Cast-iron aquarium on base with plate glass windows. Decoration at each meeting point of glass may be a representation of Canna indica. A "leaf" bowl is placed above the center of the aquarium, where water jetted out. This octagonal aquarium fountain rests on a slender column on three legs with the feet raised on rolling castors. Cases with castors could be moved between rooms. Companies touted their mobility as a labor saving attribute of this device and a major selling point. Naturalism, the realistic reproduction of the beauties of nature, was a popular style in the Victorian era. Though it appears as early as the 1840’s in America, naturalistic designs continued to the 1900s. This was in part due to the influence of the natural sciences, and interest in nature and gardening, which spread through the upper and middle classes in the nineteenth century. Naturalistic designs incorporated floral, foliate, fruit, vegetal, and animal forms into furnishings and decorative objects for the home and garden. Popular subjects included grapes, cornstalks, ferns, Solomon seal or laurel leaf, passion flowers, lilies of the valley, morning glories, oak leaves, acorns, vines, and roses.
Naturalism, the realistic reproduction of the beauties of nature, was a popular style in the Victorian era. Though it appears as early as the 1840’s in America, naturalistic designs continued to the 1900s. This was in part due to the influence of the natural sciences, and interest in nature and gardening, which spread through the upper and middle classes in the nineteenth century. Naturalistic designs incorporated floral, foliate, fruit, vegetal, and animal forms into furnishings and decorative objects for the home and garden. Popular subjects included grapes, cornstalks, ferns, Solomon seal or laurel leaf, passion flowers, lilies of the valley, morning glories, oak leaves, acorns, vines, and roses.
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In the mid-1800s, interest in marine and fresh water life soared, which led to the development and widespread popularity of aquariums for the home. Aquariums served as fish tanks or small ornamental fountains in the Victorian home. They might contain wild plants and creatures combined with ferns and fountain feature. Some aquariums were salt-water, providing a glimpse of ocean life, but the majority were fresh-water aquariums. The large plate-glass windows gave a panoramic view of an underwater world and earned the aquarium a place of prominence in many homes. Books and articles were written with instructions on creating and maintaining parlor aquariums, as well as what forms of plant and animal life to stock in it. Water plants and animals were often transplanted from the wild to the drawing room to recreate an encapsulated living world. Victorians watched the antics, growing cycles, and symbiotic relationships that flourished within their parlor aquarium. Soon every home wanted an aquarium and, with price cutting innovations of the Industrial Revolution, many homes could now afford one. Because of their popularity, aquariums were mass produced in a variety of materials and sizes, and they were frequently combined with a Wardian case, bird cage, or plant stand to form a large showpiece for the parlors or conservatories of the mid-to-late-nineteenth century. Aquariums created an ostentatious display that provided an escape from the city and were evidence of the owner’s social superiority and interests in natural history. The household aquarium was a source of entertainment, but it also afforded Victorians with opportunity to for scientific study of the plants and creatures behind the glass.
