Bookcase

Maker Art Furniture Company (London, British)

Attributedattributed to Charles Locke Eastlake (British, 1836 - 1906)

Collections

ClassificationsDECORATIVE ARTS

Dateca. 1867

Mediumpine and oak with oil paint and enameled metal

Dimensions93 x 42 1/2 x 18 1/4 in. (236.2 x 108 x 46.4 cm.)

DescriptionThis painted bookcase is decorated in oil paint with enameled metal hinges and handles. The painted panels show the personifications of Art, Science, Commerce, Literature, Music, and Agriculture.

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. Purchased with funds from the Art Collectors' Council, Frances Crandall Dyke Bequest, Boyd and Jean Higgins Art Collections Endowment, Kelvin Davis, and Barry and Marie Herlihy

Status

On view

Label TextThis Gothic Revival bookcase is very close in design to one illustrated by Charles Locke Eastlake in his 1868 book "Hints on Household Taste in Furniture, Upholstery, and other Details." Like William Morris, Eastlake believed that the objects with which people decorated their homes should be hand-made by skilled artist-craftsmen, rather than mass produced by machines. The bookcase includes hand-painted panels whose forms resemble stained glass windows. The figures in these panels represent "art," "science," "commerce," "literature," "music," and "agriculture."

Object number2008.1