Terms and Conditions
The artist, title and date of the work must be listed anywhere the image is reproduced:
Liberty & Co., London (manufacturer)
Thebes, stool designed (1884); manufactured (c. 1900)
Mahogany (Swietenia sp.), Beech (Fagus sp.), cane
35.3 × 45.8 × 45.8 cm
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, 1986
Photo: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
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Thebes, stool
designed (1884); manufactured (c. 1900)
Medium
Mahogany (Swietenia sp.), Beech (Fagus sp.), cane
Measurements
35.3 × 45.8 × 45.8 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, 1986
Gallery location
18th & 19th Century Decorative Arts & Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
This stool is based upon an ancient Egyptian stool in the British Museum. The ancient stool is more elaborately decorated, with inlaid ivory decoration and ivory lattice bracing between the seat and stretcher, but the Liberty stool imitates the ornamental incised rings around the stool’s lower legs. The symmetry and balance of the ancient Egyptian stool resonated deeply with nineteenth-century British reform designers, including Holman Hunt, E.W. Godwin and Ford Madox Brown, who all produced their own versions. This stool was designed by Leonard Wyburd, the director of Liberty’s Furnishing and Decoration Studio. The design was patented in 1884 and continued to be sold until about 1919.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
London, England
Inscription
printed in ink on label on base l.c.: LIBERTY & CO. / REGENT ST. LONDON.
Accession Number
D120-1986
Department
International Decorative Arts
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Dame Carol Colburn-Grigor CBE through Metal Manufactures Limited