For more on the Museum, see part 1 of this series. This is the second and final post. A video of it is at https://youtu.be/K1p6AeOIj8Q.
Lamps
Below, left: Hanging lighting fixtures ca. 1905-1910, attributed to Dard Hunter, manufactured at the Roycroft Shops in East Aurora, New York.
Above right: Hanging lantern attributed to Victor Toothaker, ca. 1910, manufactured at the Craftsman Workshops, Eastwood, New York. The “Glasgow rose” motif was inspired by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Glasgow School.
Below, decorative art by one of the great names of American architecture: Louis Sullivan. This sconce, dating to ca. 1907, was designed for the Henry B. Babson House in Riverside, Illinois (demolished in 1960). Sullivan designed one of the buildings for the 1893 Columbian Exposition. We know that Babson attended the Exposition, because it inspired in him a yearning to own purebred Arabian horses, which by the 1930s he did. “Babson Egyptian horses” are still a recognized bloodline in the thoroughbred world.
The striking point about the Babson House sconce is its quality. It’s one of many cast by Winslow Brothers Ornamental Iron Company for the home of a wealthy (but not fabulously wealthy) American. But the workmanship is better than that on Bishop Suger’s chalice, the best that artisans of the mid-12th century France (read: Europe in the Middle Ages) could produce.
Below: assorted table lamps. On the left is a windmill-themed lamp attributed to Forest Emerson Mann, ca. 1910. Quaint Dutch motifs were considered suitable for homes in the Arts and Crafts style.
Above right: table lamps designed by Dirk van Erp, ca. 1915-1933 and 1911-1915, manufactured by Dirk van Erp Studio in San Francisco, California. The shades are of mica.
Windows
The MAACM has a large collection of leaded-glass windows. Below: George Washington Maher’s poppy windows from the Winton House, Wausau, WI, ca. 1905. Rather than colors, Maher used different textures of clear and white glass.
Below left: Frank Lloyd Wright, Windows from the Avery Coonley House, Riverside, IL, ca. 1906-1908. As with the desk (see last week’s post), the horizontal lines compliment the Coonley House’s Prairie Style design.
Above right: Frank Lloyd Wright, window from the Darwin D. Martin House, Buffalo, NY, ca. 1903-1905. The chevrons and squares in iridescent glass are stylized versions of wisteria that grew on the property.
Ceramics
Below: some typical ceramic vases from the Arts & Crafts movement.
Below: these ceramic panels, each almost 6 feet high, were designed to amuse and educate the young patients at St. Thomas’s Hospital, London (demolished 1968). They were executed in London at the Royal Doulton factory, which is better known today for dinner services and figurines.
Fireplaces – the center of many homes – were favorite areas for decoration during the Arts & Crafts movement. The mantel facing (around the firebox) and overmantel (above the shelf) below were commissioned from the Rookwood Pottery in Cincinnati, Ohio.
These two elegant peacock panels for an overmantel were manufactured in University City, Missouri. They’re done in sgraffito (Italian: “scratched”) technique, which involves applying a layer of color, and before the piece is fired, scratching in a design that exposes the clay underneath. Peacocks were a favorite subject of Arts & Crafts designers and artists.
The Rookwood Pottery developed a unique translucent glaze called Vellum. Tiles sprayed with it were sold framed, to reinforce their status as artworks rather than merely functional pieces. The Rookwood Pottery remained in operation until 1967.
And finally: another peacock, this one on a panel created for the exterior of a home in Beverly Hills, California.
The Museum of the American Arts & Crafts Movement has many more works that are worth a look – I’d allow three hours or so for a visit. Nearby in St. Petersburg are the James Museum and the Imagine Museum (modern glass: a few examples in this post).
More
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