News-Antique.com - Feb 10,2011 - With social and professional networking now being essential, it's time the 19th century caught up!
The new LinkedIn group 'Design 1850-1950' has the aim of providing a group for like minded individuals with a keen interest in decorative arts and design from the period 1850-1950.
Use the group to get involved in relevant discussions, to announce new exhibitions or gallery openings, discuss favourite architects or designers, to announce new jobs in the field or even join simply to read and learn.
Why the period 1850-1950?
In 1851 the Great Exhibition took the world by storm, forcing manufacturers of ceramics, metalware, furniture and more to stop and think about the way they designed their wares.
In 1856 the architect Owen Jones published 'The Grammar of Ornament', no longer was it acceptable to simply add ornament to an object in a random way. Jones formalised the decoration and ornamentation of everyday objects and started a revolution. His influence was felt by artists and craftsmen from then on.
100 years later and 1951 saw the Festival of Britain. A fitting end date for a period in design history that saw everything from muscular gothic architects like George Edmund Street to the sublime Modernist furniture designs of Gerald Summers.
