DOI issue:
No. 79 (October, 1899)
DOI article:Vallance, Aymer: British decorative art in 1899 and the Arts And Crafts Exhibition, [1]
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19783#0061
Arts and Crafts
Voysey's interior furniture and fittings are,
if anything, still more original. He largely
employs Brunswick green paint, on account
of its durability; but, beside that, he has a
strong liking for white-painted wood with
metal fittings. The latter are composed
sometimes of yellow brass, or, more com-
monly, they are bronzed, having a dull and
slightly iridescent sheen that wears well
and keeps clean and unimpaired by the
action of time or atmosphere. Here,
again, the artist claims the balance of prac-
tical utility on his side. The hinges and
other door-furniture are executed in pierced
metal, for the most part in very low relief,
the pattern standing out in straightforward,
sharp definition. But in one instance, at
least, instead of the background being the
part that is cut away, the device (of con-
ventional bird forms in which the artist
mantelpiece designed by c. f. a. voysey excels) consists in what has been removed
( /. P. White, Manufacturer) by perforation, a converse process which
rather tends to confuse the eye and to
diminish the admirable boldness of effect
area, to restrict this year's exhibition to persons obtained where the pattern is left in solid metal
resident within the United Kingdom. silhouette.
Of the alternative ways of investigating the sub- The seated figure in bronze, representing a man
ject, I propose, in these pages, to treat of the arts writing, is one which Mr. Voysey designed on paper
and crafts of to-day more in relation to their re- and began to model in wax with his own hand, but
spective authors than under
the heads of so many
generic classes. It must,
however, be premised that
the order adopted is solely ""TFT" -wpB-iir
a matter of convenience ; I HKgltiM|H£HH^RHjMnM^^^M '
for in no sense do I pre-
tend to the invidious office
body else's work, and as
compared with the exte- looking-glass by c. r. a. voysey
riors designed by him, Mr. executed by a. w. simpson
45
Voysey's interior furniture and fittings are,
if anything, still more original. He largely
employs Brunswick green paint, on account
of its durability; but, beside that, he has a
strong liking for white-painted wood with
metal fittings. The latter are composed
sometimes of yellow brass, or, more com-
monly, they are bronzed, having a dull and
slightly iridescent sheen that wears well
and keeps clean and unimpaired by the
action of time or atmosphere. Here,
again, the artist claims the balance of prac-
tical utility on his side. The hinges and
other door-furniture are executed in pierced
metal, for the most part in very low relief,
the pattern standing out in straightforward,
sharp definition. But in one instance, at
least, instead of the background being the
part that is cut away, the device (of con-
ventional bird forms in which the artist
mantelpiece designed by c. f. a. voysey excels) consists in what has been removed
( /. P. White, Manufacturer) by perforation, a converse process which
rather tends to confuse the eye and to
diminish the admirable boldness of effect
area, to restrict this year's exhibition to persons obtained where the pattern is left in solid metal
resident within the United Kingdom. silhouette.
Of the alternative ways of investigating the sub- The seated figure in bronze, representing a man
ject, I propose, in these pages, to treat of the arts writing, is one which Mr. Voysey designed on paper
and crafts of to-day more in relation to their re- and began to model in wax with his own hand, but
spective authors than under
the heads of so many
generic classes. It must,
however, be premised that
the order adopted is solely ""TFT" -wpB-iir
a matter of convenience ; I HKgltiM|H£HH^RHjMnM^^^M '
for in no sense do I pre-
tend to the invidious office
body else's work, and as
compared with the exte- looking-glass by c. r. a. voysey
riors designed by him, Mr. executed by a. w. simpson
45