Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
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.
21st Century and Contemporary French Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Plaster
1880s German Antique Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Crystal, Brass
Late 19th Century European Antique Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Bronze
Late 19th Century Antique Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary French Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Plaster
1930s Italian Vintage Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Crystal, Brass
Early 19th Century Italian Antique Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Crystal, Brass
Early 19th Century European Antique Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Crystal, Brass
1880s American Antique Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass, Bronze
1870s French Antique Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Bronze
2010s German Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
Late 19th Century French Antique Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Iron
Early 20th Century American Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Bronze
1950s Italian Vintage Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Crystal, Brass, Wire
2010s Botswanan Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Coade Stone, Art Glass
1880s Antique Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass, Copper
Late 19th Century British Antique Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Wrought Iron
Early 20th Century French Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Metal
Late 19th Century American Antique Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
20th Century American Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Crystal, Brass
20th Century Italian Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
20th Century Italian Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Opaline Glass
Early 20th Century European Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Wrought Iron
19th Century French Antique Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Bronze
19th Century Italian Antique Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Murano Glass
20th Century French Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Crystal, Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary American Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Plaster
1950s French Vintage Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
1950s French Vintage Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Crystal, Bronze
Mid-20th Century French Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
19th Century French Antique Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Crystal, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary French Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary American Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Plaster
20th Century American Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
1930s English Vintage Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
1910s French Vintage Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Alabaster, Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary American Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Plaster
Early 20th Century American Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
1950s Austrian Vintage Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Crystal, Brass
Late 19th Century Austrian Antique Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Crystal, Brass
Late 19th Century French Antique Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Bronze, Gold Leaf
1920s Italian Vintage Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Crystal, Brass, Wire
1940s Italian Vintage Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Crystal, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary French Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Plaster
19th Century Italian Antique Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Murano Glass
21st Century and Contemporary French Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Plaster
1970s Italian Vintage Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Mother-of-Pearl
20th Century Italian Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Art Glass
Late 19th Century English Antique Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Crystal, Brass
Early 2000s American Aesthetic Movement Chandeliers and Pendants
Crystal, Metal