ENGLISH AESTHETIC MOVEMENT, MAHOGANY ARMCHAIR WITH SUEDE SEAT.

A refined, hand carved mahogany armchair of the Aesthetic Movement with a seat upholstered in green suede. Elements of the chair’s design anticipate the near future Jugendstil and Art Nouveau styles. No element of this chair is ordinary including the leg braces, sabots and back rest. Newly restored with new suede.

The Aesthetic Movement in Britain (1860 – 1900) aimed to escape the ugliness and materialism of the Industrial Age, by focusing instead on producing art that was beautiful rather than having a deeper meaning – 'Art for Art's sake'. The artists and designers in this 'cult of beauty' crafted some of the most sophisticated and sensuously beautiful artworks of the Western tradition and in the process remade the domestic world of the British middle-classes.

Aesthetic designs reference Asian, Egyptian, Greek, vernacular, and even delicate 18-century English examples.

Literature, painting, and the decorative arts were all influence by the movement. Artists included, Oscar Wilde, Aubrey Beardsley, James McNeill Whistler, and Romaine Brooks