DOI Heft:
No. 38 (May, 1896)
DOI Artikel:S., E. B.: Some recent designs by Mr. C. F. A. Voysey
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.17296#0232
Some Recent Designs by Mr. Voysey
which marks Mr. Voysey's furniture
could not hope at present to find a
fit environment in every house
awaiting its reception. But with its
plain surfaces of wood, often enough
stained green — with oil colour
rubbed well in—its simple mould-
ings, and its decoration (if any)
confined to certain structural
features—these show elements of a
new style, which may possibly be
the germ of the coming Revival of
Classic Art which those who study
the evolution of taste most deeply
agree is not far off. If so, in place
of copying Greece and Rome, we
%V shall try to make English homes
IP' beautiful with the subtle qualities of
3f proportion and the absence of mere
ornament that marked the best
classic period, and in doing so, may
perhaps completely discover that
sideboard designed by c. f. a. vovsey National style which is already be-
ginning to attract recognition from
London. For the fittings of these, Messrs. Some-
body and Co. are usually called in, or else the___ — _^ ~j^55sww»^
lady of the house carries out what she is pleased
to call her ideas, and the result is too familiar to
need description.
But one thing is sure, that Mr. Voysey's furni-
ture does not take kindly to its commercially pro-
duced relatives. To introduce one of these
refined and individual objects—whether a dainty
piece of colour like the painted clock, a simple
and useful article like the writing-cabinet, the
most refined and charming buffet, or a larger
piece like the sideboard or the cottage piano
(all illustrated here)—among modern cabinet work
and upholstery is to introduce a discordant element.
For " Early English" and Rococo monstrosities ««-
protest against such ungainly intruders. Among
old-world simple furniture guileless of style it
will easily make itself at home, but introduced
into a room which is the ideal of the modern
fashion paper, it is war to the knife. If you
can appreciate the reticence and severity of Mr.
Voysey's work, you can no longer tolerate the A
ordinary commercially designed product. His //^
furniture deserves elaborate and patient study,
for its one aim is " proportion, proportion, propor-
tion," and that is a quality most elusive and difficult
even to appreciate, much less to achieve.
Even the most sanguine believer in the advance
of taste must recognise that the classic restraint cabinet designed by c. f. a. voysey
217
which marks Mr. Voysey's furniture
could not hope at present to find a
fit environment in every house
awaiting its reception. But with its
plain surfaces of wood, often enough
stained green — with oil colour
rubbed well in—its simple mould-
ings, and its decoration (if any)
confined to certain structural
features—these show elements of a
new style, which may possibly be
the germ of the coming Revival of
Classic Art which those who study
the evolution of taste most deeply
agree is not far off. If so, in place
of copying Greece and Rome, we
%V shall try to make English homes
IP' beautiful with the subtle qualities of
3f proportion and the absence of mere
ornament that marked the best
classic period, and in doing so, may
perhaps completely discover that
sideboard designed by c. f. a. vovsey National style which is already be-
ginning to attract recognition from
London. For the fittings of these, Messrs. Some-
body and Co. are usually called in, or else the___ — _^ ~j^55sww»^
lady of the house carries out what she is pleased
to call her ideas, and the result is too familiar to
need description.
But one thing is sure, that Mr. Voysey's furni-
ture does not take kindly to its commercially pro-
duced relatives. To introduce one of these
refined and individual objects—whether a dainty
piece of colour like the painted clock, a simple
and useful article like the writing-cabinet, the
most refined and charming buffet, or a larger
piece like the sideboard or the cottage piano
(all illustrated here)—among modern cabinet work
and upholstery is to introduce a discordant element.
For " Early English" and Rococo monstrosities ««-
protest against such ungainly intruders. Among
old-world simple furniture guileless of style it
will easily make itself at home, but introduced
into a room which is the ideal of the modern
fashion paper, it is war to the knife. If you
can appreciate the reticence and severity of Mr.
Voysey's work, you can no longer tolerate the A
ordinary commercially designed product. His //^
furniture deserves elaborate and patient study,
for its one aim is " proportion, proportion, propor-
tion," and that is a quality most elusive and difficult
even to appreciate, much less to achieve.
Even the most sanguine believer in the advance
of taste must recognise that the classic restraint cabinet designed by c. f. a. voysey
217