ash with brass handles and fittings; designed by E.W. Godwin and made by William Watt, English, c.1878

part of wardrobe, English, c. 1875, man. W. Watt

part of wardrobe, English, c. 1875, man. W. Watt

part of wardrobe, English, c. 1875, man. W. Watt

in middle section, drawer unit; part of wardrobe, English, c. 1875, man. W. Watt

in middle section, drawer unit; part of wardrobe, English, c. 1875, man. W. Watt

in upper section; part of wardrobe, English, c. 1875, man. W. Watt

in upper section; part of wardrobe, English, c. 1875, man. W. Watt

in upper section; part of wardrobe, English, c. 1875, man. W. Watt

in upper section; part of wardrobe, English, c. 1875, man. W. Watt

in upper section; part of wardrobe, English, c. 1875, man. W. Watt

in base; part of wardrobe, English, c. 1875, man. W. Watt

to Wardrobe, 2 old

The wardrobe is constructed with a hanging cupboard on the left, a small cupboard and drawer unit above a flat topped drawer unit on the right, and a single long drawer on the bottom, all supported on four legs with shaped brackets. Highly figured ash veneers are used for the doors and drawers. Around the top of the hanging cupboard and along the top of the bottom drawer runs a frieze carved with sets of triple fluting alternating with stylised flower heads, and the same flower heads decorate the corners of the hanging cupboard door, the smaller cupboard doors and the drawer fronts. The same flower heads are used for the back plates for the handles.

This wardrobe is one of the most elaborate of the multi-purpose pieces made by William Watt after Godwin's designs. The earliest example of Godwin's designs for modular furniture may be the wardrobe from Ellen Terry's collection in the Bristol Museum. His sketchbook for 1878-79 (V&A E.248-1963, fol. 42) lists a suite of ash bedroom furniture for an unidentified client, including a wardrobe which might be this example. William Watt used ash for more expensive bedroom furniture and another version of the Museum's wardrobe, also in ash but with a glass door, was illustrated in his catalogue, Art Furniture, 1877, pl. no. 16, at a cost of £26.

The architect and designer, E.W. Godwin, was very interested in multi-purpose bedroom furniture and one of his earliest designs, a wardrobe constructed with separate cupboard, chest of drawers and bookshelf, was made for the house he shared with the actor, Ellen Terry, in the late 1860s. He refined his ideas about this type of modular furniture for the furniture maker, William Watt, whose catalogue, Art Furniture, 1877, included different versions of Godwin's wardrobe design. This example, made in ash with decorative veneers, rather than in a cheaper wood like deal, shows his skill in designing a piece which offered hanging and flat storage of different dimensions for clothes and accessories.

W.75:1-13-1982