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Designs for knife handles
Richard Redgrave, born 1804 - died 1888 - Enlarge image
Designs for knife handles
- Object:
Design
- Place of origin:
London, England (made)
- Date:
ca. 1847 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Richard Redgrave, born 1804 - died 1888 (maker)
- Materials and Techniques:
Pencil and watercolour
- Credit Line:
Presented by A. S. Cole, Esq., CB
- Museum number:
E.5871-1910
- Gallery location:
Prints & Drawings Study Room, level C, case MB2D, shelf SH121, box M24
Richard Redgrave (1804-1888) was a painter and book illustrator. He was one of the few artists of his time admired by the Pre-Raphaelites. In 1847 he was appointed Botanical Lecturer at the Government School of Design at Marlborough House in London. This was the ancestor of the Royal College of Art. Redgrave made these designs for Henry Cole’s ‘Summerly’s Art Manufactures’. The knife handles are based on subtle organic shapes worthy of a sculptor. They are asymmetric but provide a good grip, and are well proportioned. At the time they would have seemed completely modern. Redgrave wrote on the use of botanical forms in ornament and published books on the practice of design.
