Continued from: The Victorian Era: Design, Art, Silver and Jewelry Part I
Artistic Designs of the First Half of the Victorian Era
The artistic designs in the first half of the Victorian Era were influenced primarily by the Gothic, Rococo, Classical, Neo-Classical and Romanticism styles forming a distinct eclectic movement that dominated until the reformative ideas of notable designers brought about the creation of the Art Nouveau. In painting Impressionism became the most prominent of artistic movements in the 1870’s and 1880’s. The art forms of the Victorian designs were curvilinear and sweeping with the ornamentation being an essential part of the works. The Rococo S curves and the more stylized Neo-Classical forms were masterly complemented to create a distinct decorative design. The ornamental motifs were stylized in accordance with the traditional Gothic forms, but were still inspired by the natural world and its forms with the plants and flowers being primarily depicted. Colors and their role in the design became significant in Victorian art. The most widely applied theory of harmony by analogy suggested the combination of colors that were next to each other in the color wheel. The colors were warm and cheerful with the classical red, blue and green being given a more subtle ensemble look by the beige and cream in the pieces.
Artistic Designs of the Second Half of the Victorian Era
Throughout the latter part of the Victorian Era the aesthetic Arts and Crafts Movement defined its own artistic forms. The turn to the inner soul and the personal ideals, thoughts and characteristics without the naivety typical for Romanticism was reflected in all artistic forms. The spontaneous flight of the designers’ imagination led to the creation of more various and distinctive works. The Neo Gothic forms were characteristic for the period with the lines becoming straighter and having a cleaner cut. The rustic and more robust forms were also very popular creating charming and romantic design. The stylized decorative motifs were also additionally simplified with the floral and leaf ornaments remaining popular, but becoming more elegant and lively. The colors were again warm and bright with the use of more pastel and earth colors being significant. The Anglo-Japanese style also proclaimed the universal and simplified patterns and forms with a focus on the internal appreciation of the art work and the use of detail only to highlight the spirituality of the piece. The natural motifs were again widely used to give a symbolical meaning to the designs.
Traditional Materials Used During the Victorian Era
The traditional materials were widely utilized for the making of Victorian decorative art items. Furniture and wall decorations including wallpapers and tapestry were traditionally made from different textiles such as wool, cotton and silk. Weaving and embroidery remained the most widely used techniques for the creation of fine decorative works. The work of William Morris reinstated indigo dying of the textiles, which allowed for the more functional use of vegetable dyes that produced unique, earthly and warm colored fabrics. He also reintroduced the hand woodblock textile printing technique to make exceptionally beautiful decorative ornaments. The use of more expensive and exotic wooden materials such as ebony was widely spread, although traditional wooden material was primarily used for furniture making. Jewelry making during the Victorian Era was not a field for great experiment particularly with the material used. Gold, silver and the traditional gemstones such as diamonds remained heavily utilized. The decorative items that were used in all aspects of daily life were still primarily made of silver. The fascination with the Gothic forms made this metal particularly popular for the creation of its distinct straight and less curvy ornate designs.
Leading Designers
The leading designers creating decorative art pieces during the Victorian Era were the notable figures of the Arts and Crafts Movement William Morris and Charles Robert Ashbee. Morris in cooperation with his trainee John Henry Dearle created fascinating tapestries with The Seasons being one of the most renowned and wallpaper designs such as Tulip and Willow and Seaweed. Ashbee founded the School of Handicraft and the Guild of Handicraft and created outstanding decorative art designs. The most notable of Japanese-British style artists was reformists Christopher Dresser who designed remarkable silverware and pottery.
Victorian Era Paintings
The painters of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood rejected the artistic traditions that evolved in Britain and Europe after the Renaissance and particularly after the influential works of Raphael. Instead, in the reformist spirit of the Victorian Era they embraced the masterpieces of the International Gothic (also known as Quattrocento), the early Renaissance style and the Flemish Art. The complex composition and the powerful dramatic colors as well as the excellent blend of details were typical for the painters of the brotherhood. Dante Gabriel Rossetti created masterpieces like Persephone and Mariana. The works The Lady of Shalott and The Awakening Conscience of William Holman Hunt are some of the most remarkable from the period. Sir John Everett Millais also created outstanding paintings such as Ophelia, Bubbles and Cherry Ripe. The Impressionism in France experienced its height throughout the Victorian Era to give to the world some of the masterpieces of the period. The style focused on the immediacy and the mindful seeing of the world and its forms and used the light to create vibrancy and color as well as the ingenious new brush strokes. The most renowned is Claude Monet whose painting Impression, Soleil Levant (Impression, Sunrise) gave the name of the movement. The works of Pierre-Auguste Renoir such as Bal du Moulin de la Galette (Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette) also became part of the international cultural heritage. Another notable artist was Edgar Degas with some of his most famous paintings being Woman in the Bath and Stage Rehearsal.
Jewelry During the Victorian Period
The jewelry during the Victorian Era was also influenced by the electrical style of the epoch. Designers blended different forms and motifs to create remarkable works. The Rococo shell motifs and the Neo-Classical cameos were abundantly present, but were presented in a more modernistic fashion for the time. The materials the jewelry was made from underwent changes in step with the ore sources discoveries in the colonies or other countries economically related to Britain. Again just like during the Neo-Classical period, archeological and ancient cultural discoveries influenced the work of jewelry designers. The era is not called Victorian without a reason and this is particularly evident in the trends and fashions of the accessories making. Experts in the field widely divide the periods of jewelry making in accordance with the life of the Queen that reflected the mood in the entire nation as well as abroad.
The Romantic Period in Jewelry Making
The first 23 years of the reign of Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1860 are the Romantic Period in jewelry making. It encompasses the blissful married years of the ruler with her beloved husband Prince Albert. The period also coincided with the height of the Romanticism movement, which focused on the soul and feeling as the prime expression in every art form. The women’s garments were standard and can best be described as plain and sober with the corset and long straight dresses almost touching the floor. As a consequence the jewelry items became the focal point of every look and outfit. The forms of the jewels were curvilinear, light and extremely elegant. The Rococo S curves that created twisting serpentine forms were also popular in the designs. The ornamented motifs were primarily inspired from the natural world with the flower, leaf and also fruit being gently engraved as part of the decorations. The heart and traditional Celtic art motifs were also particularly popular in line of the romantic mood. Another popular ornament, which was again inspired by Rococo, was the shell ornament, which became the centerpiece of brooches and hair jewelry alike. In fact, the brooch was the main accessory adding a dazzle and lavishness to every outfit. The hair jewelry, on the other hand played a more personal role in the lives of Victorian women – the jewels were exchanged as a symbol of friendship and love and were also a traditional mourning accessory. The traditional gemstones were also an important part of jewelry decoration – diamonds, rubies and pearls were abundantly used and some more subtle colored stones like pink coral and turquoise beads were also part of the decoration. The most popular precious metal used was gold, which was in relatively small supply at the time. Thus, the metal was casted into thins sheets and gentle wires. These were masterfully twisted and turned to create a more impressive fluff effect.
The Grand Period
The following Grand Period lasted for 21 years from 1861 to 1888 and marked the Queen’s and nation’s mourning for the late Prince. The darker colors of the gemstones and cleaner cut curves dominated the period and reflected the mood of the time. The Gothic influence was particularly evident in the works of jewelry designers at the time with the naturalism and simplicity of the forms becoming greater. The floral motifs remained widely used, but they were more stylized and somber. Gold was again the most popular of precious metals, but its natural patina that came with time was more appreciated than the cheerful shine of the new pieces. The dark gemstones such as deep red garnet, jet and dark onyx were the most widely utilized. The great archeological discoveries of the era brought back the Neo-Classical fascination with cameo brooches, earrings and pendants. The influence of the Ancient Greek and Roman art works was significant, but the Ancient Egyptian, Etruscan and also Renaissance sculptures and accessories were also a primary source of inspiration for the jewelry designers. The fine cameos were carved in shells and usually depicted a woman’s profile, a cottage or a bridge. The art forms of the distant British colonies also became widely admired and influenced numerous jewelry designers. The ornate engraved bangle bracelets and deeply romantic lockets were particularly popular. The sense of mystery was flowing in the air and was adequately reflected in the beautifully ornamented pieces. Monogram and name jewels were also widely spread. Due to the discovery of many new silver ore sites, the precious metal became less expensive and became widely used in jewelry production to meet the high demands of the growing middles class.
Late Victorian Jewelry – Arts and Crafts Movement and Art Nouveau
The Late Victorian period from 1888 to 1901 encompassed the height of the aesthetic Arts and Crafts Movement and the beginning of the Art Nouveau. The jewelry from this period again became exquisite and dazzling with the curvilinear and gentle shapes being heavily used by designers. The focus on the detail and the ornamentation was significant, although the more stylized forms of Japanese traditional art were significantly influential. The organic and deeply symbolical motifs such as flowers, leaves, butterflies, birds, dragonflies and even dragons created a sense of sentiment and fantasy. The more unconventional and imaginative decorative ornaments were also popular with the designers giving freedom to their imagination. Silver and gold remained the most widely utilized precious metals, but the use of diamonds experienced a real boom after the discovery of the Kimberley diamond fields in colonial South Africa. The Old European cut and rose cut gemstones in brooches, pendants and earrings gave an extravagant sparkle to these Victorian jewels.
Continued: The Victorian Era: Design, Art, Silver and Jewelry Part III
