Aesthetic Movement Glass
In 1880, polymath designer William Morris declared: “If you want a golden rule that will fit everybody, this is it: Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” His words encapsulated the Aesthetic Movement, which prized beauty above all and blurred the lines between fine art and the decorative arts, particularly through lavishly crafted furniture pieces.
The Aesthetic Movement, whose major proponents included author Oscar Wilde, flourished from the 1860s to the 1880s and was mostly popular in England and the United States. Design expositions like the 1876 Centennial International Exhibition in Philadelphia, as well as the publishing of how-to books for interior design, helped disseminate Aesthetic Movement bedroom furniture, serveware, coffee tables and other items, especially to the middle class.
The establishment of new art museums, art clubs and a rising passion for collecting at the time contributed to a growing appreciation for art. Morris’s founding of Morris & Co. in 1862 and the commercializing of this “cult of beauty” by the Liberty store in London, starting in the late 19th century, further disseminated the idea of a domestic space that was thoughtfully and floridly designed.
Leading Aesthetic Movement furniture designers included E.W. Godwin, who drew on Japanese influences and whose work reflected a wider enthusiasm for imported East Asian art. British designer Christopher Dresser created textiles, ceramics and more that were also inspired by Japanese decorative art but were representative of additional diverse design sources that ranged from Egypt to Mexico.
The Aesthetic Movement’s eclecticism resulted in dazzling interiors. Japanese fans were positioned on Renaissance-inspired cabinets with brass hardware, while mantels made of rich walnut or finely carved ebonized wood and adorned with painted Minton tiles mingled with cast-iron chairs against a backdrop of floral wallpaper. In 1881, in New York City, stenciled checkerboard motifs and painted floral murals could be found under an opalescent glass chandelier in a luxurious dressing room designed by German émigré cabinetmaker-decorator George Alfred Schastey. Amid the rise of the industrial age, the style’s promotion of art in everyday life would inform the Arts and Crafts Movement and Art Nouveau.
Find a collection of antique Aesthetic Movement seating, tables, decorative objects and other furniture and antiques on 1stDibs.
1890s French Antique Aesthetic Movement Glass
Crystal
1880s French Antique Aesthetic Movement Glass
Crystal
1910s American Vintage Aesthetic Movement Glass
Crystal
Early 1900s German Antique Aesthetic Movement Glass
Art Glass
1890s American Antique Aesthetic Movement Glass
Art Glass
20th Century English Aesthetic Movement Glass
Metal
20th Century Italian Aesthetic Movement Glass
Murano Glass
Late 19th Century Czech Antique Aesthetic Movement Glass
Blown Glass
19th Century Czech Antique Aesthetic Movement Glass
Cut Glass
Mid-20th Century American Aesthetic Movement Glass
Art Glass
Mid-20th Century Aesthetic Movement Glass
Crystal
1910s French Vintage Aesthetic Movement Glass
Art Glass
1880s Czech Antique Aesthetic Movement Glass
Blown Glass
1920s English Vintage Aesthetic Movement Glass
Crystal
Mid-19th Century French Antique Aesthetic Movement Glass
Glass
1890s Czech Antique Aesthetic Movement Glass
Art Glass
1950s American Vintage Aesthetic Movement Glass
Crystal
Late 20th Century French Aesthetic Movement Glass
Crystal
Early 20th Century French Aesthetic Movement Glass
Crystal, Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Czech Aesthetic Movement Glass
Glass
Early 20th Century Czech Aesthetic Movement Glass
Glass
Late 20th Century French Aesthetic Movement Glass
Crystal
1990s Czech Aesthetic Movement Glass
Art Glass
Early 20th Century Aesthetic Movement Glass
Glass, Milk Glass
19th Century English Antique Aesthetic Movement Glass
Glass
1890s French Antique Aesthetic Movement Glass
Crystal, Ormolu
Early 1900s English Antique Aesthetic Movement Glass
Porcelain
19th Century French Antique Aesthetic Movement Glass
Crystal, Ormolu
1890s Czech Antique Aesthetic Movement Glass
Art Glass
Mid-19th Century Czech Antique Aesthetic Movement Glass
Glass, Blown Glass
19th Century French Antique Aesthetic Movement Glass
Ormolu
Late 19th Century American Antique Aesthetic Movement Glass
Cut Glass
Late 19th Century American Antique Aesthetic Movement Glass
Cut Glass
1860s French Antique Aesthetic Movement Glass
Crystal
1890s French Antique Aesthetic Movement Glass
Crystal
Late 19th Century American Antique Aesthetic Movement Glass
Silver Plate
1880s English Antique Aesthetic Movement Glass
Blown Glass
Late 19th Century Antique Aesthetic Movement Glass
Glass
1880s British Antique Aesthetic Movement Glass
Blown Glass
1890s Italian Antique Aesthetic Movement Glass
Glass