline glass first produced c.1823 at Baccarat was more translucent. The finest French opaline was made at Baccarat, at the Saint-Louis Glassworks est. 1767) near Bitche, in the Munzthal, Lorraine, and at the Choisy-le-Roi Glassworks (est. 1821) in Paris. Wares were made in delicate pastel shades such
as turquoise, pink, and pale green, and include pairs Of vases with enamelled decoration, and vases, jugs, and dishes of inventive forms, often with coloured cane rims. Saint-Louis Glassworks made many pieces IT soft pink or blue, with latticinio decoration and glass cane rims.
THE UNITED STATES
Throughout the 19th century American glass manufacturers launched and developed a range of innovative coloured glass. One of the most popular and now widely collected colours is the transparent “Cranberry” glass, which has a distinctive raspberry pink tint, first produced in the glassmaking region of Stourbridge in England. Huge quantities of useful and ornamental wares were made, most notably at the Boston & Sandwich Glass Co. (1826-88) in Sandwich, Massachusetts.
However, it was only during the 1880s, when there was a move away from cut and pressed glass by the leading glass manufacturers, that they began to experiment in earnest with a more sophisticated range of coloured art glass. One of the leading companies at this time was the Mount Washington
Glass Co., which launched the widely copied and enormously popular “Burmese” glass in 1885. Most Burmese glass has a satin finish, although some has a glossy surface, and is characterized by subtle gradations of shading from a light lemon at the bottom of the piece to a delicate pink at the top. In 1883 the firm of Hobbs, Brockunier & Co. (est. 1863) in Wheeling, West Virginia, developed “Peachblow” glass and incorporated it into its range of coloured wares. This cased glass is a warm buttery yellow at the base shading through to a purplish-red at the top and is lined in a white opal glass. Peachblow was made at other companies, including the New England Glass Co. (1818-90), originally in East Cambridge, Massachusetts, which called it “Wild Rose”. New England was also notable for its “Amberina” range of glass, which it produced as “Pressed Amberina”. Both Wild Rose and Pressed Amberina were developed by Joseph Locke (1846-1936), an English glassworker, who emigrated to the USA in 1882. Patented in 1883, Amberina glass contained small amounts of gold, and graduated from pale amber at the base through to a rich fuschia at the top. It was made until 1900. Hobbs, Brockunier & Co. also made Pressed Amberina under licence from the New England Glass Co.
France
• MAJOR FACTORIES Baccarat, Saint-Louis, Choisy-le-Roi
• TYPES pastel-coloured opaline glass and wares with decoration are most notable
• COLLECTING wares by Baccarat are sought after
Marks
Saint-Louis: this mark was used from 1870 to the present day; some pieces marked “Argental” or Munzthal the German for Argental, often with a tiny cross of Lorraine
The United States
• COLLECTING Cranberry glass: very popular with
collectors; later Cranberry tends to have a less warm hue and a bluey tinge when held to the light
Marks
Mount Washington Glass Co.: mark used on Burmese ware from the 1880s
New England Glass Co.: Amberina ware; mark used from 1880s
Britain
• TYPES Bristol glass, overlay glass, Vaseline glass, decorated opaque and opaline glass
• BEWARE there are many early 20th-century copies of Bristol glass: beware of glasses that are larger than usual (more than c. I Ocin/4in high) and thin glass
Marks
Thomas Webb & Son