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Lot Essay
THE LEGACY OF THE OSLER LINEAGE
The firm of Osler was established in 1807 by Thomas Osler on Broad Street in Birmingham, England and, in its infancy, produced small prisms and ornamentation for chandeliers. When Osler’s entrepreneurial sons Follett (d. 1903) and Clarkson (d. 1876) joined the firm in 1831, re-establishing the firm as F.& C. Osler, they expanded their production to include ambitious candelabra, chandeliers and decorative furnishings, such as this magnificent console and mirror.
The firm flourished under the brothers in the mid-1840s and Osler’s highly conceptual and innovative output required ‘equally magnificent patrons’, the most notable of which they engaged in 1847 when Ibrahim Pasha (d. 1848), then ruler of Egypt, visited Birmingham and commissioned a pair of opulent candelabra of monumental scale to place at Mohammed's tomb in Mecca (Ahlawat, op. cit., p. 156). This led to subsequent commissions for similar candelabra by the ruler of Nepal and the Prince of Wales. The Prince had a well-known interest in technical innovation and commissioned Osler on 24 May 1848 to produce a pair of candelabra to mark the occasion of the Queen’s birthday, which now reside in the collection of Osborne House on the Isle of Wight.
The commission by the Prince inspired Follett Osler to design an exponentially ambitious and towering central fountain of crystal glass which he proposed to the committee organizing the Crystal Palace Exhibition of 1851 in London. The fountain stood twenty-seven feet in the center of the famed Crystal Palace, miraculously erected in the center of Hyde Park.
OWEN JONES, OSLER AND THE DAWN OF GLASS FURNITURE
The lure of the Alhambra and other Orientalist motifs presented ‘infinite possibilities for invention of design’, specifically furnishings. The timeless and endlessly ornate architecture of the Palace and its environs had a profound influence on the Victorian aesthetic – one which was ushered almost single-handedly by Jones himself following his six month excursion to Granada in the 1830s. Together with the French architect Jules Goury, the pair took a myriad of drawings and plaster casts of crenellations and tile and mosaic work. The meticulous documentation of ornament informed their resulting publication Plans, Elevations, Sections and Details of the Alhambra in 1842 and subsequently Jones's 1856 compendium The Grammar of Ornament, which remains in print to this day.
Jones’s designs held powerful influence over the leading Birmingham-based manufactures who had pioneered their craft during the early Victorian era. Notably, the firms of F. & C. Osler and Elkington & Co., both created imposing towering furnishings replicating the distinctive ‘honeycomb’ plasterworks of the Alhambra. Having perfected the technique of silver and gilt ‘electroplating’, Elkington displayed a console and mirror in 'an oxidised and gilt’ finish at the 1862 International Exhibition (illustrated in J. B. Waring, Masterpieces of Industrial Art & Sculpture, 1862, plate 82). Though not appearing in Osler’s pattern books until 1887 and, by all intents and purposes a singular commission, this spectacular console and mirror evoke the exotic forms of the Alhambra championed by Jones decades earlier.
Following the success of the Crystal Palace Exhibition, at which Jones designed the Alhambra Court, the celebrated designer was retained by Osler to outfit their new showroom at 44 Oxford Street, where they would display their most ambitious furnishings in crystal glass.
In 1878, the Osler firm participated in the Exposition Universelle in Paris where they unveiled their innovative production of glass furniture utilizing thicker, stronger sections of glass. Among the works exhibited was a throne chair, stool and cabinet of equally impressive scale as the present lot, though the piece boasted a neo-Gothic design with pierced balustrade, arched cornices and spires. The official exhibition catalogue notes ‘its exceeding grace and beauty’ and that ‘few objects in the Exhibition attracted more attention or greater admiration’ (The Illustrated Catalogue of the Paris International Exhibition, London, 1878, p. 142). Other French firms like Baccarat similarly unveiled glass furniture at this exhibition, but the scale and artistry of Osler’s works were predominant.
OSLER IN INDIA
Despite exceedingly positive reception at the 1878 Exposition Universelle, Osler's furnishings were not met with overwhelming favor from British consumers, nor an influx of homebound commissions. Spillman notes that Osler's furniture failed to receive an award at the fair, nor would the firm exhibit furnishings again internationally after this initial foray. One critic mentioned ‘this cabinet and an arm chair and stool are not likely to find purchasers in England, but are more suited, and I hear are intended, to adorn the palace of some Eastern Potentate (Spillman, op. cit., 2018). Likewise, Ahlawat views Osler’s shift of focus to India as one born out of the vast amount of opportunity and growing wealth in the colonies, specifically in Calcutta, which at that time was one of the world’s largest ports. India became viewed as ‘a land of fabulously wealthy individuals who were able to buy into every kind of luxury good' and subsequently it was Osler's ostentatious output that 'became more and more associated with a fabulous otherness’ (Ahlawat, op. cit., p. 157).
The firm was one of the first European glass makers to recognize the potential of the burgeoning ‘Eastern’ market. Prior to the 1840’s the firm worked with Hamilton & Co. silversmith and jewelers in Calcutta, India, but by 1843 the company had established their own local presence hiring a full time agent. By 1862, the firm had expanded their export business and their client base included a number of international clientele following successful displays of lighting, trays, hookahs and drink sets at numerous fairs. At first, the firm’s export included mainly colored glass chandeliers and candelabra, significantly more popular in the Eastern market than in Europe. The display of the aforementioned glass furniture at the 1878 Exposition Universelle particularly interested Osler’s Indian clientele, for which glass furniture was quite a practical medium. The coolness of the material and its imperviousness to the hot, humid climate made it particularly suitable. Even further, the geometric patterning of the molded glass was appropriately aligned with Eastern principles that prevented the depictions of figures, so often seen on elaborate European furniture. The opulence of these prismatic works were desirable to the Maharajahs and Indian elite who were embarking on upon a palatial building program. A substantial order from Osler of tables, armchairs, beds and fountains was made by Maharana Sajjan Singh (d. 1884), and although he died before its delivery, his collection is today preserved in the crystal gallery at the Fateh Prakash Palace, Udaipur.
A price list from October 1868 indicates that the firm prepared a list of various colored glass light fixtures ordered by the Maharaja of Patiala, Mohinder Singh for whom it is believed this console and mirror was commissioned (Spillman, op. cit., 2018). In a letter dated to 8 March 1870, the writer responded to Osler that a large fountain costing ‘8,000 rupees was delivered in Puttiala’ and that ‘all the chandeliers are suspended at Puttiala and the candelabrum placed in the receptions room’ (op. cit.). The writer, seemingly a personal secretary, specifically mentions that the Maharajah sought to engage Osler almost exclusively for decorations, as ‘the Puttiala Raja has been a minor until recently...now that he has come of age, he is spending prodigiously (op.cit.). Osler produced two large pattern books, each with hand-drawn and colored designs. The drawings are numbered and often dated, though the customers are infrequently named. The designs for the present console and mirror appear in the 1887 pattern book and note the commission for an ‘eastern’ customer, assumed to be a unique order for one of the princely families, such as the Maharaja of Patiala.
The firm of Osler was established in 1807 by Thomas Osler on Broad Street in Birmingham, England and, in its infancy, produced small prisms and ornamentation for chandeliers. When Osler’s entrepreneurial sons Follett (d. 1903) and Clarkson (d. 1876) joined the firm in 1831, re-establishing the firm as F.& C. Osler, they expanded their production to include ambitious candelabra, chandeliers and decorative furnishings, such as this magnificent console and mirror.
The firm flourished under the brothers in the mid-1840s and Osler’s highly conceptual and innovative output required ‘equally magnificent patrons’, the most notable of which they engaged in 1847 when Ibrahim Pasha (d. 1848), then ruler of Egypt, visited Birmingham and commissioned a pair of opulent candelabra of monumental scale to place at Mohammed's tomb in Mecca (Ahlawat, op. cit., p. 156). This led to subsequent commissions for similar candelabra by the ruler of Nepal and the Prince of Wales. The Prince had a well-known interest in technical innovation and commissioned Osler on 24 May 1848 to produce a pair of candelabra to mark the occasion of the Queen’s birthday, which now reside in the collection of Osborne House on the Isle of Wight.
The commission by the Prince inspired Follett Osler to design an exponentially ambitious and towering central fountain of crystal glass which he proposed to the committee organizing the Crystal Palace Exhibition of 1851 in London. The fountain stood twenty-seven feet in the center of the famed Crystal Palace, miraculously erected in the center of Hyde Park.
OWEN JONES, OSLER AND THE DAWN OF GLASS FURNITURE
The lure of the Alhambra and other Orientalist motifs presented ‘infinite possibilities for invention of design’, specifically furnishings. The timeless and endlessly ornate architecture of the Palace and its environs had a profound influence on the Victorian aesthetic – one which was ushered almost single-handedly by Jones himself following his six month excursion to Granada in the 1830s. Together with the French architect Jules Goury, the pair took a myriad of drawings and plaster casts of crenellations and tile and mosaic work. The meticulous documentation of ornament informed their resulting publication Plans, Elevations, Sections and Details of the Alhambra in 1842 and subsequently Jones's 1856 compendium The Grammar of Ornament, which remains in print to this day.
Jones’s designs held powerful influence over the leading Birmingham-based manufactures who had pioneered their craft during the early Victorian era. Notably, the firms of F. & C. Osler and Elkington & Co., both created imposing towering furnishings replicating the distinctive ‘honeycomb’ plasterworks of the Alhambra. Having perfected the technique of silver and gilt ‘electroplating’, Elkington displayed a console and mirror in 'an oxidised and gilt’ finish at the 1862 International Exhibition (illustrated in J. B. Waring, Masterpieces of Industrial Art & Sculpture, 1862, plate 82). Though not appearing in Osler’s pattern books until 1887 and, by all intents and purposes a singular commission, this spectacular console and mirror evoke the exotic forms of the Alhambra championed by Jones decades earlier.
Following the success of the Crystal Palace Exhibition, at which Jones designed the Alhambra Court, the celebrated designer was retained by Osler to outfit their new showroom at 44 Oxford Street, where they would display their most ambitious furnishings in crystal glass.
In 1878, the Osler firm participated in the Exposition Universelle in Paris where they unveiled their innovative production of glass furniture utilizing thicker, stronger sections of glass. Among the works exhibited was a throne chair, stool and cabinet of equally impressive scale as the present lot, though the piece boasted a neo-Gothic design with pierced balustrade, arched cornices and spires. The official exhibition catalogue notes ‘its exceeding grace and beauty’ and that ‘few objects in the Exhibition attracted more attention or greater admiration’ (The Illustrated Catalogue of the Paris International Exhibition, London, 1878, p. 142). Other French firms like Baccarat similarly unveiled glass furniture at this exhibition, but the scale and artistry of Osler’s works were predominant.
OSLER IN INDIA
Despite exceedingly positive reception at the 1878 Exposition Universelle, Osler's furnishings were not met with overwhelming favor from British consumers, nor an influx of homebound commissions. Spillman notes that Osler's furniture failed to receive an award at the fair, nor would the firm exhibit furnishings again internationally after this initial foray. One critic mentioned ‘this cabinet and an arm chair and stool are not likely to find purchasers in England, but are more suited, and I hear are intended, to adorn the palace of some Eastern Potentate (Spillman, op. cit., 2018). Likewise, Ahlawat views Osler’s shift of focus to India as one born out of the vast amount of opportunity and growing wealth in the colonies, specifically in Calcutta, which at that time was one of the world’s largest ports. India became viewed as ‘a land of fabulously wealthy individuals who were able to buy into every kind of luxury good' and subsequently it was Osler's ostentatious output that 'became more and more associated with a fabulous otherness’ (Ahlawat, op. cit., p. 157).
The firm was one of the first European glass makers to recognize the potential of the burgeoning ‘Eastern’ market. Prior to the 1840’s the firm worked with Hamilton & Co. silversmith and jewelers in Calcutta, India, but by 1843 the company had established their own local presence hiring a full time agent. By 1862, the firm had expanded their export business and their client base included a number of international clientele following successful displays of lighting, trays, hookahs and drink sets at numerous fairs. At first, the firm’s export included mainly colored glass chandeliers and candelabra, significantly more popular in the Eastern market than in Europe. The display of the aforementioned glass furniture at the 1878 Exposition Universelle particularly interested Osler’s Indian clientele, for which glass furniture was quite a practical medium. The coolness of the material and its imperviousness to the hot, humid climate made it particularly suitable. Even further, the geometric patterning of the molded glass was appropriately aligned with Eastern principles that prevented the depictions of figures, so often seen on elaborate European furniture. The opulence of these prismatic works were desirable to the Maharajahs and Indian elite who were embarking on upon a palatial building program. A substantial order from Osler of tables, armchairs, beds and fountains was made by Maharana Sajjan Singh (d. 1884), and although he died before its delivery, his collection is today preserved in the crystal gallery at the Fateh Prakash Palace, Udaipur.
A price list from October 1868 indicates that the firm prepared a list of various colored glass light fixtures ordered by the Maharaja of Patiala, Mohinder Singh for whom it is believed this console and mirror was commissioned (Spillman, op. cit., 2018). In a letter dated to 8 March 1870, the writer responded to Osler that a large fountain costing ‘8,000 rupees was delivered in Puttiala’ and that ‘all the chandeliers are suspended at Puttiala and the candelabrum placed in the receptions room’ (op. cit.). The writer, seemingly a personal secretary, specifically mentions that the Maharajah sought to engage Osler almost exclusively for decorations, as ‘the Puttiala Raja has been a minor until recently...now that he has come of age, he is spending prodigiously (op.cit.). Osler produced two large pattern books, each with hand-drawn and colored designs. The drawings are numbered and often dated, though the customers are infrequently named. The designs for the present console and mirror appear in the 1887 pattern book and note the commission for an ‘eastern’ customer, assumed to be a unique order for one of the princely families, such as the Maharaja of Patiala.