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.
Aesthetic Style Carved Hoof Table with Marble Top
Located in Houston, TX
One of a kind aesthetic style ebonized table with black marble top and turned spindled finial sphere base supported by four hand carved hooved legs.
Marble
Aesthetic Movement Gueridon, England, Circa 1860
Located in PARIS, FR
A Japanese style lacquered table consisting of a circular top adorned with a gold nuagé lacquered decor and with red exotic flowers and scrolled foliage. The top is supported by four...
Lacquer
Glass and mirror pedestal table, asymmetrical, Fontana Arte style, 1970
Located in Nice, FR
Round glass and mirror pedestal table with asymmetrical glass legs, mirrored top in the style of Fontana Arte from the 70s Italian work, design This pedestal table can be placed at t...
Glass, Mirror
1970s Ram's Head Iron & Leather Gueridon Side Table with Embossed Top
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
Handsome ram's head tripod drinks table with grey leather embossed top.
Iron
$2,502
H 24.41 in W 9.85 in D 8.67 in
Drink Table / Side Table / Gueridon in Gilt Iron with Brass Top, Spain 1950
Located in Barcelona, ES
Iron and Brass Spanish Drinks Table ____________________________________________________________ Wrough iron small guéridon end / side table or stand with tripod base and brass top. ...
Metal, Brass, Iron
Italian 1930s Painted Wood Guéridon Table with Gilt Accents and Hoofed Feet
Located in Atlanta, GA
An Italian painted wood guéridon side table from the mid-20th century, with gilded accents and hoof legs. Born in Italy during the first half of the 20th century, this unusual guérid...
Wood
1930's Swedish Oval Pedestal Table
Located in New York, NY
A 1930's Swedish Deco occasional table with oval top in bookmatched birch veneer and faceted pedestal base with feet, contrasting in Macassar ebony.
Birch
$2,509
H 24.02 in W 11.03 in D 10.63 in
Drinks Table / Side Table / Gueridon in Gilt Iron with Metal Top, Spain 1950s
Located in Barcelona, ES
Iron and Metal Spanish Drinks Tripod Table ____________________________________________________________ Wrough iron small guéridon end / side table or stand with tripod base and silv...
Metal, Iron, Brass
19th Century French Empire Style Mahogany Pedestal Side Table W/ Marble Top
Located in Astoria, NY
An exquisite late 19th-century French Empire-style guéridon side table, sourced directly from Provence and meticulously restored. Handcrafted from solid mahogany, the table features ...
Marble
$4,850
H 30.5 in Dm 20.5 in
Fine French Louis XVI Style Gilt Wood Carved Guéridon Side Table with Marble Top
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A French Louis XVI Style Gilt Wood Carved Guéridon Side Table with Marble Top. The circular gilt wood carved apron with an acanthus tied leaf wreath, raised on four fluted carved leg...
Marble
$2,772Sale Price|60% Off
H 29.14 in W 51.19 in D 51.19 in
Midcentury Romeo Rega Black Lacquer Brass and Glass Dining Table, 1970s
By Metalarte, Romeo Rega
Located in Paris, IDF
Luxe and inventive, this midcentury dining table by Romeo Rega for Metalarte has been maintained in very good vintage condition. It’s the black lacquer top that makes this midcentury...
Brass
$1,875
H 22 in W 28 in D 28 in
Charles X Style Calais Cherry & Brass Gueridon Pedestal Table by Davis Cabinet
Located in Germantown, MD
Davis cabinet Company Charles X Style Calais Cherry and solid Brass Gueridon Pedestal Table. Measures 28 inches in diameter and stands 22.5 inches tall. Good vintage condition.
Brass
Fontana Arte Style Occasional Table in Polished Brass and Concave Glass
By Fontana Arte
Located in St.Petersburg, FL
An elegant occasional (snack) table in the style of Fontana Arte. Solid brass tripod base, heavy polished glass top with a blue/green hue.
Brass
Jules Leleu Gueridon, circa 1930, France
By Jules Leleu
Located in Girona, Spain
Jules Leleu Gueridon, Made with mahogany and plated brass, circa 1930, France. Classic Art Deco design Sunburst table top 4 Art Deco designed Legs positioned on a pedestal base with bronze details Signed Good vintage condition. Jules Leleu (June 17, 1883–1961) was a French furniture designer. Born in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, Leleu studied decorative painting and at the age of 26 succeeded his father in the family painting business. With his brother he began work in the Decorating field. After World War I, Leleu specialized in furniture making. He opened a Paris gallery, Maison Leleu, in 1924 and exhibited at the 1925 Exposition Industrielle et Arts Decoratifs, winning a grand prize at the exposition. Leleu designed the Grand Salon of the Ambassadors at the Society of Nations in Geneva and the French Embassies of several nations as well as the ocean liners SS Ile de France...
Brass
Fontana Arte Glass Coffee Table 1970, Italy
By Fontana Arte
Located in Den Haag, NL
Beautiful geometric all Glass and Chrome Coffee table . Architectural Deign . so stylish . Good condition . Fontana Arte 1970s Italy
Glass
Antique English Cast Iron & Marble Faux Bamboo Bistro or Cafe Table C. 1900
Located in Atlanta, GA
English, circa 1900. This delightful antique English bistro or café table, dating to circa 1900, combines a beautifully veined marble top with an intricately cast iron base in a fau...
Marble, Iron
Black Lacquer Gueridon Side Table
Located in New York, NY
Elegant black lacquer gueridon side table. Exceptional side table having three legs shaped as bamboo with a lower shelf as strut, gilt detail ac...
Wood
Unusual American Aesthetic Brass and Silvered Table
Located in Essex, MA
With square wood top with reeded edge over a base with spandrels with decoration in the form of a top, crosshatched tubular legs and X form stretcher with pierced decoration and chry...
A 19th Century Gueridon Center Table
Located in London, GB
A fine and highly architectural late 19th century gueridon center table, the splayed legs with curved volutes, a central stretcher with pineapple finial, terminating in feet with Gre...
19th Century Rustic Twig Table
Located in London, GB
The thumb molded circular burr elm top supported on three rustic twig legs.