Cast-iron bench with Gothic Revival design. This bench was designed between 1830-1840. The backrest is formed with Gothic motifs, such as steep pointed tracery and trefoils on either side of a central row of quatrefoils. The seat is rectangular with a pierced, honeycomb pattern. The armrest contains a semicircular motif that is reminiscent of a rose window. This form is characteristic of flywheel and meant to be symbolic of the Industrial Revolution occurring at the time the bench was made. The apron features a wave meander with Gothic cusps. The straight legs terminate in bun feet. The patterns on the bench including the seat back, apron, and seat are formed by endlessly repeatable patterns that were specifically designed for casting and have no true precedent in the Gothic forms of the Middle Ages. These simple, severe forms reveal a new way of thinking mechanically resulting from the Industrial Revolution. It was considered among great early cast-iron furnishing designs and continued to be produced throughout the century. It could be supplied at any length or shortened into a chair. The major characteristics of the art, architecture, and decorative arts produced in nineteenth century are historicism, eclecticism, and mixing multiple styles together. The Gothic Revival style was one of the major styles of the Victorian era and reached the height of its popularity from 1840-1870; however, designs continued to be produced into the 1900s. This style adapted Gothic architectural forms and ornaments found in the churches and castles of Medieval Europe. Gothic Revival motifs included pointed arches, quatrefoils, trefoils, lozenges, pinnacles, crockets, trefoils, rosettes, tracery, and cluster columns.
The major characteristics of the art, architecture, and decorative arts produced in nineteenth century are historicism, eclecticism, and mixing multiple styles together. The Gothic Revival style was one of the major styles of the Victorian era and reached the height of its popularity from 1840-1870; however, designs continued to be produced into the 1900s. This style adapted Gothic architectural forms and ornaments found in the churches and castles of Medieval Europe. Gothic Revival motifs included pointed arches, quatrefoils, trefoils, lozenges, pinnacles, crockets, trefoils, rosettes, tracery, and cluster columns.
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Garden furnishings, also called outdoor or patio furnishings, are specifically designed for outdoor use. They are typically made of weather-resistant materials such as metal, stone, wood, wicker, and artificial stone. Cast-iron was the most popular material for garden furnishings and accessories from the mid-nineteenth to the early-twentieth century. This was in part due to systems of mass production developed in the Industrial Revolution that allowed outdoor furniture to be readily available and affordable to the public. Throughout the nineteenth century, as leisure activities increased, materials diversified, and technology was embraced, garden furnishings came to be regarded as domestic amenities and reflected changing styles. Outdoor furnishings, such as settees, chairs, fountains, urns, and tables were essential to fashionably appointed lawns, conservatories, parks, cemeteries, and gardens in America.
The garden in the nineteenth century, typical of Victorian style, tended to be excessively ornamental and complex, combining colors, textures, and materials through plants and garden ornaments. Garden furnishings, such as urns, plant stands, tables, and seating, became essential to the overall design. As an extension of the house, the garden required furniture, and outdoor seating found its way onto balconies, verandahs, and porches as well as across lawns and parks. Benches, which are seats for several people with or without a backrest and arms, were a popular feature of the Victorian garden. Most garden benches were designed to be suitable for use with a table and were frequently sold with matching suites of chairs, settees, and tables. Designs for garden benches followed the Victorian taste for eclectic styles and borrowed Classical, Gothic, Rococo, Renaissance, and Oriental motifs; or they were chosen to blend with their natural surroundings in Rustic, animal, or botanical forms. Benches and other garden furnishings were strategically placed as the focal point or an accessory to create a specific feeling for a setting. Garden furnishings were used on porches and verandahs, as well as throughout the garden, to extend the architecture of the house to the grounds, providing a link between art and nature, manmade and organic.
