This seven piece dining suite is a Gothic Revival from the early Nineteenth century, Europe. This design would have been crafted as a result of the Industrial Revolution. Many pieces of furniture produced were inspired by John Ruskin and other writers who deployed the effects of industrialization. The Gothic revival was dedicated to re-establishing the importance of craftsmanship in an era of mechanization and mass production (Ruskin, 1853. P 15-19). It’s likely that it was made in Britain as this is where the Industrial Revolution took place. The carved decorations are in walnut which was a good resource in Britain during this period. Gothic revival objects were often made with the natural materials around them as it was more practical and cheaper than importing materials. Pugin believed that ignoring the “proper” use of materials was “dishonest and resulted in ugly designs” (Raizman, D, 2004, p 48). This furniture’s not bent unnaturally from the wood it’s made from. Pugin (1841) believed “designs should be adapted to the material in which they are executed.” The dining suite also follows Pugin’s “True Principles” of design, including “nature as model for ornament” as it depicts leaves underneath the frame of the table. It also follows the principle “abstraction in representation.” Although the leaves are engraved in the table they are still two dimensional with a flat appearance, not a realistic life like representation of leaves. Direct imitation of nature was believed to be dishonest. “The more closely nature is copied, the farther away we are removed from producing a work of art” (Jones, O, 1856, p 21). This furniture is simple in shape and contains elaborate and intricately carved decoration, characteristic to Gothic revival design (Raizman, D, 2004, p 49-57). Owen Jones (1856), a design reformist from this period also “promoted forms of ornament that were idealized or conventionalized, rather than closely copied from nature” (p. 19).
References
Ledes, A. E. (1995). A. W. N. Pugin and the Gothic revival. The Magazine Antiques , 148(6). Retrieved from ProQuest Central database.
Raizman, D. (2004). “Design, Society and Standards,” History of Modern Design. (pp. 45-63). New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc.
Ruskin, J. (2003). “The Nature of Gothic,” excerpted in Gorman, C. The Industrial Design Reader. (pp. 18-20). New York: Allworth Press.
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