Lot 14
CHRISTOPHER DRESSER (1834-1904)
TOAST RACK
Auction: 19 April 2005 at 13:00 BST
Description
designed circa 1879, manufactured by James Dixon & Sons, silver plate and ebony, stamped with facsimile signature 'Chr. Dresser' and marked 'J.D. & S. 963'
Dimensions
8.5cm high, 24cm long
Footnote
EXHIBITED:
Design, Mirror of the Century, Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, 17 May - 25 July, 1993
Metalmorphosis: Tradition and Innovation in British Silver and Metalwork 1880-1998, Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague, 19 November 1998 - 14 February, 1999
Opening Exhibition, British Galleries, Victoria and Albert Museum, 2001
'Christopher Dresser: Un designer alla corte della regina Victoria', Palazzo della Triennale, Milan, 30 October 2001-March 2002
'The Shock of the Old: Christopher Dresser', Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, New York, 5 March - 25 July 2004
'Christopher Dresser 1834-1904: A Design Revolution', The Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 9 September - 5 December 2004
LITERATURE:
'Christopher Dresser: A Pioneer of Modern Design', Widar Halen, Phaidon Press Ltd, London, 1993, plate 211
'Christopher Dresser 1834-1904', Michael Whiteway, Skira Editore S.p.A., Milan, 2001, plate 96
'Christopher Dresser: A Design Revolution', ed. Michael Whiteway, V & A Publications, London, 2004, plate 193
NOTE:
This extraordinary toast rack, one of the series of designs produced for James Dixon and Sons from 1879 is one of only two known. The other version was recently sold by The Fine
Art Society to the Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide.