Beautiful people and Aesthetic houses 1870s-1880s

The exhibition will be arranged in four main chronological sections, charting the development of the Aesthetic Movement in art and design through the decades from the 1860s to the 1890s. As well as paintings, prints and drawings, the show will include examples of all the 'artistic' decorative arts, together with drawings, designs and photographs, as well as portraits, fashionable dress and jewellery of the era. Literary life will be represented by some of the most beautiful books of the day, whilst a number of set-pieces will reveal the visual world of the Aesthetes, evoking the kind of rooms and ensembles of exquisite objects through which they expressed their sensibilities.

  • Carlo Giuliano - Brooch and hair ornaments

    Brooch and hair ornaments Carlo Giuliano London 1875-95, 1912-14 Carved coral and enamelled gold Museum no. Loan: AmericanFriends.448-2007 Lent by the American Friends of the V&A through the generosity of Judith H. Siegel

    The brooch in this set was probably a gift from the painter William Holman Hunt to his wife Edith.

  • Albert Moore - Cartoons peacock frieze

    Cartoons for the peacock frieze for the front drawing room, 15 Berkeley Square, London Albert Moore London About 1872-3 Charcoal and white chalk on brown paper Museum no. D.260-1905

    The peacock frieze formed part of a decorative scheme designed by the architect George Aitchison for the home of the businessman and musical connoisseur Frederick Lehmann.

  • Bruce James Talbert - Design for 'The Sunflower' wallpaper

    Design for 'The Sunflower' wallpaper Bruce James Talbert Made by Jeffrey & Co. London 1878 Watercolour and body colour Museum no. E.37-1945 Given by Mrs Margaret Warner

    The wallpaper manufacturer Jeffrey & Co. employed Aesthetic designers such as Bruce Talbert to bring 'art' to their products.

  • Christopher Dresser - Teapot

    Teapot Christopher Dresser Made by James Dixon & Sons Sheffield, England About 1879 Electroplated nickel silver with ebony handle Museum no. M.4-2006 Purchased with generous support of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, the Art Fund, the American Friends of the V&A and an anonymous donor, the Friends of the V&A, the J. Paul Getty Jr. Charitable Trust and a private consortium led by John S.M. Scott

    Christopher Dresser embraced industrial production and new materials. The simple geometric forms of the teapots he designed for James Dixon & Sons were strikingly original.

  • William Blake Richmond - 'Mrs Luke Ionides'

    'Mrs Luke Ionides' William Blake Richmond London 1882 Oil on canvas Museum no. E.1062-2003 Purchased with the assistance of The Art Fund and the Friends of the V&A

    The Anglo-Greek Ionides family were wealthy merchants and avid collectors of Aesthetic works of art.

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