Victorian decorative arts

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Dante Gabriel Rossetti's drawing room at No. 16 Cheyne Walk, 1882, by Henry Treffry Dunn.

Victorian decorative arts refer to the style of decorative arts during the Victorian era. The Victorian era is known for its eclectic revival and interpretation of historic styles and the introduction of cross-cultural influences from the middle east and Asia in furniture, fittings, and Interior decoration. In the late Victorian period the Arts and Crafts movement, the aesthetic movement, Anglo-Japanese style, and Art Nouveau style have their beginnings.

1 Architecture
2 Interior decoration and design
3 Walls and ceilings
4 Furniture
5 Wallpaper
6 Fashion
7 Victorian designers
8 Gallery
9 See also
10 External links

[edit] Architecture

Main article: Victorian architecture

[edit] Interior decoration and design

Interior decoration and interior design of the Victorian era are noted for orderliness and ornamentation. A house from this period was idealistically neatly divided in rooms, with public and private space carefully separated. The Parlor was the most important room in a home and was the showcase for the homeowners; where guests were entertained. A bare room was considered poor taste, so every surface was filled with objects that reflected the owners interests and aspirations. The dining room was the second most important room in the house. The sideboard was most often the focal point of the dining room and very ornately decorated.

[edit] Walls and ceilings

The choice of paint color on the walls in Victorian homes was said to be based on the use of the room. Hallways that were in the entry hall and the stair halls were painted a somber gray so as not to compete with the surrounding rooms. Most people marbleized the walls or the woodwork. Also on walls it was common to score into wet plaster to make it resemble blocks of stone. Finishes that were either marbleized or grained were frequently found on doors and woodwork. Graining was meant to imitate woods of higher quality that were more difficult to work. There were specific rules for interior color choice and placement. The theory of “harmony by analogy” was to use the colors that lay next to each other on the color wheel. And the second was the “harmony by contrast” that was to use the colors that were opposite of one another on the color wheel. There was a tripartite wall that was favored that included a dado or wainscoting at the bottom, a field in the middle and a frieze or cornice at the top. This was something that was popular until the 19th century. Fredrick Walton who created linoleum in 1963 created the process for embossing semi-liquid linseed oil, backed with waterproofed paper or canvas. It was applied much like wallpaper. This process made it easy to then go over the oil and make it resemble wood, leather or different types of leather. On the ceilings that were 8-14 feet the color was tinted three shades lighter than the color that was on the walls and usually had a high quality of ornamentation because decorated ceilings were favored.

[edit] Furniture

There was not one dominant style of furniture in the Victorian period. Designers rather used and modified many styles taken from various time periods in history like Gothic, Tudor, Elizabethan, English Rococo, Neoclassical and others. The Gothic and Rococo revival style were the most common styles to be seen in furniture during this time in history.

[edit] Wallpaper

Wallpaper was often made in elaborate floral patterns with primary colors in the backgrounds, such as red, blue and yellow and overprinted with colours of cream and tan. This was followed by Gothic art inspired papers in earth tones with stylized leaf and floral patterns. William Morris was one of the most influential designers of wallpaper and fabrics during the latter half of the Victorian period. Morris was inspired and used Medieval and Gothic tapestries in his work. Embossed paper were used on ceilings and friezes.

[edit] Fashion

Main article: Victorian fashion

[edit] Victorian designers

[edit] Gallery

Parlor in a New York House from the 1850's.	1890s Bedroom, James A. Garfield National Historic Site	"Artichoke" wallpaper, by John Henry Dearle for William Morris & Co., circa 1897 (Victoria and Albert Museum).	Oxford University Museum of Natural History interior of the Museum — The Mammal Gallery
SS Peter and Paul, Newport, Shropshire, designed by Augustus Pugin	A Queen Anne style House