Tea Table

Designerdesigned by Edward William Godwin (British, 1833 - 1886)

ClassificationsDECORATIVE ARTS

Dateca. 1880

Mediummahogany inlaid with satinwood stringing

Dimensions29 3/4 x 32 1/4 x 16 in. (75.6 x 81.9 x 40.6 cm.)

DescriptionThis rare tea table, designed by the Victorian polymath William Godwin, represents one of the earliest instances of "Anglo-Japanese" furniture in Britain. Godwin was a close associate of Oscar Wilde, James MacNeil Whistler, and William Morris, and an avid scholar of East Asian culture. The specific object here represents a domestic fusing of Godwin's interest in medieval English forms and Japanese craftsmanship. Two asymmetrical shelves are fitted at varying levels, with framework stretchers, and tall, thin proportions. The mahogany construction points to Eastern influence, while the ingenious folding shelves, apparently a Godwin innovation, are adapted from late 18th century Sheraton designs. The lustrous satinwood stringing, completely unique to this exemplar, accentuates the streamlined "modernist" effect of the supports. The work represents a pivotal moment in the history of British arts and crafts, and brilliantly essays the Aesthetic Movement's whole approach to industrially-produced design: use as little wood as needed, yet make the pieces as strong and graceful as possible, upholding simplicity, economy and utility, but never at the expense of style. Godwin wrote around 1876: "When I came to furniture I found that hardly anything could be bought ready-made that was at all suitable to the requirements of the case…therefore I set to work and designed a lot of furniture and with a desire for economy." Trained as an architect, Godwin appears to have begun working with furniture for early commissions in South England and Ireland. Between 1861 and 1865 he prepared furnishings for the Northampton Town Hall and Dromere Castle in an Irish-Gothic vein, but following a visit to the International Exhibition of 1862 in London, he picked up on the era's growing fascination for all things "Oriental". Godwin's Japanisme exerted an enormous effect on later English and American designers. Subsequent generations of designers - among them the Glasgow School and the American Arts and Crafts movement, both represented in the Huntington collections - would largely study not Japan, but Edward Godwin. As both an example of "Anglo-Japanese" furniture and a component of 19th-century British Aestheticist, the table would supply a vital link between two important objects acquired through the Art Collectors' Council: Charles Rennie Mackintosh's Ladderback Chair of 1903 and Walter Crane's Demi-Lune Cabinet of 1875. Much like Godwin, both Mackintosh and Crane executed decorative schemes for interiors, and, like William Morris, flirted with different variants of Japonisme. The piece would shed light for the public on the true diversity of styles, influences, and media at play in late nineteenth century design.

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

Label TextThis rare tea table, designed by the Victorian polymath William Godwin, represents one of the earliest instances of "Anglo-Japanese" furniture in Britain. Godwin was a close associate of Oscar Wilde, James MacNeil Whistler, and William Morris, and an avid scholar of East Asian culture. The specific object here represents a domestic fusing of Godwin's interest in medieval English forms and Japanese craftsmanship. Two asymmetrical shelves are fitted at varying levels, with framework stretchers, and tall, thin proportions. The mahogany construction points to Eastern influence, while the ingenious folding shelves, apparently a Godwin innovation, are adapted from late 18th century Sheraton designs. The lustrous satinwood stringing, completely unique to this exemplar, accentuates the streamlined "modernist" effect of the supports. The work represents a pivotal moment in the history of British arts and crafts, and brilliantly essays the Aesthetic Movement's whole approach to industrially-produced design: use as little wood as needed, yet make the pieces as strong and graceful as possible, upholding simplicity, economy and utility, but never at the expense of style.

Status

On view

Object number2005.20