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Catalog Data

Medium:
Cast iron, paint
Dimensions:
Overall: 80 × 20 in. (203.2 × 50.8 cm)
Pedestal: 33 × 28 in. (83.8 × 71.1 cm)
Basin: 8 × 40 1/2 in. (20.3 × 102.9 cm)
Style:
Renaissance Revival
Type:
Birdbaths
Fountains
Date:
ca.1850-1920
Period:
Victorian (1837-1901)
Description:
Cast-iron tazza-form fountain with lamppost connection. The piece includes three parts for a fountain and three parts for a lamppost and may be constructed as either object. The ornamental base is deep cast with various foliate motifs in registers around the shaft. The bowl has alternating shell and plume relief decoration with a serrated edge. This design is characteristic of the Renaissance Revival style. The major characteristics of the art, architecture, and decorative arts produced in nineteenth century are historicism, eclecticism, and mixing multiple styles together. Renaissance Revival style was a popular style of the Victorian era in the United States. It emerged as early as the 1840s and experienced renewed interest in 1890s. Renaissance Revival was a continuation of the Neoclassicism of the early nineteenth century and was vaguely related to actual objects from the Renaissance period. Renaissance Revival motifs included scrolling foliage called rinceaux, fruit garlands, masks, satyrs, egg-and-dart decoration, friezes, putti, armorial shields, palmettes, scrolls, grotesques, lions, water plant motifs, anthemia, oval medallions, bosses and strapwork, dolphins, Caryatid figures, and architectural elements such as columns, pilasters, pediments, and cornices.
Label Text:
Early in American history, a time when life was more about survival than decoration, water was collected from civic wells and fountains and used for irrigation, cooking, drinking, animals, and cleaning. By nineteenth century, fountains and other water features became decorative accents for the home or garden, enjoyed for the sound and play of light offered by cascading water. In the nineteenth century, systems of mass production and growth of the cast iron industry made fountains accessible to wider audience, including the middle class, yet they remained a symbol of elegance and pretention. By the mid-nineteenth century, fountain components were mass produced. Cast-iron pieces were created by pouring molten iron into molds of compressed sand. Once the iron had cooled, it was removed from the mold. Rough places and sharp edges were then filed away before the piece was bolted together. It would then be painted, varnished, galvanized, or bronzed several times to prevent rust. Since cast iron pieces were made in components and bolted together, numerous combinations were possible. Consumers were able to select from a range of figures, basins, sprays, and pedestals to create a somewhat customized fountain. The Victorian taste for highly ornate was fulfilled by the malleability of metal, which allowed for every surface to be covered with ornamental patterns and botanical subjects. Designs followed the trends of the time with natural forms, ornamental motifs pulled from historic revival styles, and complicated shapes. This satisfied the nineteenth-century tendency to combine of styles, along with elaborate, often whimsical motifs were available through the numerous options for waterspouts, fountain figures, balusters, basins, and coping—molded edging—for fountains.
Topic:
cast iron  Search this
fountains  Search this
lampposts  Search this
Garden ornaments and furniture  Search this
water features  Search this
Credit Line:
Smithsonian Gardens, Horticultural Artifacts Collection.
Accession number:
1984.009.a, b, c, d, e, f
Restrictions & Rights:
Usage conditions apply
See more items in:
Horticultural Artifacts Collection
Data Source:
Smithsonian Gardens
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/aq4a9f3789a-85b9-40dc-9167-6b20ca06e849
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:hac_1984.009.a__b__c__d__e__f