Aesthetic Movement Furniture
AESTHETIC MOVEMENT
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.
34
to
20
11
34
34
34
149
12
10
6
6
4
3
3
2
1
30
4
4
2
34
16
9
3
1
33
33
29
34
30
29
20
20
Style: Aesthetic Movement
Creator: Minton
19th Century Aesthetic Minton Dinner Plates Set
By Minton
Located in Fort Lauderdale, FL
A set of 12 dinner plates and 3 cake stands by Minton from 1874 featuring mint green borders and beautifully hand-painted butterflies.
The 1874 production of these Minton dinner plates corresponds with the beginnings of the factory’s Aesthetic Movement china...
Category
1870s English Antique Aesthetic Movement Furniture
Materials
Porcelain
19th c. Minton Aesthetic Movement "Aquarium" Fish Plate
By Minton
Located in Great Barrington, MA
This Minton "Aquarium" plate was part of a fish service which is a rare and sought after pattern. The celadon green ground contrasts beautifully with the vibrant polychrome decoratio...
Category
1870s English Antique Aesthetic Movement Furniture
Materials
Porcelain
Minton Majolica Purple Grape Cluster on Green Leaf Covered Box, date marked 1861
By Minton
Located in Philadelphia, PA
We rarely use the term rare … here we have a VERY rare covered majolica box in the form of a cluster of grapes on a leaf tray, made by Minton in England, date marked 1861.
One of on...
Category
1860s English Antique Aesthetic Movement Furniture
Materials
Earthenware
Christopher Dresser Aesthetic Movement Japonism Style Green Minton Plate, 1876
Located in Paris, FR
Green Aesthetic Minton Porcelain Plate in the style of Japonism creations made by Christopher Dresser. Round plate adorned with an oriental fan representi...
Category
Late 19th Century English Antique Aesthetic Movement Furniture
Materials
Porcelain
Minton Porcelain Cabinet Plate Attributed to Christopher Dresser, 1880
By Minton
Located in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire
A superb and stylish Aesthetic Movement Minton porcelain cabinet plate decorated with birds, flowering hawthorn and other designs attributed t...
Category
1880s English Antique Aesthetic Movement Furniture
Materials
Porcelain
Minton, 'Faisan', Aesthetic Movement Tea Cups & Saucers, U.K., Circa 1880
By Minton
Located in Chatham, ON
MINTON - 'Faisan' - Rare antique Aesthetic Movement ceramic tea cups and saucers - set of four - transfer decorated in brown on a cream ground - elabor...
Category
Late 19th Century British Antique Aesthetic Movement Furniture
Materials
Ceramic
10 Antique Mintons Porcelain Raised Gold Aesthetic Movement Luncheon Plates
By Minton
Located in Philadelphia, PA
A set of 10 richly gilt porcelain luncheon or dessert plates.
By Mintons.
In an Aesthetic Movement numbered pattern with raised gold and gold jeweling throughout.
Each marked to t...
Category
Late 19th Century English Antique Aesthetic Movement Furniture
Materials
Porcelain
Minton Tea cup attributed to Christopher Dresser, 1871
Located in Paris, FR
Wonderful aesthetic movement tea cup in hand-painted and hand-gilt porcelain by the English manufactory Minton. Blue background with stylized red flowers imitating the cloisonné technique, very common in the Japonisme ware.
Attributed to Christopher Dresser, a famous designer that was working for Minton in 1867. He made very decorative designs, using very often this special shade of blue. A very small quantity of his work was signed, but the quality of some designs allows to make further -attribution to him, such as this tea cup.
Signed with Minton hallmarks beneath, "Minton", number of the model G596 (China ware...
Category
1870s English Antique Aesthetic Movement Furniture
Materials
Porcelain
19th Century Blue & White Daisy Platter Minton
By Minton
Located in Austin, TX
19th century blue & white daisy platter signed Minton.
Category
1890s English Antique Aesthetic Movement Furniture
Materials
Ceramic
Minton Cloisonné Style Coffee Cup Attributed to Christopher Dresser
Located in Paris, FR
Exquisite Minton cloisonné style ware tea cup with its saucer. This porcelain set is decorated with the cloisonné style technique with vivid botanical...
Category
1870s English Antique Aesthetic Movement Furniture
Materials
Porcelain
Christopher Dresser Japonism Yellow Minton Plate, 1876
Located in Paris, FR
Yellow Aesthetic Minton Porcelain Plate in the style of Japonism creations made by Christopher Dresser. Round plate adorned with an oriental fan representing a lovely and colorful bi...
Category
Late 19th Century English Antique Aesthetic Movement Furniture
Materials
Porcelain
Antique Minton Secessionist Vase in Light Blue and Cobalt with Floral Motif
By Minton
Located in Hamilton, Ontario
This antique potery vase was made by the renowned Mintons Company of England in approximately 1905 in the period Secessionist style. The vase is done with a Robin egg blue ground wit...
Category
Early 20th Century English Aesthetic Movement Furniture
Materials
Pottery
11 Aesthetic Movement Minton Hand Painted Botanical Dessert Plates Butterflies
By Minton
Located in Great Barrington, MA
This set of 11 Minton hand painted dessert plates is a wonderful example of the artistry of the Aesthetic Movement. Dated 1881, these depict the combination of flowers and insects so...
Category
1880s English Antique Aesthetic Movement Furniture
Materials
Porcelain
Minton Porcelain Hand-Painted Blank Cabinet Plate Signed AMB, 1890
By Minton
Located in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire
An unusual and stylish Aesthetic Movement Minton porcelain cabinet plate hand painted with flowers and butterflies with initials APM and dating from 1890. This finely made plate is o...
Category
1890s English Antique Aesthetic Movement Furniture
Materials
Porcelain
Christopher Dresser Aesthetic movement Japonism style Pink Minton Plate 1876
Located in Paris, FR
Pink Aesthetic Minton Porcelain plate in the style of Japonism creations made by Christopher Dresser. Round plate adorned with an oriental fan representing a lovely and colorful bird...
Category
Late 19th Century English Antique Aesthetic Movement Furniture
Materials
Porcelain
Majolica Oyster Plates by Minton, 1876
By Minton
Located in Paris, FR
These Minton majolica oyster plates were produced in different colors. Delicate turquoise color with iridescent green tones on the middle of the plate. Decorated with refined shells,...
Category
1870s British Antique Aesthetic Movement Furniture
Materials
Majolica
Minton Aesthetic Movement Plum Red Glazed Art Pottery Monkey Candlestick
By Minton
Located in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire
A stylish and unusual Minton Aesthetic Movement plum glazed art pottery monkey candlestick dating from around 1885. The candlestick stands on a rou...
Category
1880s English Antique Aesthetic Movement Furniture
Materials
Earthenware
Arts & Crafts Minton Pottery Tile Designed by Christopher Dresser
Located in Fort Lauderdale, FL
A Minton pottery tile designed by Christopher Dresser in 1873.
This tile, designed by Christopher Dresser and made in 1873, exemplifies the Aesthetic Movement ethos of the home as...
Category
Late 19th Century British Antique Aesthetic Movement Furniture
Materials
Earthenware
Large 19th Century Aesthetic Movement Minton Charger
By Minton
Located in Lambertville, NJ
A large and beautiful hand painted charger, England, Aesthetic Movement, by Minton. The charger is 22.5 inches in Diameter with an impressed Minton mark and a black stamp Minton's Ar...
Category
1870s English Antique Aesthetic Movement Furniture
Materials
Pottery
Large English Bird Plate Mintons, circa 1900
By Minton
Located in Austin, TX
English blue bird plate in a landscape signed Mintons (mark 1873 to 1912).
Category
Early 1900s English Antique Aesthetic Movement Furniture
Materials
Ceramic
English Minton Aesthetic Movement Majolica Pineapple Palissy Pitcher
By Minton
Located in Philadelphia, PA
From the Minton pottery in Staffordshire, England, a Majolica glazed pitcher in the Palissy style, formed as a pineapple, registered and dated October 5th, 1858.
From a set of thr...
Category
Late 19th Century English Antique Aesthetic Movement Furniture
Materials
Earthenware
Minton Porcelain Plate, Putti and Rabbit Scene by A. Boullemier, circa 1885
Located in London, GB
This is a very charming plate made by Minton in circa 1885 and painted by the famous porcelain artist Antonin Boullemier. The plate has an image of three putti who are shooting birds...
Category
1880s English Antique Aesthetic Movement Furniture
Materials
Porcelain
English Mintons 1910 Aesthetic Movement Majolica Glazed John Henk Rooster Figure
By Minton
Located in Philadelphia, PA
From Mintons, a monumental and rare Rooster figure, Stoke-Upon-Trent, Staffordshire, England, circa 1910.
A mold designed by John Henk, this faithful r...
Category
Early 20th Century English Aesthetic Movement Furniture
Materials
Earthenware
English Minton Aesthetic Movement Majolica Pineapple Palissy Pitcher
By Minton
Located in Philadelphia, PA
From the Minton pottery in Staffordshire, England, a Majolica glazed pitcher in the Palissy style, formed as a pineapple, registered and dated October 5th, 1858.
From a set of thr...
Category
Late 19th Century English Antique Aesthetic Movement Furniture
Materials
Earthenware
Pair of Aesthetic Movement Cast Fire Inserts with Mintons Aesop's Fables Tiles
Located in London, GB
Thomas Jeckyll in the style of.
A rare pair of Aesthetic Movement cast iron fire inserts, each with twelve Minton tiles, printed in blue and white with comical designs by John Moyr-Smith from Aesop's Fables.
The designs Moyr Smith drew on these tiles are known as:-
The Dog and his shadow.
The Fox & the Goat.
The Hare and the Tortoise.
The Frogs Who Wished for a King.
The Wolf and the Lamb...
Category
1880s English Antique Aesthetic Movement Furniture
Materials
Iron
English Minton Japonisme Aesthetic Movement Majolica Aubergine Eggplant Vase
By Minton
Located in Philadelphia, PA
From Minton, a wonderful and extremely scarce majolica glazed Aubergine eggplant vase, dated 1875.
An example of the Japonisme Aesthetic so desirable ...
Category
Late 19th Century English Antique Aesthetic Movement Furniture
Materials
Earthenware
Large English Bird Plate Mintons, circa 1900
By Minton
Located in Austin, TX
Large English blue bird plate in a landscape signed Mintons (mark 1873 to 1912).
Category
Early 1900s English Antique Aesthetic Movement Furniture
Materials
Ceramic
Aesthetic Movement Soup Tureen with Ladle
By Minton
Located in New York, NY
Aesthetic Movement soup tureen with ladle. Aesthetic Movement soup tureen with ladle and cover in brown, yellow and green Faisan pattern with t...
Category
Late 19th Century English Antique Aesthetic Movement Furniture
Materials
Porcelain
Minton English Majolica Daisy and Trellis 2-Piece Jardinière on Stand circa 1875
By Minton
Located in Philadelphia, PA
An excellent quality Minton Majolica ‘Daisy and Trellis’ Jardinière on its stand, England, circa 1875.
The jardinière shows a pattern of a climbing trellis against a maroon stippled...
Category
Late 19th Century English Antique Aesthetic Movement Furniture
Materials
Earthenware
19th Century Minton’s Art Pottery Studio Kensington Gore Hand-Painted Charger
By Minton
Located in Cincinnati, OH
This large hand-painted charger was made by Mintons Art Pottery Studio of Kensington Gore, London. The studio traces its origins to the renowned earthenware and fine bone china factory Minton, located in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire England. Colin Minton Campbell, descendant of founder Thomas Minton, took over company management in 1858 and went on to establish Mintons Art Pottery Studio in 1871 for the purpose of hand decorating pottery and tiles. The studio initially operated under the direction of painter and book illustrator William Stephen Coleman and drew upon the talents of artists studying at the Kensington's National Art Training School, now known as the Royal College of Art, as well as those of well-regarded Continental artists. The company was short lived as it was destroyed by an accidental fire in 1875 and was not rebuilt.
This large earthenware charger has been hand-painted in polychrome enamel and depicts two young children at play in the nursery. The scene includes multiple colors and textures and features a cherubic toddler seated upon a bed alongside a young girl standing on a blue footstool...
Category
1870s Great Britain (UK) Antique Aesthetic Movement Furniture
Materials
Pottery
Pair of Minton Aesthetic Movement Tiled Jardinieres with Lily of the Valley
By Minton
Located in Great Barrington, MA
This pair of jardinieres is made of 19th century Mintons porcelain tiles which have been mounted into later constructed jardinieres. The tiles are all matching, each one decorated with lily of the valley floral motifs.
Beautifully detailed constructed beaded boxes, frame these Aesthetic Movement tiles...
Category
19th Century British Antique Aesthetic Movement Furniture
Materials
Porcelain
Minton 19th Century Aesthetic Movement Hand-Painted Fish Platter
By Minton
Located in Great Barrington, MA
This fish platter is a true work of art! Classic Aesthetic Movement whimsical decoration with fish in motion and in conversation with the viewer, it has a three-dimensional feel. Rea...
Category
19th Century English Antique Aesthetic Movement Furniture
Materials
Porcelain
Set of Nine Minton 19th Century Hand-Painted Dessert Plates, Antonin Boullemier
By Minton
Located in Great Barrington, MA
This amazing set of nine Mintons, 19th century cabinet plates depicting young nymphs in fanciful, bucolic settings are beautifully and realistically painted on a soft aqua background...
Category
Late 19th Century English Antique Aesthetic Movement Furniture
Materials
Porcelain
Four Aesthetic Movement Transfer Printed Minton Tiles BY L.T. SWETNAM Circa 1890
By Minton
Located in Ottawa, Ontario
LOT OF FOUR AESTHETIC MOVEMENT TRANSFER PRINTED MINTON TILES
FROM A LANDSCAPES SERIES ‘ TOWN AND RIVER’ BY L.T. SWETNAM
Circa 1890.
Detailed tondo sepia renderings of rustic sceneri...
Category
1890s English Antique Aesthetic Movement Furniture
Materials
Ceramic
Aesthetic Movement furniture for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a broad range of unique Aesthetic Movement furniture for sale on 1stDibs. Many of these items were first offered in the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artisans have continued to produce works inspired by this style. If you’re looking to add vintage furniture created in this style to your space, the works available on 1stDibs include serveware, ceramics, silver and glass, decorative objects, seating and other home furnishings, frequently crafted with ceramic, wood and other materials. If you’re shopping for used Aesthetic Movement furniture made in a specific country, there are Europe, United Kingdom, and England pieces for sale on 1stDibs. While there are many designers and brands associated with original furniture, popular names associated with this style include Minton, Doulton Lambeth, Christopher Dresser, and Wedgwood. It’s true that these talented designers have at times inspired knockoffs, but our experienced specialists have partnered with only top vetted sellers to offer authentic pieces that come with a buyer protection guarantee. Prices for furniture differ depending upon multiple factors, including designer, materials, construction methods, condition and provenance. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $65 and tops out at $86,402 while the average work can sell for $1,820.
Recently Viewed
View AllMore Ways To Browse
Bow Fronted Chest Of Drawers
Bow Front Chest Of Drawers
Antique Walnut Cabinet Italian
Architectural Blueprints
Architectural Blueprint
Bedside England
Cabinet Black White Doors
Womens Legs
Cabinet With Tables Inside
Campaign Chest Antique
Walnut Glass Display Cabinet
Campaign Chest Antique Furniture
Carved Set Of Doors
Black Round Cabinet
Antique Vintage Doors
Antique Vintage Door
Vintage Antique Door
Vintage Antique Doors