Aesthetic Movement Pier Mirrors and Console Mirrors
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.
19th Century American Antique Aesthetic Movement Pier Mirrors and Console Mirrors
Mirror, Pine
2010s English Aesthetic Movement Pier Mirrors and Console Mirrors
Wood, Gesso
21st Century and Contemporary English Aesthetic Movement Pier Mirrors and Console Mirrors
Giltwood, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary English Aesthetic Movement Pier Mirrors and Console Mirrors
Paint, Wood, Gesso
21st Century and Contemporary English Aesthetic Movement Pier Mirrors and Console Mirrors
Paint, Gesso, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary English Aesthetic Movement Pier Mirrors and Console Mirrors
Gold Leaf
2010s English Aesthetic Movement Pier Mirrors and Console Mirrors
Gesso, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary English Aesthetic Movement Pier Mirrors and Console Mirrors
Lacquer, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary English Aesthetic Movement Pier Mirrors and Console Mirrors
Giltwood, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary English Aesthetic Movement Pier Mirrors and Console Mirrors
Gold Leaf
19th Century French Antique Aesthetic Movement Pier Mirrors and Console Mirrors
Mahogany, Mirror
Late 20th Century Moroccan Aesthetic Movement Pier Mirrors and Console Mirrors
Brass
Late 20th Century American Aesthetic Movement Pier Mirrors and Console Mirrors
Mirror, Giltwood
Late 19th Century Antique Aesthetic Movement Pier Mirrors and Console Mirrors
Wood
Late 19th Century American Antique Aesthetic Movement Pier Mirrors and Console Mirrors
Mirror, Giltwood
19th Century Antique Aesthetic Movement Pier Mirrors and Console Mirrors
Mirror, Wood
18th Century and Earlier British Antique Aesthetic Movement Pier Mirrors and Console Mirrors
18th Century and Earlier British Antique Aesthetic Movement Pier Mirrors and Console Mirrors
19th Century Italian Antique Aesthetic Movement Pier Mirrors and Console Mirrors
19th Century British Antique Aesthetic Movement Pier Mirrors and Console Mirrors
Tortoise Shell