image credit: Brooklyn Museum



1870-1900
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For woodworking, the underlying principles of the movement emphasized "art in the production of furniture", which was a negative reaction to the highly elaborate products of mainstream Victorian taste. Instead, aestheticism stressed simple forms and uncluttered surfaces, such as inlay, marquetry, cloisonné. In the Aesthetic Movement's credo, often, ornament was placed asymmetrically.

The style was much influenced by: Japanese decoration, late 17th- and early 18th-century English domestic design, Chinese motifs in furniture blue and white Chinese porcelain. Where they could, designers included examples from Greek, Persian, Moorish, Egyptian and other exotic styles. Typical motifs included sunflowers, fan shapes, peacock feathers, and bamboo.









Aesthetic Parlor Chair
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Rosewood Parlor Chair possibly attributed to Pottier Stymus.

Height: 35 inches

List Price: $2,300











Easel With Inlay
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Double side and carved and inlaid Aesthetic display easel. Walnut with Inlays of various woods and brass New York, circa 1880. This easel is identical on both sides as it was intended to be prominently displayed in the center of a reception or living room.

Height: 76"
Width: 26"

List Price: $18,000









Ebonized Cabinet
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Ebonized Cabinet with portraits of William Shakespeare and Lord Byron on a yellowish background from the second quarter of the 19th century.

Height:
Width:
Depth:

List Price: $35,000









Gilt Metal-Mounted Ebonized Pedestal
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Parcel-Gilt Inlaid and Gilt Metal-Mounted Ebonized Burl Walnut Pedestal. American last quarter 19th Century

Height: 40 1/2"
Width: 14 3/4"
Depth: 14 3/4"

List Price: $7,500










Rare Faux Rosewood Japanesque
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Rare Faux Rosewood Japanesque with Marble Top Center Table, ca. 1880. Painted surface (possibly over walnut) to imitate Rosewood. Geometric open fretwork; incised carving of Sunflowers and Chrysanthemums. Rosewood, an exotic wood from Brazil and India, has a dark, purplish-brown color with a variegated pattern to it's grain. It was the preferred wood for quality parlor furniture during the 1850's and 60's. When Rosewood was unavailable furniture was occasionally painted, or grained to imitate it, like this Aesthetic Movement Center Table in the Japanese taste.

Height: 30 1/2"
Width: 28"
Depth: 41"

List Price:$14,000






Ebonized Firescreen
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Aesthetic Ebonized Firescreen, late 19th century, the revolving screen with a polychrome floral panel to one side, and an embroidered panel to the other, surmounted by a pierced foliate carved triangular crest and flanked to either side by barley twist uprights, raised on like splayed legs.

Height: 46"
Width: 26"

List Price:  $1,800








Walnut Writing Desk
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American Aesthetic Movement Walnut Writing Desk, ca. 1870-1890, attributed to Benjamin Pittman and William Fry's Cincinnati Women's Woodcarving Movement, Cincinnati, Ohio, in two parts, the recessed upper section with a central cupboard with an arched gallery, adorned with butterfly, leaf-and-vine carving, over a pair of doors, each depicting a bird amidst flora and foliage, over an open niche, flanked by a bank of two drawers, each with spoon-carved faces, the returns with pegged through tenons, the base with a gently sloping slant-lid with a panel carved depicting birds amidst leaves and branches, over a spoon-carved drawer and three recessed carved panels, the returns and back also adorned with carving, the lower back with a drop-down door opening to utilize the void behind the three lower panels.

h. 61-5/8"
w. 41-1/2"
d. 17-1/4"

List Price: $18,000






Mahogany Cabinet
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English Aesthetic Movement Mahogany Cabinet, circa 1880. Painted gilt paneled doors with birds and flowers are framed by ebonized and gilt incising. A grill of circle form a design across the top and appears again along the bottom of the piece. Spindles act as a rails along the bottom shelf and again enhances the gallery shelf. The bevelled mirrors adds a sparkling touch to the piece.

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List Price: $3,600





Throne Chair
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Aesthetic Movement Throne Chair.

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List Price: $6,500





Fire Screen
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Painted Fire Screen

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List Price: $1,800