Kettle and burner on stand designed by Christopher Dresser
Object No. 91/1065
This kettle was designed by Christopher Dresser for J.W. Hukin and J.T. Heath in London in 1878. A trained botanist and a visionary designer who bridged the gap between art and industry in Victorian England, Dr Christopher Dresser was a leading design reformer of the era. As opposed to John Ruskin and William Morris, Christopher Dresser was an enthusiastic advocate of the machine, believing that household items should be more affordable while being both beautiful and functional. The association of simplicity with progress led him to reject the taste for rich decoration of Victorian historicism and naturalism which used representational, often relief ornaments indiscriminately applied to objects. Dresser’s interest in forms based on the structure of plants, his emphasis on function in design and the economic use of materials such as electroplated silver, have no precedent in Western design traditions. Dresser had a passion for Japanese art, which was rediscovered by the West in the 1850s, strengthened by his travel to Japan in 1876. The kettle's chased plum-blossom-and-bamboo decoration, the angular spout and feet, straight wooden handle and exposed rivets reference the Japanese aesthetic. Dresser diverse designs for metal, textiles, glass and ceramics inspired by Japanese art and design are also associated with the Aesthetic movement which has a strong impact on the visual arts, literature and fashionable living in Britain from the 1860s to the 1895 trial of the writer Oscar Wilde, the movement's best-known advocate and exponent. With its famous credo ‘art for art's sake’, it highlighted the aesthetic value of the arts, privileging beauty over any moral or didactive purpose. Eva Czernis-Ryl, Curator
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Summary
Object Statement
Kettle and burner on stand, electroplated silver / wood, designed by Christopher Dresser, made by J.W. Hukin and J.T. Heath, London, England, 1878
Physical Description
Kettle and burner on a stand, electroplated silver, with incised Japanesque decoration, in the style of the Aesthetic Movement, and wooden mounts. The kettle is constructed with hard soldered joints and riveted appendages from a copper base metal and electroplated with silver. It is of a compressed globular form and is raised on a low, straight sided basal ring, the sides are well rounded and rise to a flaring gallery which encircles the opening at the top. The lid is recessed below the gallery and is book hinged on one side. The lid is domed in profile and screw set with a solid pill finial. The angular, elbow-shaped spout projects from the front of the kettle at mid-body. The high bar handle is rivet-fixed at upper body both front and rear, the metal supports of the handle follow the waist and flare of the gallery, and are screw mounted with a straight wooden handgrip. The kettle features freely incised Japanesque decoration around the girth of the body, with a continuous design of stylised oriental plants interspersed with flying butterflies and one small bird. The lid is similarly decorated with a plant and butterfly design encircling the knop. The kettle is elevated on a tripod stand with each of the tapering metal legs featuring an outward splayed 'crow's' foot. The legs rise to a rivet-fixed convex-sided ring at top which serves as a support for the kettle. This ring has two twin-tongued pierced mounts at front and rear which correspond with similar mounts adjacent to the basel ring of the kettle and permit secure attachment of the kettle to the stand by means of two bayonet pins which hang from the stand on chains. A flat triangular shelf with a central circular aperture connects the three legs just above the feet and serves as a rest for the spirit burner. The spirit burner is a flattened bulbous form with a straight-sided basal ring and a short straight-sided collar encircling the opening at top, the burner has a short wooden handle extending from an upward angled mount at one side. The extinguisher or snuffer is missing.
DIMENSIONS
Height
275 mm
Width
223 mm
Depth
170 mm
PRODUCTION
Notes
The kettle, burner and stand were designed by Christopher Dresser and made by Hukin and Heath in England in 1878.
SOURCE
Credit Line
Purchased 1991
Acquisition Date
26 August 1991
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