-
Railing
Thomas Jeckyll, born 1827 - died 1881 - Enlarge image
Railing
- Place of origin:
Norwich, United Kingdom (made)
- Date:
1876 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Thomas Jeckyll, born 1827 - died 1881 (designer)
Barnard Bishop and Barnard (manufacturer) - Materials and Techniques:
Wrought iron
- Credit Line:
Given by Messrs Barnards Ltd.
- Museum number:
CIRC.530-1953
- Gallery location:
British Galleries, room 125e, case 5
Object Type
This section of railing is from the railings that encircled the Japanese Pavilion at the Centennial Exhibition of 1876 in Philadelphia and the Paris Exhibition of 1878. The two-storey, wrought and cast-iron pavilion was designed by Thomas Jeckyll (1827-1881) and made by Barnard, Bishop and Barnard. The sunflower motif was later incorporated by Barnard into designs for fire surrounds and firedogs.
People
Thomas Jeckyll trained as an architect and was active, both as an architect and designer, in London and Norfolk. In the 1860s he came into contact with James Abbot McNeil Whistler (1834-1903) and E.W. Godwin (1833-1886). By the 1870s, Jeckyll was one of the leading architects of the Aesthetic Movement. He designed an interior for the Holland Park house of the collector, Alexander Ionides (1833-1900) (who bequeathed much of his collection of paintings to the V&A) and the dining room of a house in Princes Gate. (Due to its later painted decoration by Whistler, this room became known as the Peacock Room, and is currently on display in the Freer Art Gallery, Washington, D.C.) Jeckyll became mentally unstable in 1877 and died in an asylum in 1881.
Design & Designing
The Aesthetic or Art Movement was triggered by the display of Japanese decorative art at the London International Exhibition of 1862. Strongly influenced by Japanese design, the Aesthetic Movement was a reaction to the Gothic revival of the mid-19th century. In the new movement, the pursuit of 'art for art's sake' became a justifiable goal in itself. The Aesthetic Movement was established when the magazine Punch paid it the tribute of making a mockery of it.
