ENGLISH, SECOND HALF 19TH CENTURY

In the 19th century, source material for designs based on Egyptian and Greek originals was freely available at the British Museum, London, and this was almost certainly the source of the inspiration for Holman Hunt's 'Egyptian Chair' designed of 1857 (reproduced right). The publication of J. Moyr Smith's drawings from the British Museum collection in The Building News, December 1875, brought the Egyptian style to a wider circle of designers who continued to supply the public demand for this taste well into the 20th century, most notably through Liberty & Co. and their popular 'Thebes' range.