Aesthetic Movement Blanket Chests
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.
18th Century Indian Antique Aesthetic Movement Blanket Chests
Chestnut
19th Century Indian Antique Aesthetic Movement Blanket Chests
Teak
Mid-19th Century English Antique Aesthetic Movement Blanket Chests
Other
19th Century French Antique Aesthetic Movement Blanket Chests
Wood
Mid-18th Century Austrian Antique Aesthetic Movement Blanket Chests
Fir
Early 19th Century Swedish Antique Aesthetic Movement Blanket Chests
Pine
Early 19th Century European Antique Aesthetic Movement Blanket Chests
Brass, Iron
19th Century English Antique Aesthetic Movement Blanket Chests
Brass
19th Century Swedish Antique Aesthetic Movement Blanket Chests
Wood
19th Century European Antique Aesthetic Movement Blanket Chests
Pine
19th Century English Antique Aesthetic Movement Blanket Chests
Oak
1740s Indonesian Antique Aesthetic Movement Blanket Chests
Brass
Mid-18th Century Hungarian Antique Aesthetic Movement Blanket Chests
Pine
19th Century Indian Antique Aesthetic Movement Blanket Chests
Metal
Late 17th Century British Antique Aesthetic Movement Blanket Chests
Oak
19th Century Japanese Antique Aesthetic Movement Blanket Chests
Lacquer
