{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O369978"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O369978/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AY9815/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AY9815/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AY9815","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AL6334","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O369978/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O369978","accessionNumber":"664-1906","objectType":"Balusters (11)","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"These balusters would have been made for the staircase of an English house at the end of the seventeenth century.  In 1906 they were acquired to provide good models to carvers in training or to designers working in historic styles. ","physicalDescription":"Baluster in the form of a salomonic column, carved oak with traces of gesso.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"oak","id":"AAT12264"}],"techniques":[{"text":"carving","id":"AAT53149"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Carved oak, with traces of gesso","categories":[{"text":"Furniture","id":"THES48948"},{"text":"Woodwork","id":"THES48877"}],"styles":[{"text":"baroque","id":"AAT21147"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"FWK","id":"THES48597"},"images":["2006AY9815","2006AL6334"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"002","id":"THES344196"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"002","id":"THES344196"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"002","id":"THES344196"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"002","id":"THES344196"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"002","id":"THES344196"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"002","id":"THES344196"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"002","id":"THES344196"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"002","id":"THES344196"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"002","id":"THES344196"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"002","id":"THES344196"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"002","id":"THES344196"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Baluster","id":""}],[{"text":"Baluster","id":""}],[{"text":"Baluster","id":""}],[{"text":"Baluster","id":""}],[{"text":"Baluster","id":""}],[{"text":"Baluster","id":""}],[{"text":"Baluster","id":""}],[{"text":"Baluster","id":""}],[{"text":"Baluster","id":""}],[{"text":"Baluster","id":""}],[{"text":"Baluster","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"England","id":"x28826"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1680-1720","earliest":"1680-01-01","latest":"1720-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""},{"date":{"text":"ca.1700","earliest":"1695-01-01","latest":"1704-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"25.25","unit":"in","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"2.25","unit":"in","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"2.25","unit":"in","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"Average measurement as noted in Accession Record","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Balusters from a staircse, bought for £5 from R.D. Radcliffe, Old Swan, Liverpool (RFs T87854/06, 87455/06, T15272/06 on Nominal File MA/1/R29 ):\n\"Thirteeen balusters of carved and turned oak, each consisting of 1) a plain rectangular head, 2) twisted shaft with capital and vase-shaped leafy base, and 3) plain rectangular foot. English, late 17th or early 18th century.\nAverage measurements of earch H. 2 ft. 1 1/4 in. by 2 1/4 in. by 2 1/4 in.\n\n664A, D, E, H, L assigned to Circulation\n644L written off 53/1668\n\nMr Radcliffe sold a number of items (661-1906 to 664-1906) to the Museum at this time. At the time of the purchase the balusters were with Messrs Trollope's, Halkin Street West, Belgrave Square.  Mr Radcliffe worte 'As to price - A carver brought up at Trollopes told me that it would cost £24 to produce the panels (662 and 663-1906) today & the balusters [664-1906] from 12/- to 15/- each'. In a letter dated 15 July 1913 [possibly to Alan S. Cole] Mr Radcliffe wrote of the balustrading and balusters (662 to 664-1906): 'I bought them out of a dealer's shop in Lewes about the year 1875. I had hoped to have used them in fitting up an old house, but Dame Fortune gave me a nasty knock and that project was not carried out. The man from whom I bought them either could not or would not tell me whence they came.'","historicalContext":"After the Salomonic form had been used by Bernini in the Baldacchino at St Peter's (1624-33) it became a favourite element in baroque design. (from Ornament gallery text).\r\n\r\nFrom record 664H-1906 - AtoI PAD:\r\nObject Type\r\nBalusters serve mainly to support the hand rail of a staircase. The grander the staircase, the more ornate the baluster. They were often spiral or bulbous in shape, and their form was also used  for the legs of tables and cabinet stands.\r\n\r\nMaterials & Makings\r\nThe baluster has traces of gesso, the fine plaster coating that served as a ground for gilding. The capital and base were carved, but the barley-sugar shaft was turned on a lathe.\r\n\r\nDesign\r\nThe baluster is richly carved in the Baroque style, which prevailed in England between about 1660 and about 1720. Its shaft is twisted like barley sugar and terminates in foliate ring, placed above a carved acanthus 'vase' with a guilloche ring base. This design is similar to that of baluster supports on a stand to writing cabinet, made around 1675, in the Duchess of Lauderdale's closet at Ham House, Richmond, Surrey (National Trust).\r\n\r\nUse\r\nGrand staircases were a lavishly decorated feature of the interior. They led to the most important rooms in the house, which were mainly on the first floor. Less ornate staircases, with very simple balusters, were known as backstairs. They were used by servants or important people wishing to come and go in secret, hence the expression 'backstairs intrigue'.\r\nJames Yorke, 27/03/2003","briefDescription":"Set of 11 (originally 13) baluster in the form of salomonic columns (spiral-turned), of carved oak. ","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"spiral columns","id":"AAT1626"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["664-1906","664A-1906","664B-1906","664C-1906","664D-1906","664E-1906","664F-1906","664G-1906","664I-1906","664J-1906","664K-1906"],"accessionNumberNum":"664","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1906,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","Baluster [1]","Baluster [2]","Baluster [3]","Baluster [4]","Baluster [5]","Baluster [6]","Baluster [7]","Baluster [8]","Baluster [9]"],"assets":["2019LN2106","2019LR1484","2019LU5745"],"recordModificationDate":"2025-08-21","recordCreationDate":"2009-06-24","availableToBook":true}}