The Millinery Works GALLERY

GOTHIC REFORM
A Selling Exhibition presented by The Antique Trader

November 2 - 21 2004

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Above: exhibits 6, 3 & 51.

“In the early 19th century the architectural ‘battle of the styles’ had resolved into an almost straight confrontation between the rival claims of Classical & Gothic.”
Charlotte Gere and Michael Whiteway Nineteenth-Century Design.

Probably the leading classicist of the period was Sir John Soane, architect of the Bank of England, whose work starkly contrasts with the designs of A W N Pugin for the interior and furniture of the Palace of Westminster, for which he is best known.

In contrast to the styles of Regency and his own earlier Gothic embellishments, from around 1835 Pugin began experimenting with plainer furniture designs and this became known as Reformed Gothic. He became the great exponent of this style which was later taken up and commercially exploited by such architect designers as J P Seddon, Charles Bevan and Bruce Talbert. Pugin worked on the Palace of Westminster designs from 1844 onwards and in 1851, one year before his death, he designed the medieval court for the Great Exhibition of that year.

Gere & Whiteway point out that ‘The gothic, or medieval, style of building and decorating was identified with a stable and uncorrupted society having values untainted by the turmoil of the industrial revolution’.

In 1850 George Gilbert Scott claimed the Gothic Revival to be “the great architectural fact of our age ... a style which will be pre-eminently that of our own age ... meet all its requirements and embrace all its arts, improvements and inventions.” Remarks on Secular and Domestic Architecture, 1857, preface, p.xi.

To a degree the style involved an inspiration from nature. Ruskin believed that beauty could be achieved by the imitation of nature and examples of this can be found in the ornamental designs of Christopher Dresser to the fabrics and wallpapers of Morris & Co.

The extent to which Reformed Gothic influenced the development of the Arts & Crafts Movement can be seen in the structural emphasis on pegging, revealed tenons and the decoration of simple chamfering, clear linear character and honest craftsmanship. These are the characteristics we have tried to showcase in this exhibition at The Millinery Works.

To view the illustrated catalogue and with a full list of exhibits follow this link 

Illustrated catalogue £5 plus p&p from paul@millineryworks.co.uk

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