'Art': design for a mosaic on the Ceramic Staircase in the Museum thumbnail 1
'Art': design for a mosaic on the Ceramic Staircase in the Museum thumbnail 2
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level D , Case DR, Shelf 125

'Art': design for a mosaic on the Ceramic Staircase in the Museum

Design
ca.1868-1871 (painted)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Francis Wollaston Moody (1824-1886) was employed at the South Kensington Museum, having joined the Department of Science and Art in 1863. He was one of Godfrey Sykes's assistants, helping to carry out the decoration of the Museum and heading a team of student workers until his resignation in 1882. Moody was also Instructor in Decorative Art at the National Art Training School at South Kensington. From 1880 to 1883 he was an occasional lecturer at the School.

This is a design for 'Art', one of the panels executed in painted mosaic on the Ceramic Staircase of the South Kensington Museum (now the V&A) between around 1868 and 1871. This and the other mosaic panels on the staircase were prepared by students of the National Art Training School, under Moody's direction, and were manufactured by the 'Minton Campbell' process, by Minton, Hollins & Co. 'Art' is the first panel on the right-hand side of the first flight; the other panels on this flight represent literature and music.

The painting depicts a woman standing with bare feet in a landscape, holding a torch in her right hand and a paintbrush with a crayon sheath in her left. She is turned towards the spectator's left and is looking in that direction. She has a laurel wreath on her fair hair and she wears a long yellowish dress figured with a foliated ornament and a narrow red girdle. Over her left shoulder and below her waist hang folds of stone-coloured drapery. In the foreground left and right are plants with pink flowers, and there is a vista of bluish-grey hills in the background. The sky is a rich peacock blue at the top, becoming pale blue lower down.

In the mosaic the design was followed closely. There is a slight difference in the colouring of the hills, which are bluish-grey in the original design and much less blue in the mosaic panel.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Title'Art': design for a mosaic on the Ceramic Staircase in the Museum
Materials and techniques
Oil on canvas
Brief description
Design for Victoria and Albert Museum by Francis Moody, 'Art' mosaic for the Ceramic Staircase, 1860s-70s
Physical description
Painting of a woman standing with bare feet in a landscape, holding a torch in her right hand and a paintbrush with a crayon sheath in her left. She is turned towards the spectator's left and is looking in that direction. She has a laurel wreath on her fair hair and she wears a long yellowish dress figured with a foliated ornament and a narrow red girdle. Over her left shoulder and below her waist hang folds of stone-coloured drapery. In the foreground left and right are plants with pink flowers, and there is a vista of bluish-grey hills in the background. The sky is a rich peacock blue at the top, becoming pale blue lower down.
Dimensions
  • Estimate height: 53.25in
  • Estimate width: 20.125in
Dimensions taken from Summary catalogue of British Paintings, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1973 NB: The measurements at time of acquisition in 1928 were noted as being 40 x 25.875 inches.
Styles
Place depicted
Summary
Francis Wollaston Moody (1824-1886) was employed at the South Kensington Museum, having joined the Department of Science and Art in 1863. He was one of Godfrey Sykes's assistants, helping to carry out the decoration of the Museum and heading a team of student workers until his resignation in 1882. Moody was also Instructor in Decorative Art at the National Art Training School at South Kensington. From 1880 to 1883 he was an occasional lecturer at the School.

This is a design for 'Art', one of the panels executed in painted mosaic on the Ceramic Staircase of the South Kensington Museum (now the V&A) between around 1868 and 1871. This and the other mosaic panels on the staircase were prepared by students of the National Art Training School, under Moody's direction, and were manufactured by the 'Minton Campbell' process, by Minton, Hollins & Co. 'Art' is the first panel on the right-hand side of the first flight; the other panels on this flight represent literature and music.

The painting depicts a woman standing with bare feet in a landscape, holding a torch in her right hand and a paintbrush with a crayon sheath in her left. She is turned towards the spectator's left and is looking in that direction. She has a laurel wreath on her fair hair and she wears a long yellowish dress figured with a foliated ornament and a narrow red girdle. Over her left shoulder and below her waist hang folds of stone-coloured drapery. In the foreground left and right are plants with pink flowers, and there is a vista of bluish-grey hills in the background. The sky is a rich peacock blue at the top, becoming pale blue lower down.

In the mosaic the design was followed closely. There is a slight difference in the colouring of the hills, which are bluish-grey in the original design and much less blue in the mosaic panel.
Bibliographic references
  • John Physick, The Victoria and Albert Museum: the history of its building, London: V&A Publications (1982) pp.124-129
  • Victoria and Albert Museum, Department of Engraving, Illustration and Design and Department of Paintings, Accessions 1927, London: Board of Education, 1928.
Collection
Accession number
E.1033-1927

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Record createdMay 1, 2007
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