Stand
Attributed to
Bradley & Hubbard Manufacturing Company
(American, active Meriden, Connecticut, 1875 - 1940)
Manufacturer
Longwy Faience Company
(French, founded 1798)
Date1880-1885
MediumBrass, earthenware
DimensionsOverall: 33 3/4 x 18 1/2 x 18 1/2in. (85.7 x 47 x 47cm)
ClassificationsFURNISHINGS
Credit LineMuseum Purchase, in part with funds from the Sarah T. Norris Fund
Terms
Object number96.6
On View
On viewCollections
Copyright<a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc/4.0/80x15.png" /></a><br />This work is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License</a>.
Label TextMetal furniture such as small tables, stands, and easels became increasingly popular during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. The combination of color with reflective surfaces exemplifies the mode that would have been prevalent throughout the room where this stand served as an accent piece. Its stylish design and ornamentation are indicative of the owner's sense of fashionable taste and represent the premises of the Aesthetic movement. This reform movement was a reaction against poor quality, mass-produced goods. Proponents of the style emphasized the unification of the useful with the beautiful.
By the late nineteenth century Meriden, Connecticut, was the American center for mass-produced metalwares. Based on comparisons with similar objects, it can be assumed that this plant stand was made in Meriden, although a definitive maker has yet to be determined. The addition of the plant stand to the museum's collection presents the opportunity to interpret the Aesthetic movement in greater context. The stand makes an interesting comparison with other Aesthetic period pieces on view in this gallery-the upholstered chair, silver teapot, and Kimbel and Cabus desk.
ATD
During the last quarter of the nineteenth century, Meriden, Connecticut, was the American center for mass-produced silver plate and base metalwares. Faddish "art brass goods," including lamps, small tables, mirrors, and pedestals-such as this example-were produced in the 1870s and 1880s.
The designer of this stand united machine-formed parts (tubular frame, sharp angles, and stamped brass) with botanical images in shiny metal and polychrome ceramics. The reform campaign under the name of the Aesthetic Movement thus elevated the status of everyday objects by fusing artful, naturalistic motifs and machine labor in the creation of an object.
ATD
Bradley & Hubbard tables commonly incorporate ceramic tiles and cylinders such as those made by the Longwy Faience Company. Longwy's glazed earthenware, characterized by vivid colors on a turquoise ground, was especially popular. The decorative motifs, including meandering vines and flowers, were derived from Japanese designs, which were freely mixed with Chinese, Persian, and Moorish elements. Other companies also supplied the ceramics that were mounted in brass, including Gien (no. 13), another French faience manufacturer founded in 1821, as well as Minton and Company located in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England.
