AWN Pugin's “True Principles” Gothic Furniture

A.W.N. Pugin’s “True Principles” Gothic Furniture Evolutionary, Revolutionary, Reactionary?

Peter N. Lindfeld

However much we may be indebted to lustrations laid down for the frst time the 15.1 Illustration of the extravagant style those ancient supporters of Pointed Ar- design principles that were to establish the of modern Gothic furniture and decora- chitecture who, faithfully adhering to its genuinely structural and medievally based tion, published in A.W.N. Pugin, Te True Principles of Pointed or traditions at a period when the style fell Gothic, as opposed to the decorative and Christian Architecture. into general disuse, strove earnestly, and fanciful Gothic, as the primary style of the [New Haven, CT, Yale Center for in some instances ably, to preserve its nineteenth century”.2 British Art: NA440 P9 1841] character; whatever value in the cause Te importance and infuence of Con- which we may attach to the crude and trasts and Te True Principles can not be isolated examples of Gothic which be- disputed.3 Unpublished manuscript sources, long to the eighteenth century, or to the however, indicate that the core idea in Pu- eforts of such men as Nash and Wyatt, gin’s polemical outpourings in Te True there can be little doubt that the revival Principles - the identifcation and restoration of Mediæval design received its chief of medieval design’s essential nature - is not impulse in our own day from the en- particularly revolutionary. Tis is especially ergy and talents of one architect whose the case when examining his and other ar- name marks an epoch in the history of British art, which, while art exists at all, chitects’ designs for furniture. Although the can never be forgotten […] Augustus religious and moral aspects of Pugin’s Gothic Northmore Welby Pugin.1 were certainly ground breaking, the desire to produce Gothic Revival furniture based As the above passage indicates, Charles upon a sound understanding and detailed Locke Eastlake (1833-1906) considered examination of medieval sources was not. A.W.N. Pugin (1812-1852) to be the most Tis chapter begins by examining the genesis important architect for the advancement of of Pugin’s “true principles” Gothic design the Gothic Revival in nineteenth-century rationale, especially as applied to, and mani- Britain. He and Charles Barry (1795-1860) fested in, furniture. It continues by chal- designed and executed the most prestigious lenging the originality of Pugin’s reforming and visible Gothic Revival commission of theory of Gothic by considering the work of the century - the Palace of Westminster other designers, architects and gentlemen (1840-1860) - and Pugin’s tracts, includ- that predate, or are contemporary with, ing Contrasts (1836 and 1841) and Te True Pugin’s output, and which refect a desire Principles of Pointed or Christian Architecture to develop Gothic based upon a renewed (1841), promoted new research and manifes- understanding of medieval precedents. to-like interpretations of Gothic architecture It concludes by ofering a nuanced reading of and design. Subsequent authors have shared Pugin’s reformed Gothic and situating him Eastlake’s perspective, and established col- within the broader antiquarian context of 1 Eastlake, A History of the Gothic lectively Pugin as the pre-eminent exponent Georgian and Victorian Britain. Revival, 145. 2 Atterbury, A.W.N. Pugin: Master and reformer of the Gothic Revival. Paul of Gothic Revival, 9. Atterbury, for example, states that Pugin’s 3 See, for example, Hill, “Refor- Contrasts (1836) was “a revolutionary book mation to Millennium”, and Id., whose outspoken text and polemical il- God’s Architect, 241, 243, 246.

215 Te rationale behind Pugin’s designs a sofa or occasional table from “True Principles” Gothic details culled out of Britton’s Cathedrals, and all the ordinary articles of furniture, In his manifesto of 1841, Te True Principles, which require to be simple and conveni- Pugin succinctly outlines the “two great rules ent, are made not only very expensive for [Gothic] design”: but very uneasy. We fnd diminutive fying buttresses about an armchair; every 1st, that there should be no features thing is crocketed with angular projec- about a building which are not neces- tions, innumerable mitres, sharp orna- sary for convenience, construction, or ments, and turreted extremities. propriety; 2nd, that all ornament should A man who remains any length of time consist of enrichment of the essential in a modern Gothic room, and escapes construction of the building.4 without being wounded by some of its minutiæ, may consider himself extremely fortunate. Tere are ofen as many Although referring to architecture, these pinnacles and gablets about a pierglass points had a widespread infuence upon frame as are to be found in an ordinary the decorative arts. Sir George Gilbert Scott church, and not unfrequently the whole (1811-1878) in 1857 observes that Pugin’s canopy of a tomb has been transformed “principle of truthfulness is universally for the purpose, as at Strawberry Hill.7 acknowledged as the […] guiding star”.5 Tese ideas were extended to furniture, and Pugin used them as a yardstick by which to Pugin’s illustration accompanying this text judge the work of his predecessors and con- [15.1] is clearly exaggerated to amplify his temporaries. Teir furniture was, of course, main point: the absurdity of micro-architec- found wanting. Indeed, Pugin represents the tural ornament applied to modern Gothic advent of his “true principles” Gothic as a furniture. It makes the reader thankful not watershed in the history of Gothic Revival to have lost an eye when moving through 4 Pugin, True Principles, 1. design: earlier “whimsical” Gothic Revival the room - especially near the coronation- 5 Scott, Remarks on Secular and furniture were essentially misconceived throne-like chair with its manifold crockets, Domestic Architecture, 237. copies of architecture and religious furni- pinnacles, fnials and fying buttress.8 6 Pugin, True Principles, 40. 7 Ibid., 40-41. ture - choir stalls - inappropriate for, and Pugin identifes this misapplication of Goth- 8 Such furniture was not widely incompatible with, the nineteenth-century ic sources and motifs as an historical prob- produced between 1740 and domestic setting. lem. Blame is placed on furniture designers 1841, and the closest examples Ultimately, such work failed to observe and makers culling inappropriate details are reserved in comparison. Tey his two great rules, or “real principles of from plates in Britton’s Cathedral Antiquities are Robert Adam’s chairs for Gothic”, and, thus, was subject to criticism.6 of Britain (1814-1835): details from medieval Croome Court, Worcestershire, In a typically scathing and exaggerated man- choir-stalls clearly, for Pugin, had no place and Alnwick Castle, Northum- berland, as well as a derivative for ner, Pugin states that: on beds’ testers. Audley End, Essex. For Croome Censure was not restricted to other de- and Alnwick see Harris, Te Ge- In pointed decoration too much is signers, for Pugin criticises his own adoles- nius of Robert Adam, 43, 90-92, generally attempted; every room in cent work: and for Audley End: see Sutherill, what is called a Gothic house must be “John Hobcrof and James Essex ftted with niches, pinnacles, groining, I have perpetrated many of these at Audley End House”, 24. Te tracery, and tabernacle work, afer the enormities in the furniture I designed other notable example is the manner of a chantry chapel […]. Tese some years ago for Windsor Castle. President’s chair of Magdalen observations apply equally to furniture; At that time I had not the least idea of College, Oxford, designed by - upholsterers seem to think that noth- the principles I am now explaining; all Richard Paget in 1789. See Mag- ing can be Gothic unless it is found in dalen College Archives, Oxford, my knowledge of Pointed Architecture MS 641, 22 July 1789. some church. Hence your modern man was confned to a tolerably good no-

216 15.2 A.W.N. Pugin, Design for furniture and fttings in the Gothic Revival style, made for the dining room and gallery in the private apartments for George IV. Drawing, 1827, 22.2 x 42.6 cm. [London, Victoria and Albert Museum: E.787-1970]

tion of details in the abstract; but these Gothic motifs designed to produce a decid- I employed with so little judgement or edly un-archaeological and overwhelmingly propriety, that, although the parts were decorative efect. correct and exceedingly well executed, Pugin’s satire of modern Gothic furniture 9 Pugin, True Principles, 41-42. collectively they appeared a complete also resonates with the work of his father, 10 In his diary for 16 June 1827 9 burlesque of pointed design. Auguste Charles Pugin (1768/9-1832), Pugin records that he “went to including highly cusped Regency-style de- design and make working draw- Tis passage amplifes the gulf and methodo- signs reproduced in Rudolph Ackermann’s ings for the Gothic furniture of logical shif not only between his reformed Te Repository of Arts (1825-1827), and Windsor Castle at £1 1s per day, for the following rooms. Te long work and that of others, but between his old, the frontispiece to Pugin’s Gothic Furniture 12 gallery, the cofee room, the vesti- apparently uninformed, furniture at Windsor (1827) [15.3]. Te similarity between the bule anti-room, halls, grand stair- Castle [15.2], and his new “true principle” style, type and arrangement of furniture in case, octagon in the Brunswick Gothic.10 Pugin’s criticism, tellingly, extends A.C. Pugin’s frontispiece and A.W.N. Pugin’s Tower and great Dining Room” back to one of the most important and infu- modern Gothic plate [15.1] is no accident, (National Art Library, London, ential sites for the mid-eighteenth-century and it actively promotes comparison with, MSL/1969/5204, f. 20r). Sir Hugh Gothic Revival: Horace Walpole’s (1717- and criticism of, the former. Roberts has recently observed 1797) villa, Strawberry Hill, Twickenham Read together, A.W.N. Pugin’s text and that Pugin’s role at Windsor was 11 partially exaggerated. See (Gothicised and extended c.1750-1780). illustration in Te True Principles establish a Roberts, For the King’s Pleasure, Despite exaggerating the whimsical state of clear break between his new “true principles” 37. modern Gothic furniture - especially in fg- Gothic and modern “burlesques of pointed 11 Strawberry Hill’s importance ure 15.1 - Pugin’s criticism is understandable design” stretching back to Strawberry Hill to the early Gothic Revival in and also justifed if the popular nineteenth- (c.1750-1780). A few pieces of furniture eighteenth-century Britain can be century designs contained in George Smith’s from Pugin’s career illustrate the outcome seen in Snodin, Horace Walpole’s A Collection of Designs for Household Furni- of this new approach. His design (1827) for Strawberry Hill, and McCarthy’s ture (1808) are considered, not least in light the dining room sideboard and canopy in landmark monograph Te Ori- gins of the Gothic Revival. of Pugin’s two great rules. Smith’s furniture George IV’s private apartments at Windsor 12 Tis publication is a compilation designs are not concerned with reproducing Castle [15.2] is encrusted richly with archi- of A.C. Pugin’s designs for Gothic medieval domestic furniture or woodwork, tectural ornament throughout, whereas later furniture published in Te Re- but instead are covered in a confection of pieces, such as a chair for Scarisbrick Hall, pository of Arts.

217 Lancashire (c.1838) [15.4], and a simple X-framed table (1852-1853) [15.5], demonstrate Pugin’s new “honest” and “structural” approach.13 Tese later pieces are pared back and not overloaded with the sideboard’s overtly architectural motifs, and the decoration is restricted to the chair’s structure - especially the legs and cresting. Indeed, the table’s chamfered framing is a decorative ele- ment in its own right, and does not require a mass of architectural ornament to establish its Gothic character. Both pieces, therefore, correspond with Pugin’s two great principles of Gothic design. Te diferences between the pre- and post-“true principle” Gothic, explained by a robustly argued theoretical treatise, has propelled the signifcance of Pugin’s self-determined Gothic watershed, as refected in Eastlake’s History, and this break c.1841 has remained largely unchal- lenged. Pugin’s Gothic watershed is, however, an oversimplifcation of the history of the Gothic Revival, for a number of his contemporaries and predecessors were concerned with reforming Gothic design based upon a new and detailed understanding of medieval architecture and furniture, which ultimately challenge the originality of Pugin’s “true principles” Gothic.

Pugin’s “true principles” Gothic prefgured?

Pugin’s “true principles” Gothic appears to be a revolutionary and reactionary step change in the Gothic Revival’s history. It clearly departed from mainstream and fashionable Gothic Revival design which saw designers and crafsmen deploy the vocabulary of medieval architecture - clustered columns, pointed and ogee lancets, trefoils, quatrefoils, cusps, pinnacles, fnials, and crockets - wherever possible, and according to individuals’ whims. A number of Pugin’s predecessors 15.3. Frontispiece from A.C. Pugin, and a contemporary, however, strove to pro- Pugin’s Gothic Furniture (London: Ackermann, 1827). duce Gothic Revival furniture based upon [New Haven, CT, Yale Center for British ancient domestic examples, and according Art: NK2542 P8 1830z] to an increasingly robust understanding of

218 medieval sources. Tis furniture is not sim- Hill is generally considered to possess the 15.4 A.W.N. Pugin (designer), chair ply archaeologically informed, but directly “decorative freedom of mid-century Gothick made for Charles Scarisbrick of Scaris- opposed to the mainstream Gothic Revival buildings”, these chairs were intended to sup- brick Hall, Lancashire, c. 1838. Carved oak, the upholstery covered in imitation fashions that Pugin railed against so strongly plement a collection of supposedly ancient leather, 110.5 x 47 x 60 cm. in fgure 15.2. “Gothic” furniture, including turned ebony [London, Victoria and Albert Museum: Te frst site for this type of furniture will examples associated with Cardinal Wolsey CIRC.236-1951] potentially surprise, especially given Pugin’s and termed the “true black blood”.16 Walpole remarks quoted above. Two chairs - tripod appreciated these chairs because of their dis- 15.5 A.W.N. Pugin (designer) and John and X-frame - made in the 1750s for Horace tinctiveness, which he thought were adapted Webb (manufacturer), table, 1852-1853. Oak, 76 x 114 x 75 cm. Walpole’s villa, Strawberry Hill, are prob- well to the: [London, Victoria and Albert Museum: ably the earliest pieces of Gothic Revival W.26-1972] furniture to exhibit Pugin’s design principles 13 Te sideboard was made afer of honesty, structural decoration and non- Pugin’s design, however it was manner. See Lindfeld, “Georgian miniaturised church architecture. Tey were destroyed in the 1992 Windsor Gothic Fabrications in the Anti- based upon furniture depicted in ancient Castle fre. For Pugin’s work at quarian Style”, 51. Windsor Castle see Roberts, 16 Strawberry Hill: Robinson, James painted glass bought to furnish Strawberry For the King’s Pleasure, 36-37. Wyatt (1746-1813), 219. Walpole Hill’s windows, and even though neither Te Scarisbrick chair is based associated turned ebony furni- chair is obviously Gothic (especially in orna- upon medieval examples illus- ture with Cardinal Wolsey be- mental terms) a preparatory sketch for these trated in illuminated manuscripts cause he had seen some at Esher two chairs by Richard Bentley (c.1708-1782) and is closely related to one of his Place, once home to the Cardinal. [15.6] is labelled “Gothic chairs at Strawber- designs in Pugin’s Gothic Furni- See Wainwright, “Only the True ry Hill”.14 Contrary to visual appearance, they ture of the 15th Century, pl. 6. Black Blood”. Tis furniture, were thought to possess and convey medi- 14 Lewis Walpole Library, Farming- however, originates on the Coro- ton CT, 49 3585, f. 43. mandel Coast of India from the eval associations without needing to include 15 Tis tripod form, however, was seventeenth century. See Jafer, tracery, buttressing, or the other motifs from later Gothicised with the addi- Corrigan and Jones, Furniture medieval architecture typically harnessed for tion of tracery by John Chute in from British India and Ceylon, Gothic Revival designs.15 Whilst Strawberry an uncharacteristically whimsical 130-136.

219 15.6 Richard Bentley, Gothic chairs at Strawberry Hill taken from Painted Glass there, by Mr. Bentley. Pen and ink, 19.2 x 32. [Farmington, CT, Lewis Walpole Li- brary: Folio 49 3585, f. 43]

squareness of a Gothic dowager’s rump. William Porden’s (1755-1822) modifcations And by the way I do not see how the to Eaton Hall, Cheshire (1803-1821). Robert uneasiness and uncomfortableness of Grosvenor (1767-1845), from 1831 the First a coronation-chair can be any objec- Marquess of Westminster, inherited Eaton in tion with you: every chair that is easy is 1802 and in the following year remodelling modern, and unknown to our ancestors. and extension work began. Under Porden’s As I remember, there were certain low control, Eaton was developed from a modest chairs, that looked like ebony, at Esher, Caroline house into a sprawling Gothic edi- 17 and were old and pretty. fce conveying the power, status and nobility 17 Toynbee and Whibley, eds, Cor- of the new Lord Grosvenor.20 respondence of Tomas Gray, 364. Walpole’s approbation of the coronation When setting out his vision for an aristo- 18 Walpole, Te Description of the throne for domestic use is irreconcilable cratic and “exclusive” Gothic edifce, Porden Villa of Mr. Horace Walpole, iii. with Pugin’s criticism, yet he also meant for repeatedly emphasises his expertise in the 19 Tis analysis corresponds with Strawberry Hill to be comfortable. In the style and its ornament. Tis was intended to recent eforts to emphasise the seriousness of Walpole’s Gothic preface to Te Description of the Villa of add extra credibility to the Gothic design, from the later 1750s. See Rogers, Mr. Horace Walpole (1784), Walpole states particularly given that he had proposed, “Walpole’s Gothic”, 61-62. that Strawberry Hill was designed not “to presumably under direction, a Neoclassical 20 For an analysis of Porden’s archi- exclude convenience, and modern refne- alternative, and simultaneously reassured the tectural work see Lindfeld, “Te ments in luxury”.18 Although antiquarian Earl that a Gothic Eaton would truly be in Furnishing of a Gothic Fantasy”, rather than modern, these chairs help chal- the style “of our Ancestors and not of yester- and Id., “Porden’s Eaton”. lenge Pugin’s opinion of Strawberry Hill as a day”.21 Emphasising his ability, Porden recalls 21 Eaton Hall Archive, Chester, collage of whimsically arranged Gothic mo- that “my Cradle was rocked in Yorkminster 9/278, 19 Jan. 1803, f 2v. 22 Ibid., 10 Dec. 1803 f. 2r. Tis tifs and funerary monuments confated into and that I can tell the place where every 19 refers to Halfpenny, Gothic Orna- chimney-pieces. [Gothic] ornament you have looked at may ments in the Cathedral Church of Walpole’s preference for supposedly an- be found and many more not represented York Drawn and Etched by Joseph tiquarian furniture, and especially Gothic by Mr. Halfpenny”.22 He also credits himself Halfpenny of 1795 which is an Revival furniture designed in an ancient with turning James Wyatt - the most fashion- important exploration of Gothic mode, was largely isolated in the eight- able architect of late eighteenth-century architecture and ornament at eenth century. In the early nineteenth cen- Britain, and designer of the Pantheon, York Minster. 23 Eaton Hall Archive, 9/278, tury, however, architects began designing Oxford Street, London - to Gothic: “In the 10 Dec. 1803 f. 2r. For Wyatt see furniture directly informed by a detailed year 1777 I seduced Mr. James Wyatt there Robinson, James Wyatt, ix, 15-27, understanding of Gothic architecture and who till then was little sensible of the beau- 65, 210-214, 218-245. woodwork. Te frst examples form part of ties of gothic Architecture”.23 Porden contin-

220 ues by emphasising his direct engagement other hand, could apply his deep and sys- 15.7 William Porden, Design for a settee with medieval architecture under Wyatt’s tematic knowledge of medieval architecture for Eaton Hall, Cheshire, c. 1807. direction: to the design of Eaton Hall and its furniture. [Chester, Cheshire Archives and Local Studies: ZCR 63/2/791] Indeed, he is highly critical of mainstream [James Wyatt] employed me for two fashionable Gothic and Neoclassical furni- months in drawing from the building ture proposed for Eaton by the then well- [York Minster] and since then I at inter- known and respected furniture-maker, vals measured and studied many parts Gillows. In 1807 Porden of the fabrick with an intention of pub- lishing the whole on a more magnifcent prepared [designs for furniture] and Scale but was deterred by the enormous will send Mr Gillows if I can get them 24 expense of the engraving. that your Lordship may decide between them and the work of a mere Mechanic. If his connection with Wyatt, the most fash- […] I do not by this interference mean ionable British architect of the day, was not to prejudice your Lordship against sufcient to establish his Gothic credentials, Mr Gillow who is an excellent Work- Porden also associated himself with Joseph man, and able to execute whatever Halfpenny, who produced the landmark an- may be directed, but I see nothing that tiquarian study of York Minster: distinguishes him as a man of superior taste.26 Mr. Halfpenny is an old acquaintance of mine, I was one of his earliest Subscrib- Porden’s design for a settee [15.7] is repre- ers and he received some hints from me sentative of his “superior taste”. It is certainly relative to his work; but as he was not an removed from 1807 furniture fashions in Architect he did not fnd it convenient term of construction and the application of to adopt all of them. His work is of the Gothic motifs [15.3]. Instead, it refects his 25 frst merit in my eyes. idiosyncratic handling of architectural ornament that he also applied to the interior In his correspondence with Lord Grosvenor, of Eaton Hall.27 It is very interesting and 24 Eaton Hall Archive, 9/278, 10 Dec. 1803 f. 2r. Porden observes that his understanding of noteworthy, particularly given the content 25 Ibid., 10 Dec. 1803 f. 2r. medieval architecture sets him apart from and thrust of Pugin’s dictates in Te True 26 Ibid., 23 Nov. 1807 f. 1r. the majority of architects and designers: he Principles, that Porden’s settee design is of a 27 Lindfeld, “Te Furnishing of a considers them ignorant. Porden, on the simple rectilinear form. A simple selection Gothic Fantasy”.

221 15.8 James Wyatt (probably designer) Bricklayers, and Compo-ists […a] Judi- and John Russell (maker), chair for the cious triumvirate of modern art!”28 Despite Speaker’s House, Westminster, 1807. this opposition, Wyatt created three Gothic Gilded beech, gilt bronze, velvet, 99.5 x parade rooms in the Speaker’s House, West- 67.0 x 61.0 cm. 29 [Royal Collection © Her Majesty Queen minster, between 1802 and 1808. For these Elizabeth II: RICN 28728] a suite of Gothic furniture - 26 arm chairs, 30 side chairs, 6 sofas, 5 tables, 6 screens, and a pair of lantern tripods - was supplied in 1807 almost certainly according to Wyatt’s designs.30 In contrast with his heavily criticised architecture, the arm chairs [15.8] and en suite sofas demonstrate a sound understanding of medieval woodwork and its ornamentation. John Russell’s bill for the chairs twice mentions their Gothic character:

26 large Gothic Elbow chair frames with black frames for Stufng Cane Seats turn’d and moulded feet Rails Stumps Elbows and feet Richly carv’d with Gothic ornaments and bands of fret- work carved Brackets under seat rails of Gothic motifs that similarly prefgure and top to backs 4 strong upright brass Pugin’s advice ofered in Te True Principles, Casters and 4 Water Guilt brass mould- including the cusped lancet, is applied in an ed Knobs to each Chair the whole of equally restrained manner. Gothic motifs are the Chairs Japann’d mock black Ebony not added wherever possible to this pared- Ground and the ornaments and bands Guilt in Burnished Gold. back structure, as seen in Pugin’s critique £25 5s £656 10s31 of Gothic Revival furniture [15.1], but, instead, they decorate the structure. Although 28 Quoted in Colvin, Crook, and Porden’s furniture is very diferent from Like Porden’s furniture for Eaton, ornament Port, Te History of the King’s Pugin’s work, there are distinct similarities in on Wyatt’s chairs is restricted to the essential Works, VI, 517-518. the application of ornament to the essential structure, including the legs and framing of 29 See Roberts, “James Wyatt’s structure, and the application of an archaeo- the seat and back. Tis is a central facet of Furniture for the Palace of West- logical knowledge of medieval architecture Pugin’s “true principles” Gothic. But unlike minster” and Colvin, Crook, and to produce archaeologically-informed furni- Porden’s furniture, which uses clearly identi- Port, Te History of the King’s Works, VI, 533. ture removed from contemporary fashion- fable Gothic motifs, the “Gothic ornaments” 30 Only chairs and settees are able forms. Porden’s Gothic shares Pugin’s on Wyatt’s chairs are much less obviously known to have survived. See reforming and scholarly ethos, but it is not as Gothic: only the cusped panels sunk into Roberts, “James Wyatt’s Furniture well known because he did not publicise it. the legs and depressed Tudor arches on the for the Palace of Westminster”, Whilst Porden was Gothicising Eaton, back and seat rails conform to mainstream 101. James Wyatt, his former master, was busy Gothic design. Te remainder of the chair’s 31 Quoted in Ibid. regenerating Westminster. Wyatt’s work was structural surface ornament is derived from 32 It is assumed that Wyatt was re- criticised notably by the antiquarian topog- mouldings on the medieval choir-stalls in sponsible for this furniture based upon the commission’s scale, rapher John Carter (1748-1817) as “cement Henry VII’s Chapel, Westminster Abbey, location, importance, and his infuenza of that august pile of brick bats which Wyatt would have known from his 32 knowledge of Westminster Abbey and stucco, with its debased windows con- restorations of the chapel in 1793. Te bill (Ibid., 105). structed by the united eforts of the Smith, for the Speaker’s sofas and library tables is

222 more explicit in this regard, and mentions John Carter. Cottingham, consequently, that the ornament is taken from “the abbey”. was not a typical early nineteenth-century Te Gothic rooms in the Speaker’s House, designer, and he examined and interpreted therefore, were ftted out with furniture dec- medieval architecture: its structure and deco- orated with ornament taken from medieval ration, as well as stylistic development. Tese sources, and, in the case of the chairs and results, ultimately, were put to practical use settees, they avoid the architectural exuber- and informed his architectural practice. ance of Gothic choir-stall canopies that the Referring to Henry VII’s Chapel: younger Pugin railed against. Tese chairs are Gothic in another less I shall now close my account of this obvious way. Originally the relief detail was incomparable piece of the latest of the gilded and Russell’s bill specifes that they third class of pointed architecture, to were japanned black to look like ebony, a which an hundred visits may be paid, wood connected with the Tudors, and the and something new and valuable dis- 33 Janet Myles has increased the colour of the “true black blood”: ebony covered each time: it is an inexhaustible awareness of Cottingham, but furniture collected by Walpole because of magazine of the rectilineal style. For domestic architecture, it may be con- he remains a marginal fgure in its supposedly medieval origins, despite Pugin’s shadow. See Myles, L.N. sulted by the student with the greatest originating from seventeenth-century India. 34 Cottingham, 8-156. Pugin himself made the connection between advantage. 34 Cottingham, Plans, Elevations, ebony and Henry VIII in a drawing of “an- Sections, Details, and Views of the cient furniture” reproduced in Illustrations; To realise the structural analysis of Gothic Magnifcent Chapel of King Henry Landscape, Historical, and Antiquarian, to architecture, Cottingham amassed 31,000 the Seventh, at Westminster Abbey Church, II, 17. the Poetical Works of Sir Walter Scott (1834). pieces of medieval remains at 43 Waterloo 35 See Myles, L.N. Cottingham, 28- Tis popular connection between black and Bridge Road, London. Tey ranged from 35. medieval almost certainly infuenced the vaulting and architectural fragments to 36 Ibid., 32. ebony fnish of Wyatt’s Speaker’s chairs, with woodwork and furniture. Cottingham’s 37 Shaw, A Descriptive Memoir, iii. the resulting contrast between black and gold museum was the medieval equivalent of Sir Te museum’s importance was necessarily heightened the chairs’ and sofas’ John Soane’s Classical collection at Lincoln’s recorded in “Notes and Corre- Gothic patterning. Tey, therefore, were dou- Inn Fields.35 And because the contents of spondence of the Month” in Te bly Gothic in terms of material and carved Cottingham’s museum were arranged chron- Gentleman’s Magazine, 33 (1850), 629: “We hear with no little re- surface design. ologically, he, along with students and visi- gret and apprehension of the sale Te fnal architect considered here is tors, could understand the development of and possible dispersion of the Lewis Nockalls Cottingham (1787-1847). medieval architecture and woodwork.36 Museum of mediæval architec- Like Pugin, medieval remains inspired Cot- Sir Henry Shaw noted that it was ture and sculpture formed by tingham’s architecture and furniture. Despite the late Mr. Cottingham. this similarity, Cottingham’s eforts as an a complete illustration of the study of Te preference which has been antiquary, architect and furniture designer, English Architecture, Ecclesiastical and shown at the British Museum to the remains of classical antiquity, within the broader context of Pugin’s “true Domestic, from the Norman invasion to the end of Queen Elizabeth’s reign and and even to the barbarous sculp- principles” Gothic, have been relatively side tures of nations less cultivated, 33 is presumed to be the most ample and lined. Te most important infuences upon so long as they come from a Cottingham were the medieval buildings, varied series of examples of Mediæval distance, has always been a sub- 37 objects and fragments that he collected, doc- Architecture ever brought together. ject of complaint with English umented and preserved. He played an im- antiquaries; and the collection portant role in sustaining the preservationist Whilst the beneft of this museum for the formed by Mr. Cottingham, in and documentary approaches to medieval study of medieval architecture has been rec- the contracted basement of his private residence, has hitherto architecture that rose to prominence in the ognised, its role in informing the style and formed the only example of what late eighteenth century under the leadership quality of his furniture has not. Sold of in might be accomplished by a more of Richard Gough (1735-1809), Director of 1850, the sale catalogue indicates that at least systematic pursuit of the same the Society of Antiquaries of London, and ten percent of his collection was woodwork, plan.”

223 15.9 Lot 51, Cradle, published in Shaw, and seventy lots in the sale were articles of 51 A Small Cradle very richly carved in Catalogue of the Museum of Mediaeval furniture. Given the paucity of medieval oak and gilt, of Flemish workmanship Art, Collected by L.N. Cottingham. furniture in the nineteenth century, Cot- of the latter part of the 15th century. Our [Oxford, Bodleian Libraries, University wood-cut shows the general arrange- of Oxford: 1706 d.92 (1*)] tingham’s museum provided readily acces- sible templates for his own Gothic Revival ment of this very elegant design. 15.10 Lot 335, Cabinet, published in furniture. Te woodwork was primarily later 291 A Highly Enriched Panelled Ceiling, Shaw, Catalogue of the Museum of medieval and Tudor, and included: of oak, with its corbels, spandrils, pen- Mediaeval Art, Collected by L.N. Cot- dants, &c., painted and gilt. It is lighted tingham. 6 A carved oak cofer covered with ara- by a lantern which occupies the position [Oxford, Bodleian Libraries, University of the original opening for the Louvre. of Oxford: 1706 d.92 (1*)] besque ornaments. 41 Te Carved Oak Fittings forming a Tis interesting ceiling (which is in the bookcase, the front containing ten pan- highest state of preservation) was taken els flled with medallion busts of the from the Council Chamber of Crosby same character as the door, and a semi- Hall, anciently called Crosby-place, the circular canopy enclosing a bust of the greater part of which still exists, and is Earl of Essex in a sunk panel. remarkable as one of the fnest examples of the Domestic Architecture of the

224 15th century now remaining. […] It is Both the cradle (lot 51) [15.9] and cabinet 15.11 Te Romance of Alexander in rendered still more famous by Shake- (lot 335) [15.10] are illustrated in the cata- French verse. speare’s allusion to it in the third act of logue. Tey are extremely ornate and covered [Oxford, Bodleian Libraries, MS Bod- his tragedy of Richard III: with a profusion of architecturally-derived ley 264, f. 142v.] motifs: every panel on the oak cabinet is 15.12 L.N. Cottingham, Drawing-room Gloster – Shall we hear from you, Cates- covered with lancets and Decorated Gothic Cabinet, 1843. Watercolour, pen and by, ere we sleep? tracery, and all of the stiles are ornamented ink, 35.25 x 50.8 cm. Catesby – You shall, my Lord. with buttresses fnishing in ornately crock- [London, Victoria and Albert Museum: Gloster – At Crosby-place, there shall eted pinnacles. Whilst illustrated because E.521-1951] you fnd us both. of their elaborate decoration, they indicate Cottingham’s collection contained at least 38 Shaw, Catalogue of the Museum 296 A Richly Carved Bookcase, 24f. long some prize specimens of richly decorated of Mediaeval Art, 1, 3, 16, 18. by 7f. 2 in high, divided into four large woodwork. Although Pugin disapproved of 39 Examples were gathered together compartments, four smaller ones, and and illustrated in Shaw and such architecturally decorated furniture, they the return at the end; the lower part Meyrick, Specimens of Ancient correspond with surviving medieval furni- projecting six inches, with two rows Furniture Drawn from Existing of shelves above; the whole lined with ture, such as the sideboard of St Mary’s Hall, Authorities, pl. 8 (sideboard), 9 original linen panels of oak. Coventry, or that illustrated in medieval (table) and 25 (bufets). Penelope 335 A Very Elaborate Carved Oak Cabinet manuscripts, including French bufets, and a Eames’ study of medieval furniture similarly records furniture of open-work tracery. highly ornate table found in MS Bodley 264 39 decorated with highly ornate 336 A Dwarf Bookcase of oak, with two tiers [15.11]. Cottingham adopted this method of ap- tracery, such as the chests, bufet of shelves, divided into compartments of estate and chairs. Eames, Fur- by six richly carved twisted columns plying Gothic motifs to furniture in his own niture in England, France and the with capitals formed of marks and gro- work. For Snelston Hall, Derbyshire, he pro- Netherlands, 231. See also Pick- tesques, 14f. long by 3f. 9 high.38 duced furniture designs informed by, and di- vance, “Medieval Tracery-Carved rectly based upon, examples in his museum. Clamp-Fronted Chests”.

225 15.13 L.N. Cottingham, Divan Couch for Angle of Room, 1843. Water colour, pen and ink, 33.7 x 50.8 cm. [London, Victoria and Albert Museum: E.522-1951]

For an octagonal table, identifed as being of beautiful specimens of modern design that “Temp Henry 7”, Cottingham’s museum con- I have ever seen & executed both in wood & tained a number of pieces from this date that stone in the best manner”.43 he could have used as points of reference.40 Cottingham also applied his understand- An almost direct link can be made between ing of medieval woodwork to contemporary the Drawing-room Cabinet [15.12] and forms [15.13]. Te arms on his design for a lot 335 - carved oak cabinet [15.10].41 In the Divan Couch for Angle of Room are inspired design Cottingham has covered the doors by medieval choir-stall standards.44 and panels with a profusion of Decorated Te structure is decidedly un-medieval, reticulations very similar to those seen on however the surface is covered with anti- lot 335. Like lot 335, all the rails have applied quarian-derived Decorated motifs, polychro- 40 Victoria and Albert Museum, ornament, however they are not architectural my and turning, as found on the drawing- London, E.518 1951. Woodwork in the Cottingham sale dating in form, but instead are turned columns like room cabinet. Tis mixture is also seen in from this period include lots 187, those found on Walpole’s ebony chairs - the his Conversational Sofa with its thoroughly “a very beautiful double panel” “true black blood”. modern frame composed of sinuous lines, and 326, “a pair of oak doors”. Cottingham’s cabinet also is an early yet it features a trio of circlets decorated with 41 Victoria and Albert Museum, example of polychromed Gothic Revival heraldry and reticulations stretched over the London, E.521 1951. furniture - colour used to pick out forms curved footboard.45 42 Pugin, True Principles, 20. and highlight decorative patterns - and the Tese designs for a divan couch and a 43 Belcher, Te Collected Letters of A.W.N. Pugin, I, 23. For details of prominent application of ironwork for the conversational sofa clearly depart from Pu- Cottingham’s work at Magdalen, locks and hinges: a feature emphasised by gin’s “true principles” in terms of form, how- 42 see White and Darwell-Smith, Pugin in Te True Principles. Tis cabinet ever they reveal an alternative application of Te Architectural Drawings of design consequently demonstrates a thor- scholarly knowledge acquired through the Magdalen College Oxford, xlvi- ough understanding of medieval furniture’s in-depth study of medieval remains. xlvii, 115-116, and Brockliss, structure, form, and decoration, and is a Cottingham efectively drew on his collec- Magdalen College Oxford, 362- scholarly work informed by antiquarian col- tion to medievalise furniture and make it ft 363. lecting and analysis, which parallels Pugin’s for modern convenience. As indicated by 44 Victoria and Albert Museum, London, E.522 1951. development of his “true principle” Gothic. Janet Myles in her monograph on Cotting- 45 Ibid., E.520 1951. Cottingham’s work at Magdalen College, ham, his work deserves serious attention and 46 Myles, Cottingham: Architect of Oxford (1829-1833) also received Pugin’s contextualisation within the broader me- the Gothic Revival, 65. approbation: he felt it to be “one of the most dieval revival and Pugin’s “true principles”

226 Gothic.46 Although Cottingham applied his Pugin’s Gothic, therefore, is the way it was understanding of medieval architecture and written about and publicised. As such, its vocabulary of decorative forms to a difer- Walpole, Porden, Wyatt and Cottingham, ent, not always antiquarian structure, he can and their work, should be given greater be seen frequently to draw upon the invalu- consideration in the development and anti- able resource of his medieval museum to quarian revisions of the nineteenth-century direct the design of his furniture. Gothic Revival in Britain. Pugin remains one of the most important fgures to the British Gothic Revival, but his approach is not as Conclusion revolutionary in spirit as he, Eastlake and subsequent authors have framed it. Te importance allotted to Pugin’s “true principles” Gothic has sidelined eforts by other architects and designers in the early nineteenth century, as well as Walpole in the mid-eighteenth century, to create Gothic Revival furniture, interiors and architecture based upon the principles and forms of medieval remains. Pugin’s widespread criticism of Gothic Revival furniture, and of his own teenage work Windsor Castle, established an infexible division between Pugin’s “true principle” Gothic, and the rest. Tis model holds that pre-“true principles” design, including furniture, is largely whimsical and inauthentic, whereas his “true principles” Gothic possess the refned dignity of antiquarian sobriety. Ultimately this isolates and promotes Pugin’s “true principles” Gothic as a revolutionary departure from the work of his predecessors and contemporaries. Tis chapter has shown that, despite the originality of Pugin’s manifestoes, a number of architects produced Gothic Revival furniture based upon a considered example of medieval prototypes and precedents dec- ades before Te True Principles appeared. Te form, character and appearance of this furniture vary, and they are certainly unlike Pugin’s. Despite the material diferences, Walpole, Porden, Wyatt, and Cottingham each reacted against mainstream Gothic design to create a Gothic furniture based upon medieval precedent. Tus, Pugin’s concern over “truthfulness”, “honesty of design” and “realism” had actually been creeping into the Gothic Revival since the 1750s, with an increasingly sophisticated manifestation from the early nineteenth century. What isolates

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