Dresser exhibition at Hereford Museum
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| A Benham and Froud kettle designed by Christopher Dresser. |
Some of Dresser’s designs will be on display for the first time at the exhibition including a tea set by Benham & Froud, circa 1885, produced in mixed metals.
Christopher Dresser was born in 1834, the same year as the founder of the Arts and Crafts Movement, William Morris. His father was an excise officer whose work took his family briefly to Hereford in 1847.
This was the same year that Dresser entered the London School of Design where he came under the influence of key figures of the design reform movement such as Henry Cole.
Following a brief career as a botanist, Dresser became the first modern industrial designer, and, by having his name added to many objects, is often known as the first “designer label”.
Dresser’s studio provided a huge range of designs from wallpaper and carpets to tea sets, furniture and textiles. His influences included Japanese, Egyptian and Asian art and design, as well as abstract patterns based on his study of botany.
The exhibition will concentrate on his three-dimensional designs, especially those that demonstrate “fitness for purpose”. Most of them are still perceived as “modern looking,” even today. The exhibits have been gathered from a variety of sources including individual private collections and museums.
Dresser’s inspiration for some of his work may have come from the Hereford Screen, designed for the city’s cathedral by Sir George Gilbert Scott and exhibited at the 1862 International Exhibition. Dresser declared it was “one of the finest examples of artistic metalwork with which we are acquainted” in his “Principles of Decorative Design” (1873).
Although the screen is now on permanent display at the V&A in London, remnants are still on view at Hereford Cathedral.
Councillor Roy Stockton, cabinet member for community services, said: “It is quite a coup for us to have this exclusive exhibition being staged in Hereford and I hope it will attract plenty of visitors. A wide variety of objects produced from Dresser’s designs will be on display, including some that have never been seen in public before.”
A fully illustrated catalogue will be on sale at the Hereford Museum and Art Gallery.
In addition to the display, there will be a talk by Mr Harry Lyons, author and internationally acknowledged expert on Dresser’s work, on Saturday (January 20) at 11am at Hereford Museum. For tickets contact the Friends of Hereford Museums on 01432 264366.
There will also be three creative workshops for children on February 13. The workshops are free but booking is essential on 01432 260692.
