English Progressive Furniture of the Late 19th Century
English Progressive Furniture of the Late 19th Century
This extraordinary burst of creativity was an expression of the Romantic movement and to an extent a counterblast against the intense industrialisation of the period. It formed part of the art and architectural movement of the time and included luminaries such as E.C Burne Jones, J.M. Whistler, W. Holman Hunt, Ninian Comper and CA. Voysey.
William Morris exemplified the reaction with his Utopian suggestion for reinstating a mediaeval guild system. This in turn inspired designers such as C.R. Ashbee to set up a commune in Chipping Campden which was almost monastic in its total commitment to an idealised pre-industrial lifestyle.
Another strand of this progressive tendency, was the slightly more hedonistic Aesthetic movement of the 1860’s, which drew on Japanese, Egyptian and Neoclassicism as well as the mediaeval. Christopher Dresser and E.W. Godwin typified this, working in a pared-down style which anticipated much 20th century design.
