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Following his education at the Government School of Design in London (predecessor of the Royal College of Art), Dresser had an early successful career in botany, during which he published several books and lectured at the department of Science and Art at South Kensington. Dresser pursued a career in design during the 1860s, using his observations of botany as a basis for his designs and theories. Renowned for wedding science with art, Dresser became arguably the first industrial designer in Britain. Extending his expertise to all aspects of domestic design, Dresser maintained a studio with many assistants, designing objects, fabrics and wallpapers for an international clientele. Dresser visited Japan in 1876-7, touring as a representative of the South Kensington Museum and the British government to investigate local manufacturing and design. On his return, Dresser’s designs and theories became more informed by an understanding of Japanese aesthetics and use of materials.\r\n\r\n<b>Commission</b>\r\n\r\nThis wardrobe was part of a suite of furniture designed by Dresser for Bushloe House, near Leicester. The owner, Hiram Abiff Owston (1830-1905), a solicitor, commissioned Dresser to extend the house and Dresser worked with a local architect, Robert J. Goodacre, from 1874-6. Dresser also designed interior decoration and furniture for the house. Much of the interior disappeared in the early 1970s but the main staircase and some stained glass remain.\r\n\r\n<b>Design</b>\r\n\r\nDresser’s design theories are evident in the decoration of this wardrobe; for example, the stencilled frog motifs have been ‘flatly treated’ (see p.65 of Dresser’s <i>Principles of Decorative Design</i>). This two-dimensional approach was favoured by Dresser, who believed that this would allow for the object to be ‘more truthful to its form’. Carving, or in this case turning, is a feature that is reserved for the top of the wardrobe only, as Dresser believed that it should be applied sparingly. The two adjoining doors are smaller than the central, which follows Dresser’s preference for measuring by subtle proportions.\r\n\r\n<b>Materials & Technique \n</b>\nConstructed out of pine, the wardrobe was ebonised, with painted and gilded stencilled decoration. The ebonising of furniture became fashionable from the 1860s for aesthetic furniture and shares visual similarities to Japanese lacquer. Many of the mantelpieces in Bushloe House were also black with gilded decoration (see fig. 161, <i>Dresser: People’s Designer, 1834-1904</i>). A similar stencilling technique was applied throughout the decoration of the house on other objects, as well as on the walls (see fig. 162, <i>Dresser: People’s Designer, 1834-1904</i>). The theories espoused in Dresser’s Principles of Decorative Design were also applied to the wardrobe, for example the painted and gilded decoration is only applied to recessed panels, which Dresser recommended so that the decoration would not be exposed and rub off.","physicalDescription":"Ebonised pine dresser with painted and gilded stencilled decoration of frogs and mirrored central door, designed by Christopher Dresser c.1876.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Dresser, Christopher","id":"A8351"},"association":{"text":"Designer","id":"x36960"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"Pine","id":"AAT12620"},{"text":"mirror glass","id":"x32916"}],"techniques":[{"text":"Ebonised","id":"x41574"},{"text":"Stencilled","id":"AAT53433"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Ebonised softwood, probably pine, with painted and gilded stencilled decoration.","categories":[{"text":"Furniture","id":"THES48948"},{"text":"Furniture","id":"THES48948"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"FWK","id":"THES48597"},"images":["2015HX9884","2015HX9888","2015HX9854","2015HX9856","2015HX9863","2015HX9857","2015HX9862","2015HX9858","2015HX9859","2015HX9860","2015HX9861","2015HX9885","2015HX9886","2015HX9878","2015HX9855","2015HX9864","2015HX9868","2015HX9876","2015HX9852","2015HX9877","2015HX9879","2015HX9880","2015HX9887","2015HX9889","2015HX9890","2015HX9891","2015HX9892","2015HX9893","2015HX9894","2015HX9928","2015HX9929","2015HX9953"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"001","id":"THES344778"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"001","id":"THES344231"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"003","id":"THES383984"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"001","id":"THES344231"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"002","id":"THES344138"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"002","id":"THES344138"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"023","id":"THES412387"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Wardrobe","id":"x31944"}],[{"text":"wardrobe","id":"AAT39237"}],[{"text":"wardrobe","id":"AAT39237"}],[{"text":"door","id":"AAT2803"}],[{"text":"mirror","id":"AAT37682"}],[{"text":"Gallery","id":"AAT40773"}],[{"text":"Plinth","id":"AAT1749"}],[{"text":"Keys","id":"x47941"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca.1876","earliest":"1871-01-01","latest":"1880-12-31"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by the American Friends of the V&A through the generosity of Joseph Holtzman","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"181","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"1.07.2015","earliest":"2015-07-01","latest":"2015-07-01"},"part":"Part 1, excluding blocks above and below","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"184","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"1/07/2015","earliest":"2015-07-01","latest":"2015-07-01"},"part":"Part 1, including blocks above and below","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"56","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"1/07/2015","earliest":"2015-07-01","latest":"2015-07-01"},"part":"Part 1, excluding hinge","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"56.4","unit":"cm","qualifier":"approximately","date":{"text":"1/07/2015","earliest":"2015-07-01","latest":"2015-07-01"},"part":"Part 1, including hinge","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"50.2","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"1/07/2015","earliest":"2015-07-01","latest":"2015-07-01"},"part":"Part 1, excluding strip of wood down back","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"50.7","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"1/07/2015","earliest":"2015-07-01","latest":"2015-07-01"},"part":"Part 1, including strip of wood down back","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"181","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"1/07/2015","earliest":"2015-07-01","latest":"2015-07-01"},"part":"Part 2, excluding blocks above and below","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"184","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"1/07/2015","earliest":"2015-07-01","latest":"2015-07-01"},"part":"Part 2, including blocks above and below","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"","unit":"","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"Part 2","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"The wardrobe was part of a suite of furniture designed by Dresser for Bushloe House, Station Road, Wigston Magna, Leicestershire (see <i>The Furniture Gazette</i>, 26 June 1880). The contents of the house were auctioned from the estate of Miss Evelyn A. Owston, by Warner, Sheppard & Wade, on 28 and 29 September 1942. A photocopy of an annotated copy of the sale catalogue, in the possession of that firm, was made in 1982 and is kept in the Craftsman File in the Information Section of the Department of Furniture and Woodwork at the V&amp;A. The wardrobe was among a number of items of furniture and other objects purchased from the sale by 'Parkinson'. It was purchased on the first day of the sale, when the contents of 'Bedroom No. 1' included lot 336, 'Ebonised wardrobe, 6ft. 6in., with sliding trays and hanging compartments'; it sold to Mr Parkinson for ten guineas. The wardrobe was probably part of a suite, for lot 335 was an ebonised table (sold to another buyer), and lot 337, which was also purchased by Mr Parkinson, was described in the catalogue as: 'Pair - ebonised kneehole dressing chest, 4ft., and wash commode'. ","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"An ebonised, stencilled and gilded pine wardrobe, designed by Christopher Dresser, c.1876.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"‘Art Furnisher’s Alliance’, <i>The Furniture Gazette</i>, 26 June 1880, pp.437-8.\r\n\r\n‘Our Separate Plates: A Dado for a Library’, <i>The Furniture Gazette</i>, 26 June 1880, pp.442-5.\r\n\r\nDresser, Christopher, <i>Principles of Decorative Design</i> (London; New York: Cassell Petter & Galpin, 1873), Ch. 3, ‘Furniture’, pp.50-72.\r\n\r\n<i>Bushloe House Sale Catalogue, 1942</i> (Leicestershire: Warner, Sheppard & Wade Ltd, 1942).\r\n\r\nHalen, Widar, <i>Christopher Dresser</i>, (Oxford: Phaidon, 1990), p.49, pl.25; p.69, pl.54; pp.70, 71, 83, pl.74; p.96, 192, 197; p.55, pl.34; p. 175, pl.197; p.176, pl.198.\r\n\r\nWhiteway, Michael, <i>Shock of the Old Christopher Dresser’s Design Revolution</i> (London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 2004), pp.24, 37, 43, 134, pl.165; p.135.\r\n\r\nLyons, Harry, <i>Christopher Dresser: The People’s Designer</i>, 1834-1904 (Woodbridge: Antique Collectors’ Club, 2005), p.3, 5, 11, 29-31, 50, 136 pl.233; p.146 pl. 263A and B; p.147 pl.263.\r\n\r\nMorley, Christopher,<i> Dresser's Decorative Design</i> (Beresford. C., 2010), p.247, figs.523, 524, 525."}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["W.8:1-2018","W.8:2-2018","W.8:3-2018","W.8:4-2018","W.8:5-2018","W.8:6-2018","W.8:7-2018"],"accessionNumberNum":"8","accessionNumberPrefix":"W","accessionYear":2018,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-12-08","recordCreationDate":"2015-07-17","availableToBook":false}}