- Object name(s):
- Hat stand
- Brief description:
- Cast iron with a painted finish, Coalbrookdale, ca.1880, designed by Christopher Dresser.
- Collection:
- Victoria and Albert Museum
- Associated concept:
- Metalwork
- Associated concept:
- Furniture
- Associated concept:
- Interiors
- Associated concept:
- Scotland
- Current reproduction location:
- https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AL2671/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg
- Location type:
- Thumbnail
- Dimension:
- Height
- Dimension measurement unit:
- cm
- Dimension value:
- 190
- Dimension:
- Width
- Dimension measured part:
- base
- Dimension measurement unit:
- cm
- Dimension value:
- 65
- Dimension:
- Depth
- Dimension measured part:
- base
- Dimension measurement unit:
- cm
- Dimension value:
- 22.3
- Inscription content:
- Stamped in the drip pan: a rgistered design mark, the numerals 214963 and the name, COALBROOKDALE
- Inscription content:
- Stamped on the back of the upper section of the stand: COALBROOKDALE
- Object history note:
- Designed by Christopher Dresser (born in Glasgow, 1834, died in Mulhouse, France, 1904); manufactured by the Coalbrookdale Company, Shropshire Brunel Exhibition RF.2006/18
- Object name:
- Hat stand
- Object number:
- M.22-1971
- Object production date:
- ca. 1880
- Date - association:
- made
- Date - earliest / single:
- 1875-01-01
- Date - latest:
- 1884-12-31
- Object production organisation:
- Coalbrookdale Company
- Organisation's association:
- manufacturer
- Object production person:
- Dresser, Christopher
- Person's association:
- designer
- Object production place:
- Shropshire
- Place association:
- made
- Reproduction number:
- 2006AL2671
- Reproduction number:
- 2018KN5634
- Responsible department/section:
- MET
- Technique:
- Cast iron, painted
- Text reason:
- Collections online record
- Text:
- Object Type
A hatstand is an item of hall furniture with a number of pegs or arms attached to the upper half from which hats and coats can be hung. The lower half often had a rail and a removable tray at the base for storing umbrellas and walking sticks. Cast-iron furniture became popular in the 19th century. After the introduction of coke for smelting in iron manufacture in the mid-18th century, cast iron became cheaper and more widely available. It was also of sufficiently high quality to be used widely in architecture and decorative ironwork.
Design & Designing
The designer Christopher Dresser (1834-1904) distinguished between the different types of design suitable for wrought and cast iron. He regarded sinuous plant forms, some of which were influenced by Medieval, Byzantine and Middle Eastern sources, as appropriate for cast iron, which, when molten, can be poured into a mould. Such features on this hatstand include the acanthus scrolls at the base, which contrast with the more rigorous and geometrical patterns in the spandrels (curved arched supports).
People
In Britain the cast iron industry began to flourish from the 1770s onwards. Abraham Darby III (1750-1791) of the Coalbrookdale Company in Ironbridge, Shropshire, constructed the first cast-iron bridge in the world in 1779 to span the local river, the Severn. The family foundry became an established producer of a wide range of gates, grates and stoves and later furniture. By the 19th century the Coalbrookdale Company, which manufactured this hatstand, came to dominate the market, exporting its products all over the world. - Text reason:
- Summary description
- Text:
- British Galleries: Dresser distinguished between the different types of ornament appropriate to wrought and cast iron. These complex stylised plant forms and geometric patterns could only have been produced in cast iron. Hatstands like this could be bought from the Coalbrookdale catalogue in a variety of colours, such as this 'Antiqued Bronze'.
- Text date:
- 27/03/2003
- Text reason:
- Gallery label text
- User's reference:
- Reference:
- Simon Metcalf and Eric Turner "The conservation of a ca.1867 cast iron hat stand: a Dresser design and original Coalbrookdale paint scheme revealed." in The Decorative Arts Society 1850 to the Present, Journal 26, London 2002, pp.26-39. ill. ISSN. 02609568
Persistent shareable link for this record: https://museumdata.uk/objects/296cddb8-c83d-31ea-8a18-f1903bf8720d
Use licence for this record: CC BY-NC
Attribution for this record: https://museumdata.uk/objects/296cddb8-c83d-31ea-8a18-f1903bf8720d, Victoria and Albert Museum, CC BY-NC
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