Watercolour
1901 (made)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
Object Type
This watercolour is of the finished dining room in the house of architect and designer Charles Robert Ashbee in Chelsea, London. It was drawn by Ashbee's friend, Fleetwood C. Varley. This sketch was reproduced in the German journal, Kunst und Kunsthandverk, and was possibly drawn especially for that purpose.
Places
This house was designed and built by Ashbee for his family in 1893-1894. The Ancient Magpie and Stump was the name of an old inn which had stood on the same ground. The rooms in the house were the first evidence of Ashbee's talents as an interior designer. The sketch shows the remarkably austere dining room, with its narrow guild trestle table and ladder-back chairs. It was decorated only with a modelled plaster frieze, partly painted by Ashbee's daughter Agnes, and a side-board displaying blue and white porcelain. The house was demolished in 1968.
People
Ashbee founded the Guild of Handicraft in 1888. It was a school and subsequently became a business based on Arts and Crafts principles. It practised woodwork, leatherwork, metalwork and jewellery-making. The guild supplied much of the decoration for this dining room including what were then revolutionary ultra-modern electric light fittings. In 1907 the business failed, mainly because it could not compete with ordinary commercial firms, especially Liberty's in London.
This watercolour is of the finished dining room in the house of architect and designer Charles Robert Ashbee in Chelsea, London. It was drawn by Ashbee's friend, Fleetwood C. Varley. This sketch was reproduced in the German journal, Kunst und Kunsthandverk, and was possibly drawn especially for that purpose.
Places
This house was designed and built by Ashbee for his family in 1893-1894. The Ancient Magpie and Stump was the name of an old inn which had stood on the same ground. The rooms in the house were the first evidence of Ashbee's talents as an interior designer. The sketch shows the remarkably austere dining room, with its narrow guild trestle table and ladder-back chairs. It was decorated only with a modelled plaster frieze, partly painted by Ashbee's daughter Agnes, and a side-board displaying blue and white porcelain. The house was demolished in 1968.
People
Ashbee founded the Guild of Handicraft in 1888. It was a school and subsequently became a business based on Arts and Crafts principles. It practised woodwork, leatherwork, metalwork and jewellery-making. The guild supplied much of the decoration for this dining room including what were then revolutionary ultra-modern electric light fittings. In 1907 the business failed, mainly because it could not compete with ordinary commercial firms, especially Liberty's in London.
Object details
Categories | |
Object type | |
Materials and techniques | Drawing, pencil and watercolour on paper |
Brief description | View of the Dining Room at The Ancient Magpie and Stump, 37, Cheyne Walk, London, attributed to Fleetwood C. Varley, London, ca. 1901 |
Physical description | View of the dining room at the Ancient Magpie and Stump, 37, Cheyne Walk, London - austere pale room, with a frieze depicting animals including a peacock and deer. There is a sideboard containing blue and white porcelain, a long trestle table and several ladder-back chairs. |
Dimensions |
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Style | |
Marks and inscriptions | numerous notes indicating the sending of the drawing in 1903 to the Stuttgart architectural publisher Julius Hoffmann (inscribed on back) |
Gallery label | British Galleries:
C.R. Ashbee designed this house in Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, London for his family in 1893-1894. It was named after an old inn which had stood on the same ground. The house was a model of the Arts and Crafts style, as this drawing shows. Much of the decoration, including what were then revolutionary electric light fittings, was supplied by the Guild of Handicraft which Ashbee founded in 1898.(27/03/2003) |
Object history | Reproduced in 'Kunst und Kunsthandwerk', (Vienna), 1901, vol. 4, p.464. Probably painted by Fleetwood C. Varley (born in 1863, died in 1942). |
Historical context | The Magpie and Stump, which was demolished in 1968, was built by Ashbee in 1893-4 on the site of an old pub of the same name. Chiefly intended as a home for his mother and sisters, but also containing his architectural office, the rooms in the house were the first evidence of Ashbee's talents as an interior designer as well as a much publicised demonstration of the work of his Guild of Handicraft. The remarkably austere dining room, with its narrow Guild trestle table and ladderback chairs, was decorated only with a modelled plaster frieze, partly painted by his daughter Agnes, and a sideboard of blue and white porcelain. The lighting, by contrast, was ultra-modern electric, in Guild fittings. [Michael Snodin, 'British Design at Home', p.83] |
Subjects depicted | |
Associations | |
Summary | Object Type This watercolour is of the finished dining room in the house of architect and designer Charles Robert Ashbee in Chelsea, London. It was drawn by Ashbee's friend, Fleetwood C. Varley. This sketch was reproduced in the German journal, Kunst und Kunsthandverk, and was possibly drawn especially for that purpose. Places This house was designed and built by Ashbee for his family in 1893-1894. The Ancient Magpie and Stump was the name of an old inn which had stood on the same ground. The rooms in the house were the first evidence of Ashbee's talents as an interior designer. The sketch shows the remarkably austere dining room, with its narrow guild trestle table and ladder-back chairs. It was decorated only with a modelled plaster frieze, partly painted by Ashbee's daughter Agnes, and a side-board displaying blue and white porcelain. The house was demolished in 1968. People Ashbee founded the Guild of Handicraft in 1888. It was a school and subsequently became a business based on Arts and Crafts principles. It practised woodwork, leatherwork, metalwork and jewellery-making. The guild supplied much of the decoration for this dining room including what were then revolutionary ultra-modern electric light fittings. In 1907 the business failed, mainly because it could not compete with ordinary commercial firms, especially Liberty's in London. |
Bibliographic references |
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Collection | |
Accession number | E.1903-1990 |
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Record created | February 11, 2000 |
Record URL |
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