|
An Appreciation of English Antique Furniture
A semi biographical journey of my life in the English Decorative Arts
|
|
 My curiosity about what the last half of the 20th and first half of the 21st century will be remembered for calls to mind the large scale art installations that have spread across the world--very few of which I have visited. My son, Henry, has visited two such places--Inhotim in Brazil and Mona in Tasmania, both of which are, to the best of my knowledge, aimed at raising awareness of the world at large and also of contemporary art. I have just learned about the Garden of Cosmic Speculation in Dumfries, Scotland, which is open once a year for five hours and, to gain entrance, you need to enter a lottery to get in. Of course, the Burning Man Festival is an event, but it leaves no trace as the Black Rock desert is cleared of all GOOP by the participants and staff--there are no permanent structures. There are also numerous large scale projects that have been years in the making in the western US and, I suspect, in other countries around the world. Will they be the guide to who we were for people wanting to learn about our civilization?
My personal desire to focus on the decorative arts as expressed in English furniture of the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries is partly because, stylistically speaking, there is a beginning point where craft, artistic ingenuity, material availability and social consciousness all combined in elegant fashion. Furniture makers were called upon to be creative in a way that, prior to 1660, was limited to the very few. My visits to Elizabethan houses have been limited because there is a dearth of original furniture--furniture in specific in the Elizabethan era and earlier was lagging, artistically speaking, behind other trades such as porcelain and silver and hence is less interesting to me. Bess of Hardwick's house, which I wrote about in an earlier blog, had two tables and a bed and a number of chairs and although there is originality expressed on the surfaces of these pieces with inlay, they do not represent a tradition--they are almost unique within the canon of furniture making--interesting certainly, but not indicative of any societal trend. Post 1660, things begin to change and by 1725, with the influence of people like William Kent and the all important craftsmen that interpreted his designs, England has a unique and identifiable industry that begins to churn out new and different items on a regular basis. It is a fascinating time period for great creativity which bespeaks a changing society.
What gets left behind in a civilization is fascinating. The British Museum creates videos of curators and conservators talking about objects--seldom fine art although that is likely more a function of fine art surviving millenia--and often about sculpture and, of all things, everyday objects. Even given the importance of a place like Stonehenge, it isn't the rocks, despite their magnificence, that archaeologists really focus on, it is the artifacts of the culture that engineered the stones. It is the people behind the creative endeavors for which all art historians, curators or even people like you and me, want to learn about. The question is, what kind of culture would make such a place as Stonehenge, let alone all the other sites akin to Stonehenge? In five thousand years, will archaeologists looking at the year 2000 be focusing the mundane, day to day items, will they find the extraordinary art projects or will they see our cities and our roads and focus there? I am betting that the day to day objects will be of the greatest interest.
|
|
My curiosity about what the last half of the 20th and first half of the 21st century will be remembered for has reminded me of the large scale art installations that have spread across the world--very few of which I have visited. My son, Henry, has visited two such places--Inhotim in Brazil and Mona in Tasmania, both of which are, to the best of my knowledge, aimed at raising awareness of the world at large. I have just learned about the Garden of Cosmic Speculation in Dumfries, Scotland, which is open once a year for five hours and, to gain entrance, you need to enter a lottery to get a ticket. Of course, the Burning Man Festival is an event, but it leaves no trace as the Black Rock desert is cleared of all GOOP (meaning anything left behind) by the participants and staff--there are no permanent structures. Beyond that, there are numerous large scale projects that have been years in the making in the western US and, I suspect, in other countries around the world. Do these projects define our era?
My personal desire to focus on the decorative arts as expressed in English furniture of the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries is partly because, stylistically speaking, there is a beginning point where craft, artistic ingenuity, material availability and social consciousness combined and manifested itself in successive fashions in that 170 year span. Furniture makers were called upon to be creative in a manner that prior to 1660 was limited to furniture for the very wealthy. My visits to Elizabethan houses have been limited because there is a dearth of original furniture--furniture in specific was lagging behind other trades such as porcelain and silver and was aimed for the few that could afford it. Bess of Hardwick's house, which I wrote about earlier, had two tables and a bed and a number of chairs and although there is originality expressed on the surfaces of these pieces with inlay, they do not represent much of a tradition. Post 1660, things begin to change and by 1725 with the influence of people like William Kent and the all important craftsmen that interpreted his designs, England has a unique and identifiable industry that begins to churn out new and different items. Those items that were made, the fashion they embodied, speak to the social, scientific and even the political, history of the moment.
What gets left behind in a civilization is fascinating. The British Museum creates videos often of curators and conservators talking about objects--seldom about fine art although that is likely more a function of fine art surviving millenia--and often about sculpture and, of all things, everyday objects. Even given the importance of a place like Stonehenge, it isn't the rocks, despite their magnificence, that archaeologists really focus on, it is the artifacts of the culture that engineered the stones. It is the people behind the creative endeavors for which all art historians, curators or even people like you and me, want to learn about. In five thousand years, will people be focusing on pencil sharpeners and apple corers or will they be focusing on enormous cities that have come and gone, or will the focus be on those big scale art projects like the Garden of Cosmic Speculation? I am betting on the day to day objects.
|
|
|
