![]() |
Christopher Dresser (1834–1904, England, born Scotland), Jug, designed 1881. Glass, silver-plated metal, teak, 8 1/2 x 5 3/4 x 5 7/8” (21.6 x 14.6 x 14.9 cm). © Brooklyn Museum. (BMA-3465) |
William Morris (1834–1896, British) is not the only artist who can be
associated with the Arts and Crafts Movement
of the late 1800s. I uncovered this artist in our collection who, in many ways,
was what could be considered the first “industrial designer.” Unlike Morris, Christopher Dresser saw no problem in
designing utilitarian works of art that could be mass-produced industrially, as
long as the design was sophisticated. And, boy, is his design sense
sophisticated! In many ways he’s a forbearer of the Bauhaus, who took Morris’ emphasis on
hand-crafted utilitarian art and applied it to mass production, without
sacrificing a fine aesthetic.
I’m a painter, and yet, like most art historians I
appreciate the ENTIRE gamut of artistic endeavor. I’m particularly drawn to the
Arts and Crafts (geez I hate the term “craft”) movement of the late 1800s,
because it was a rebellion against the industrialization fervor and sought to
return to endowing every object in daily life with an aesthetic that was
hand-made. Perhaps the idea was a naïve idea in a way, since mass produced
furniture, ceramics, and metalwork, for example, were big profit items for
companies that catered to the increasingly prosperous middle-class.
William Morris pioneered a movement that quickly spread to
the US, where he emphasized fine aesthetics in everyday utilitarian objects.
While Morris was based in Britain, a similar aesthetic arose in Glasgow, Scotland
where Dresser was born, around the Scottish artist Charles Rennie MacKintosh (1868–1928).
Glasgow was one of the most remarkable centers of experiment
in modernist design in architecture and decorative arts. Dresser, from his
early schooling in London at the Government School of Art and Design was an
advocate of merging botany (floral motifs, to put it crudely) with “Arts and
Art-Manufacture.” He was also keenly interested in Japanese art. Japanese art was a formative
influence on his industrial design, because Japanese reverence of natural forms
in art did not manifest itself in a slavish copying of natural forms. Dresser
preferred extracting shapes from nature in his designs, searching for the
underlying geometric sources in nature.
This jug is so modern in appearance, and yet it harkens to
the Zen Buddhist idea of frugality and simplicity in design. It is notably
devoid of the florid decoration that sometimes characterizes Arts and Crafts
artworks. From the outset, Dresser was interested in designing forms suitable
for mass-production. He was a keen advocate of exploiting the industrial
revolution of the 1800s for enhancing the aesthetic quality of everyday
objects. His designs clearly anticipate the Art
Deco style of the 1920s and 1930s.
Two objects from the 1900s that mirror Dresser’s design
aesthetic:
![]() |
Peter Schlumbohm (1869–1962, Germany/US), Teamaker, 1954. Glass, wood, steel and plastic, 7” x 7 3/8” (17.8 x 18.7 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. (MOMA-D0092) |
Studio activity: Design
a glass jug of the future. Using colored pencils or markers, design a glass jug
that anticipates what life would be ten years from now. Be sure to include any
other materials, such as wood or silver to ornament the design. Think of what
people might be doing differently ten years from now and design your jug
accordingly. Do you want to incorporate ideas about the environment, climate
change, or depletion of natural resources into your design?
Correlations to Davis
programs: Explorations in Art Grade 6: studio 23-24, A Community
Connection: 5.2, A Personal Journey: 3.4; The Visual Experience: 10.9
Karl, this is absolutely wonderful.
ReplyDelete