Lot 106
CHARLES FRANCIS ANNESLEY VOYSEY (1857-1941) FOR THOMAS ELSLEY & CO.
BRONZE KEY, CIRCA 1898
Decorative Arts: Design Since 1860
Auction: 11 April 2018 at 12:00 BST
Description
later mounted, framed and glazed
Dimensions
key: 10cm long
Footnote
Provenance: Moorcrag, Lake Windermere, Cumbria
Literature: C.F.A.Voysey: Arts and Crafts Designer, Livingstone, K. et al., V&A Publishing, London, 2016, p. 233-239 where this example is illustrated
Note: Though initially gaining critical acclaim as an architect, Voysey's fastidious nature and disdain for the banality of industrialisation spurred an immensely varied career as a designer of furniture, wallpapers and textiles, ceramics and metalwork. For Voysey, even the most ordinary and smallest of items should illustrate a simple elegance in their design:
"…the common articles of everyday are intrinsically ugly…Why must we open our cash-box with a hideous key and find each coin devoid of dignity or grace?"
These critical observations prompted him to produce designs for metalwork in the early 1890s, which included hinges and locks, keys, fireplaces, lights and jewellery. This bronze key is a fine example of Voysey's arts and crafts ideology: characterised by a simple heart motif, the bold terminal creates a sense of originality for such a commonplace object. Strong vertical lines set against a plain surface advocate form and function over the needless complexities of ornate decoration. Graceful and elegant, his love for natural forms produced works of striking beauty.