Hat Stand thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
British Galleries, Room 125, Edwin and Susan Davies Gallery

Hat Stand

ca. 1880 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Object Type
A hatstand is an item of hall furniture with a number of pegs or arms attached to the upper half from which hats and coats can be hung. The lower half often had a rail and a removable tray at the base for storing umbrellas and walking sticks. Cast-iron furniture became popular in the 19th century. After the introduction of coke for smelting in iron manufacture in the mid-18th century, cast iron became cheaper and more widely available. It was also of sufficiently high quality to be used widely in architecture and decorative ironwork.

Design & Designing
The designer Christopher Dresser (1834-1904) distinguished between the different types of design suitable for wrought and cast iron. He regarded sinuous plant forms, some of which were influenced by Medieval, Byzantine and Middle Eastern sources, as appropriate for cast iron, which, when molten, can be poured into a mould. Such features on this hatstand include the acanthus scrolls at the base, which contrast with the more rigorous and geometrical patterns in the spandrels (curved arched supports).

People
In Britain the cast iron industry began to flourish from the 1770s onwards. Abraham Darby III (1750-1791) of the Coalbrookdale Company in Ironbridge, Shropshire, constructed the first cast-iron bridge in the world in 1779 to span the local river, the Severn. The family foundry became an established producer of a wide range of gates, grates and stoves and later furniture. By the 19th century the Coalbrookdale Company, which manufactured this hatstand, came to dominate the market, exporting its products all over the world.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Cast iron, painted
Brief description
Cast iron with a painted finish, Coalbrookdale, ca.1880, designed by Christopher Dresser.
Dimensions
  • Height: 190cm
  • Base width: 65cm
  • Base depth: 22.3cm
Dimensions checked: measured; 19/12/1998 by sf
Marks and inscriptions
  • Stamped in the drip pan: a rgistered design mark, the numerals 214963 and the name, COALBROOKDALE
  • Stamped on the back of the upper section of the stand: COALBROOKDALE
Gallery label
British Galleries: Dresser distinguished between the different types of ornament appropriate to wrought and cast iron. These complex stylised plant forms and geometric patterns could only have been produced in cast iron. Hatstands like this could be bought from the Coalbrookdale catalogue in a variety of colours, such as this 'Antiqued Bronze'.(27/03/2003)
Object history
Designed by Christopher Dresser (born in Glasgow, 1834, died in Mulhouse, France, 1904); manufactured by the Coalbrookdale Company, Shropshire

Brunel Exhibition RF.2006/18
Summary
Object Type
A hatstand is an item of hall furniture with a number of pegs or arms attached to the upper half from which hats and coats can be hung. The lower half often had a rail and a removable tray at the base for storing umbrellas and walking sticks. Cast-iron furniture became popular in the 19th century. After the introduction of coke for smelting in iron manufacture in the mid-18th century, cast iron became cheaper and more widely available. It was also of sufficiently high quality to be used widely in architecture and decorative ironwork.

Design & Designing
The designer Christopher Dresser (1834-1904) distinguished between the different types of design suitable for wrought and cast iron. He regarded sinuous plant forms, some of which were influenced by Medieval, Byzantine and Middle Eastern sources, as appropriate for cast iron, which, when molten, can be poured into a mould. Such features on this hatstand include the acanthus scrolls at the base, which contrast with the more rigorous and geometrical patterns in the spandrels (curved arched supports).

People
In Britain the cast iron industry began to flourish from the 1770s onwards. Abraham Darby III (1750-1791) of the Coalbrookdale Company in Ironbridge, Shropshire, constructed the first cast-iron bridge in the world in 1779 to span the local river, the Severn. The family foundry became an established producer of a wide range of gates, grates and stoves and later furniture. By the 19th century the Coalbrookdale Company, which manufactured this hatstand, came to dominate the market, exporting its products all over the world.
Bibliographic reference
Simon Metcalf and Eric Turner "The conservation of a ca.1867 cast iron hat stand: a Dresser design and original Coalbrookdale paint scheme revealed." in The Decorative Arts Society 1850 to the Present, Journal 26, London 2002, pp.26-39. ill. ISSN. 02609568
Collection
Accession number
M.22-1971

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Record createdMarch 27, 2003
Record URL
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