DOI Heft:
No. 86 (April, 1904)
DOI Artikel:Vallance, Aymer: Some recent work by Mr. C. F. A. Voysey
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.26964#0210
(T. 7v ^7.
case in point. Architecture conducted on such
lines is as hopelessly unconvincing as an attempt
to reproduce tempera pictures in oil paint. The
copy is no more like the real thing than a volume
of Chaucer printed in modern newspaper type,
set in the middle of the page of machine-made
composition paper, is like an old printed book.
But to return to Mr. Voysey and his work. In
a house recently built and decorated throughout
for Mr. F. Walters at Pyrford Common, near
Woking, the dining-room is lined with oak, the
wood being left, as Mr. Voysey prefers it, in the
natural state, without staining, oiling, fuming,
polishing or doctoring of any kind. The large
window of the dining-room contains a specially
designed heraldic panel with the owner's arms
in painted glass. Less satisfactory work to the
artist, though equally desirable, is the remodelling
of interiors in already existing, commonplace
houses. Such an undertaking Mr. Voysey has
lately carried out for Mrs. Van Gruisen at Birken-
head, where he fitted a room in oak, with a deep
white frieze, and a large open hearth to give
character to the whole.
And now to treat of less ambitious works. The
texture of tapestry of silk and wool combined—a
process developed, if not actually initiated by
William Morris—is one that lends itself peculiarly
well to artistic effects; because, although the
weaving is mechanical, the uneven stretching of the
soft silk fabric in contact with the firmer body of
the woollen web produces charming variations of
surface. Mr. Voysey has designed many beautiful
specimens of this particular sort of textile. A
recent instance, executed by Messrs. Alexander
Morton & Co., is founded on a swA/* of birds and
roses, treated in the artist's most characteristic
manner.
Further proofs of Mr. Voysey's resourceful in-
vention may be found in a collection of door
furniture from his designs, which include, among
fittings for various uses, some quaint gate-latches
in wrought-iron and a swing-door handle in brass
or gun-metal, with birds picturesquely introduced
into the design. No minutest accessory or detail
of its ornament but is the object of Mr. Voysey's
scrupulous care and attention. As instancing his
conscientiousness I cannot refrain from mention-
ing how often, against his own interests as a designer
of wall-paper patterns, should he judge the decora-
tive scheme improved thereby, he elects to use
self-coloured papers. Those known as Eltonbury
silk fibres, whose beautiful texture represents the
happy medium between a dead flatness and a glassy
surface, are a favourite material employed by the
artist for this purpose.
132
case in point. Architecture conducted on such
lines is as hopelessly unconvincing as an attempt
to reproduce tempera pictures in oil paint. The
copy is no more like the real thing than a volume
of Chaucer printed in modern newspaper type,
set in the middle of the page of machine-made
composition paper, is like an old printed book.
But to return to Mr. Voysey and his work. In
a house recently built and decorated throughout
for Mr. F. Walters at Pyrford Common, near
Woking, the dining-room is lined with oak, the
wood being left, as Mr. Voysey prefers it, in the
natural state, without staining, oiling, fuming,
polishing or doctoring of any kind. The large
window of the dining-room contains a specially
designed heraldic panel with the owner's arms
in painted glass. Less satisfactory work to the
artist, though equally desirable, is the remodelling
of interiors in already existing, commonplace
houses. Such an undertaking Mr. Voysey has
lately carried out for Mrs. Van Gruisen at Birken-
head, where he fitted a room in oak, with a deep
white frieze, and a large open hearth to give
character to the whole.
And now to treat of less ambitious works. The
texture of tapestry of silk and wool combined—a
process developed, if not actually initiated by
William Morris—is one that lends itself peculiarly
well to artistic effects; because, although the
weaving is mechanical, the uneven stretching of the
soft silk fabric in contact with the firmer body of
the woollen web produces charming variations of
surface. Mr. Voysey has designed many beautiful
specimens of this particular sort of textile. A
recent instance, executed by Messrs. Alexander
Morton & Co., is founded on a swA/* of birds and
roses, treated in the artist's most characteristic
manner.
Further proofs of Mr. Voysey's resourceful in-
vention may be found in a collection of door
furniture from his designs, which include, among
fittings for various uses, some quaint gate-latches
in wrought-iron and a swing-door handle in brass
or gun-metal, with birds picturesquely introduced
into the design. No minutest accessory or detail
of its ornament but is the object of Mr. Voysey's
scrupulous care and attention. As instancing his
conscientiousness I cannot refrain from mention-
ing how often, against his own interests as a designer
of wall-paper patterns, should he judge the decora-
tive scheme improved thereby, he elects to use
self-coloured papers. Those known as Eltonbury
silk fibres, whose beautiful texture represents the
happy medium between a dead flatness and a glassy
surface, are a favourite material employed by the
artist for this purpose.
132