Inkpot
ca.1900 (designed and made)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
Voysey stands out on several counts from most of his fellow architect-designers who joined the Art Workers’ Guild and contributed metalwork to the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society. Instead of setting up his own workshop, he continued the traditional practice of handing over his designs to a trustworthy firm for execution. This encouraged him to ignore the repertory of ornamental techniques used by many metalworkers attached to the Arts and Crafts movement who habitually embellished their productions enamels and semi-precious stones. Of Voysey’s major contemporaries, only W.A.S. Benson favoured a similar simplicity of form and decoration, and Benson, significantly had his own factory in Hammersmith which was filled with the latest machinery. Unlike Benson, however, who increasingly devoted his energies to his metalwork to the exclusion of architecture, Voysey did not design a great deal either for precious or base metals, and when he did so it was usually with his architectural schemes in mind. Some of his finest and most characteristic designs for metalwork are the hinges fitted to furniture and doors.
Object details
Categories | |
Object type | |
Materials and techniques | Brass with original, moulded glass liner |
Brief description | Inkpot, brass with original glass liner, London, ca.1900, made by Thomas Elsley & Co., designed by C.F.A. Voysey. |
Physical description | Brass inkpot, brass, square in plan, flaring outwards towards the base. Hinged cover with dome in the centre and scrolling strip thumbpiece in one piece with the cover. |
Dimensions |
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Style | |
Production type | small batch |
Credit line | Accepted in lieu of Inheritance Tax by H M Government and allocated to the Victoria and Albert Museum, 2014 |
Object history | Many versions of this inkpot were made. A slightly more elaborate variety, fitted with brackets with heart-shaped terminals to hold a pen, was shown in a room setting devised by Voysey for the Arts and Crafts Exhibition, 1903. |
Summary | Voysey stands out on several counts from most of his fellow architect-designers who joined the Art Workers’ Guild and contributed metalwork to the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society. Instead of setting up his own workshop, he continued the traditional practice of handing over his designs to a trustworthy firm for execution. This encouraged him to ignore the repertory of ornamental techniques used by many metalworkers attached to the Arts and Crafts movement who habitually embellished their productions enamels and semi-precious stones. Of Voysey’s major contemporaries, only W.A.S. Benson favoured a similar simplicity of form and decoration, and Benson, significantly had his own factory in Hammersmith which was filled with the latest machinery. Unlike Benson, however, who increasingly devoted his energies to his metalwork to the exclusion of architecture, Voysey did not design a great deal either for precious or base metals, and when he did so it was usually with his architectural schemes in mind. Some of his finest and most characteristic designs for metalwork are the hinges fitted to furniture and doors. |
Collection | |
Accession number | M.68-2014 |
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Record created | January 24, 2013 |
Record URL |
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