Posts Tagged ‘geometric furniture’

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.

Antiques: Antique Furniture, Porcelain and Pottery, Silver, Art Deco, Arts and Crafts Featured at Antcollectors (5)

AMERICAN EMPIRE STYLE, which originated in France around 1800, became popular in the United States about 15 years later. ‘Thins was the start of the Industrial Revolution. Transport, education, health, and communications were improving rapidly and many people were moving west in search of prosperity and new opportunities.
As industrialization increased, Empire-style furniture was made to suit a variety of budgets – it could be elegant and costly for the wealthy, or plain and affordable for the middle classes. This meant that furniture in one style could be made to suit people of all classes.
The side columns are reeded and fluted.
CHANGE OF SHAPE
The new style of furniture took the early delicate Federal form and made it huge, bulky, and ornate. Like Federal furniture, Empire pieces were inspired by ancient Greek and Roman forms, but used them more literally while still making furniture suited to life in the I9th century.
Designs started to emphasize the outline rather than the details of a piece, and decoration such as undulating scrolls carved in high relief was applied to heavy, geometric furniture. Cabinet-makers stopped using inlays and started using stencilling, gilded-brass or bronze mounts, or as little decoration as possible.

KEY DESIGNERS AND INFLUENCES The new style first flourished in New York, inspired by British and French publications, and in particular by the work of the English designer Thomas Hope. By the 1840s, American designers were making their own design statements and John Hall of Baltimore published the country’s first design book, The Cabinet Maker’s Assistant, featuring Empire designs.
The cabinet-maker who was pivotal in establishing the style in the United States was the British-born Duncan Phyfe (see box). Another early exponent was Charles Honore Lannuier (see pp.228-229). His
exuberant designs for tables and chairs, often with gilded caryatids, were made at his workshop in New York. However, the more flamboyant Empire furniture was generally made in both Boston and Philadelphia.
SHAPES AND DECORATIONS Empire furniture usually has sabre or curule — X-shaped — legs with large scroll, ball, or carved animal feet. Chairs often had solid vase-shaped splats. Some table tops were made of marble, while others had heavy pedestal bases.
Typical Empire furniture included klismos chairs, scroll-end sofas and
settees, ornamental centre tables, mirror-backed pier tables, sleigh and canopy beds, and day beds, such as recamiers and meridiennes. Cabinetmakers also continued to produce sideboards, dressing tables, and pedestal desks. Chests of drawers were now made with splashboards.
Roman symbols were especially important in the decoration of Empire Furniture and included cornucopia, anthemion and acanthus leaves, eagles, dolphins, swans, lyres, and harps. Napoleon’s campaign in Egypt inspired the use of scarabs, lotus flowers, and hieroglyphs. Doors
and drawers were furnished with lion’s head mounts, and brass, pressed glass, or turned wooden knobs.
MATERIALS
Rosewood and richly grained mahogany or walnut were popular woods, but maple and cherry were also used. Vernacular furniture was made from local woods including pine and birch. The woods were also used for veneers.
Chairs and sofas were upholstered in silk damask with bold, large-scale Classical designs or stylized flowers, striped silk, or plain silk or velvet.

MAHOGANY BREAKFAST TABLE
This table has a top with shaped, hinged leaves above a single frieze drawer and is raised on a leaf-carved baluster-shaped base and platform. The downswept legs end in brass paw caps rind casters.
CHEST OF DRAWERS
This chest of drawers is made of flame-mahogany, and most of the decoration is provided by the colour and patina of the wood. The chest has a rectangular top with a moulded edge set above a blind drawer. Below this are
three long, graduated drawers, each of which has two gilt-brass ring pulls in the shape of lion’s heads. The drawers are flanked on either side by tapering columns carved with lotus motifs. The columns rest on a plinth base, giving the piece an architectural, Neoclassical feel.
DUNCAN PHYFE SIDE CHAIR
This mahogany and ebonized Neoclassical chair has a curved and rolled top rail above demi-lone splats, flanked by reeled stiles. The upholstered seat is raised on curved legs, the front ones terminating in claw feet. 1820.

CLASSICAL ARMOIRE
This impressive, Classical-style armoire is made of mahogany. The piece has a moulded architectural-style cornice, which is set above a rectangular case. Two shaped doors,
decorated with geometric panelling, open
The panelled doors enclose shelves.
to reveal an interior fitted with shelves. The case is flanked by elegant, fluted, engaged columns and is supported on short, turned legs with brass cuffs and feet. The piece was probably made in the New York area. 1800-20.