Minton Kensington Gore
Antique 1870s Great Britain (UK) Aesthetic Movement Pottery
Pottery
People Also Browsed
1990s Contemporary Portrait Prints
Lithograph
Vintage 1910s English Dinner Plates
Gold
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Crystal Serveware
Murano Glass
Antique 1880s English Aesthetic Movement Porcelain
Porcelain
Antique 19th Century Unknown Folk Art Pottery
Earthenware
Artist Comments
Artist Diana Elena Chelaru portrays a stylized portrait of Audrey Hepburn with geometric and floral patterns on her garb. She gazes ahead as if quietly observi...
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Acrylic
Antique 1880s Spanish Rococo Paintings
Canvas, Giltwood
Antique Late 19th Century French Delft and Faience
Faience
Vintage 1960s French Space Age Decorative Art
Wood
2010s Portuguese Modern Vases
Ceramic
Antique 1880s English Aesthetic Movement Dinner Plates
Porcelain
Antique 18th Century German Louis XVI Paintings
Canvas, Paint
Vintage 1920s French Art Deco Glass
Glass
Antique 1890s English Aesthetic Movement Dinner Plates
Porcelain
Antique Late 19th Century French Porcelain
Porcelain
Antique 1870s English Aesthetic Movement Platters and Serveware
Pottery
Recent Sales
Antique 19th Century British Aesthetic Movement Vases
Pottery
A Close Look at aesthetic-movement Furniture
In 1880, polymath designer William Morris declared: “If you want a golden rule that will fit everybody, this is it: Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” His words encapsulated the Aesthetic Movement, which prized beauty above all and blurred the lines between fine art and the decorative arts, particularly through lavishly crafted furniture pieces.
The Aesthetic Movement, whose major proponents included author Oscar Wilde, flourished from the 1860s to the 1880s and was mostly popular in England and the United States. Design expositions like the 1876 Centennial International Exhibition in Philadelphia, as well as the publishing of how-to books for interior design, helped disseminate Aesthetic Movement bedroom furniture, serveware, coffee tables and other items, especially to the middle class.
The establishment of new art museums, art clubs and a rising passion for collecting at the time contributed to a growing appreciation for art. Morris’s founding of Morris & Co. in 1862 and the commercializing of this “cult of beauty” by the Liberty store in London, starting in the late 19th century, further disseminated the idea of a domestic space that was thoughtfully and floridly designed.
Leading Aesthetic Movement furniture designers included E.W. Godwin, who drew on Japanese influences and whose work reflected a wider enthusiasm for imported East Asian art. British designer Christopher Dresser created textiles, ceramics and more that were also inspired by Japanese decorative art but were representative of additional diverse design sources that ranged from Egypt to Mexico.
The Aesthetic Movement’s eclecticism resulted in dazzling interiors. Japanese fans were positioned on Renaissance-inspired cabinets with brass hardware, while mantels made of rich walnut or finely carved ebonized wood and adorned with painted Minton tiles mingled with cast-iron chairs against a backdrop of floral wallpaper. In 1881, in New York City, stenciled checkerboard motifs and painted floral murals could be found under an opalescent glass chandelier in a luxurious dressing room designed by German émigré cabinetmaker-decorator George Alfred Schastey. Amid the rise of the industrial age, the style’s promotion of art in everyday life would inform the Arts and Crafts Movement and Art Nouveau.
Find a collection of antique Aesthetic Movement seating, tables, decorative objects and other furniture and antiques on 1stDibs.