From pattern glass to painted china and every objects used in daily life, the emphasis in American design from 1870 to 1900 was on decorative surfaces.

        Though it is known as the “Aesthetic Movement,” many of the design elements spilled over into the later Arts and Crafts Movement. It all has been put together in the exhibition, On the Surface: Late Nineteenth Century Decorative Arts at Charlotte, N.C.'s Mint Museum of Art through Aug. 12.

        “The late-Victorian style was not so much one of form, but rather of decoration, ornamentation and embellishment,” says Dr. Barbara Perry, Mint curator of decorative arts.

        The period's many design influences were Gothic, Greek, Islamic and Japanese, the latter's nature themes being the most popular.

        One of the most lasting and popular examples of surface decoration can be found in American cut glass. Interest began at the 1876 Centennial Exposition, where several American glass companies showed new design concepts. Along with their displays of clear and colored glass that was etched, cut, engraved, molded, blown and pressed, was “rich-cut glass,” known today as brilliant-cut glass.

        Hundreds of cut glass patterns were introduced from 1876 until the look temporarily went out of fashion by the end of World War I. By the late 1970s, it again was being sought and collected. Today, signed pieces by quality glassmakers in the most intricate patterns can sell for more than $3,000.

        Note: Because trademarks often were acid-etched into the glass, they are hard to spot.

        Furniture designed during this period often used marquetry in a variety of materials: colored woods, ivory, mother-of-pearl, thin sheets of metal. Often-elaborate marquetry motifs included floral and nature subjects. Ebonized wood (wood that has been blackened), usually cherry, showed off the marquetry designs. Gilding was also popular.

        If you come across a chair with visible tack heads, it may be a Modern Gothic design piece. Metal decorations in bronze, silver and nickel treated to look like brass and cut into various shapes and motifs were applied to the surface of furniture with brads or tacks.

        If an object at first glance appears to be Japanese, a closer look may prove it to be late-Victorian with a Japanese influence. Known as “Japonism,” furniture, silver and painted china adapted Japanese motifs. A good example are the dragons used frequently by Rookwood pottery painters.

        Contact Anne Gilbert by mail: c/o Cincinnati Enquirer, 312 Elm St., Cincinnati 45202. Photos cannot be returned.
Q&A

        My grandmother left me her music stand, which I know to be 19th century. It is mahogany with a pierced lyre decoration. I want to insure it and need to know its replacement value. — G.S.E., Cincinnati.

        Answer: It would cost about $1,000 to replace it.
       

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