Designer

Christopher Dresser (1834-1904) was a designer and design theorist, an influential figure of the design reform movement in the second half of the nineteenth century. Following his education at the Government School of Design in London (predecessor of the Royal College of Art), Dresser had an early successful career in botany, during which he published several books and lectured at the department of Science and Art at South Kensington. Dresser pursued a career in design during the 1860s, using his observations of botany as a basis for his designs and theories. Renowned for wedding science with art, Dresser became arguably the first industrial designer in Britain. Extending his expertise to all aspects of domestic design, Dresser maintained a studio with many assistants, designing objects, fabrics and wallpapers for an international clientele. Dresser visited Japan in 1876-7, touring as a representative of the South Kensington Museum and the British government to investigate local manufacturing and design. On his return, Dresser’s designs and theories became more informed by an understanding of Japanese aesthetics and use of materials.

Commission

This wardrobe was part of a suite of furniture designed by Dresser for Bushloe House, near Leicester. The owner, Hiram Abiff Owston (1830-1905), a solicitor, commissioned Dresser to extend the house and Dresser worked with a local architect, Robert J. Goodacre, from 1874-6. Dresser also designed interior decoration and furniture for the house. Much of the interior disappeared in the early 1970s but the main staircase and some stained glass remain.

Design

Dresser’s design theories are evident in the decoration of this wardrobe; for example, the stencilled frog motifs have been ‘flatly treated’ (see p.65 of Dresser’s Principles of Decorative Design). This two-dimensional approach was favoured by Dresser, who believed that this would allow for the object to be ‘more truthful to its form’. Carving, or in this case turning, is a feature that is reserved for the top of the wardrobe only, as Dresser believed that it should be applied sparingly. The two adjoining doors are smaller than the central, which follows Dresser’s preference for measuring by subtle proportions.

Materials & Technique

Constructed out of pine, the wardrobe was ebonised, with painted and gilded stencilled decoration. The ebonising of furniture became fashionable from the 1860s for aesthetic furniture and shares visual similarities to Japanese lacquer. Many of the mantelpieces in Bushloe House were also black with gilded decoration (see fig. 161, Dresser: People’s Designer, 1834-1904). A similar stencilling technique was applied throughout the decoration of the house on other objects, as well as on the walls (see fig. 162, Dresser: People’s Designer, 1834-1904). The theories espoused in Dresser’s Principles of Decorative Design were also applied to the wardrobe, for example the painted and gilded decoration is only applied to recessed panels, which Dresser recommended so that the decoration would not be exposed and rub off.