Designed byThomas Jeckyll (1827-1881)
Made by Barnard, Bishop & Barnards, Norwich, England c. 1876

Thomas Jeckyll’s significance to the Aesthetic Movement can hardly be overstated. His designs – among the earliest in the Anglo-Japanesque taste – were admired and, in fact, inspired other creative geniuses of this era, including E. W. Godwin and James McNeil Whistler, among others.

The present Jeckyll fireplace fender is identical to one sketched by E. W. Godwin in 1878 (drawing now at the Victoria and Albert Museum.) and nearly matches another seen in period photos of the famous Whistler-decorated and Jeckyll-designed Peacock Room on permanent display at the Freer Gallery. This example is the only such fender by Thomas Jeckyll known to exist. Designed in 1876, it is among his most important creations and is perhaps the object that best illustrates Jeckyll’s relationship to the period and to other artists of the era.Provenance: Gyrn Castle, North Wales.

DESCRIPTION: 

Brass with iron filigree fretwork over a moulded plinth.

CONDITION: 

Refer to complete condition report prepared by Michael Smart, conservator.

LITERATURE: 

Literature: Soros, Susan Weber and Catherine Arbuthnott, Thomas Jeckyll, Architect and Designer, 1827-1881. New York: Bard Graduate Center, 2003, see p. 44, fig. 2-39 for a period sketch by Godwin of an identical fender, and also refer to fig. 5-71 for a period photograph of the Peacock Room illustrating its fender, now lost.)

SIZE: 12-1/2” h x 81” w x 17” d

PRICE: On request.

CALL NUMBER: 440-II-FP