Victorian Art Union London Bronze Inkwell
Victorian bronze inkwell inscribed 'Art Union of London', central well surrounded by 9 circular busts of Great Men, 12.60 in. diameter approx.
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- Victorian Period - The Victorian period of furniture and decorative arts design covers the reign of Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1901. There was not one dominant style of furniture in the Victorian period. Designers used and modified many historical styles such as Gothic, Tudor, Elizabethan, English Rococo, Neoclassical and others, although use of some styles, such as English Rococo and Gothic tended to dominate the furniture manufacture of the period.
The Victorian period was preceded by the Regency and William IV periods, and followed by the Edwardian period, named for Edward VII (1841 – 1910) who was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India for the brief period from 1901 until his death in 1910. - Art Union of London - Art Unions were organisations that functioned to promote and fund works of art. The members would pay an annual subscription, which would be used to purchase works of art, and these would then be distributed among its members by means of a ballot.
The Art Union of London was established in 1837 and by the 1840s was distributing art to the value of £9,000 each year.
The works purchased ranged from paintings which had been exhibited at the Royal Academy and in galleries to prints and smaller pieces including commissioned Parian wares, medals and bronze statuettes.
The membership numbers of the Art Union of London remained strong until the 1890s when they began to decline, and the Union was wound up in 1912. - Bronze - An alloy of copper and tin, traditionally in the proportions of about 9 parts of copper to 1 part of tin.
The discovery of bronze in Western Asia in the 4th century enabled people to create metal objects which were superior to those previoulsy possible because of its strength and hardness, and it has been used throughout the world for weapons, coins, tools, statuary and other decorative items.
It is very fluid in a molten state, and its hardness, strength when set, and non-corrosive properties makes it most suitable for casting sculpture.
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