The House Beautiful, Essays on Beds and Tables, Stools and Candlesticks

Art Historical Context

Published in 1878 by Scribner, Armstrong and Company, *The House: Essays on Beds and Tables Stools and Candlest* is a delightful compendium edited by Clarence Cook, featuring contributions from luminaries like Walter Crane, Francis Lathrop, and Maria Oakey Dewing. lavishly illustrated book celebrates the Aesthetic Movement's ethos, urging Americans to infuse everyday home furnishings with beauty and artistry. Printed with contributions from engravers such as Francis Hart & Co. and illustrators including Daniel Cottier, it reflects the era's growing fascination with harmonious domestic design amid rapid industrialization. The volume's color lithographs and wood engravings—masterful techniques of the time—bring vivid life to ornate beds, elegant tables, and whimsical candlesticks. Chromolithography allowed for rich, multi-hued reproductions inspired by medieval, Japanese, and Renaissance motifs, while precise wood engravings captured intricate details. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department (gift of Misses Elizabeth and Katharine Beebe, 1942), this 10 1/16 x 7 7/8 x 1 5/16-inch treasure embodies the "house beautiful" ideal, promoting artful living as a cultural reform. Its cultural significance lies in bridging British Aestheticism with American tastes, influencing tastemakers like the Aesthetic Movement's proponents. Visitors will appreciate how it transforms mundane objects into sources of inspiration, reminding us that beauty belongs in every home.

About the Artist

Clarence Cook|Walter Crane|Scribner, Armstrong and Company|Francis Hart & Co.|W. B. Duncan|Francis Lathrop|Alexandre Sandier|R. Riordan|James S. Inglis|Maria Oakey Dewing|Henry Marsh|Guilaumot, Jr.|Francis Scott King|G. A. Avery|Adolph Will|C. J. Wardell|Daniel Cottier|Félix Leblanc (American|British|American|American| |American|French| |British, Scottish|American|American| |American|American| |American|British, Scottish|French) · 1828 |1845 |1850 |1800 |1800 |1849 |1843 |1800 |1852 |1855 |1826 |1800 |1850 |1871 |1800 |1800 |1838 |1823 –1900 |1915 |1900 |1900 |1900 |1909 |1916 |1900 |1907 |1927 |1912 |1900 |1913 |1878 |1900 |1900 |1891 |1923

American, Dorchester, Massachusetts 1828–1900|British, Liverpool 1845–1915 Horsham|New York, NY|New York, NY|active 19th century|American, Pacific Ocean 1849–1909|French, Beaune 1843–1916 Beaune|active 19th century|British (born Scotland), 1852–1907|American, 1855–1927|American, 1826–1912|active 19th century|American, Auburn, Maine 1850–1913 Newark, New Jersey|American, active 1871–78|active 19th ...