Victorian Revivals Definitions & Motifs

1830-1890 Victorian Revivals; 1830-1870 Renaissance Revival; 1855-1885 Second Empire; 1845-1870 Rococo Revival; 1830-1920 Exoticism; 1860-1880 Stick Style; 1880-1910 Queen Anne Style

Motifs for Victorian/Gothic Revival

Pointed Arches, Pinnacles, Battlements, Crockets, Stained Glass, Tracery, Rose Windows, Trefoils, Quatrefoils, Cinquefoils, Cluster Columns, Oak Leaves, Heraldic Devices

Motifs for Italianate/Renaissance Revival

Architecture — Pediments, Stringcourses, Quoins, Hood Moldings, Brackets, Columns on Porches or Verandas, Swags, Acanthus, Round Arches, Aediculas

Interior — Fruit, Game, Animals, Strapwork, Greek Key, Masks, Sphinxes, Lotus Blossoms, Palmettes, Urns, Roundels, Cabochons

Motifs for Second Empire

Columns, Swags, Cartouches, Pediments, Relief Sculpture, Mansard Roof, Roof Dormers, Hood Moldings, Round Arches, Stringcourses, Classical Details

Motifs for Rococo Revival

C and S Scrolls, Female Masks, Vines, Shells, Grapes, Roses, Flowers, Leaves, Acorns, Nuts, Birds

Motifs for Exoticism

Egyptian — Geometric Forms, Columns, Hieroglyphs, Scarabs, Egyptian Figures or Heads. Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, Lotus, Papyrus, Crocodiles, Cobra, Sphinx, Sun Disc

Islamic or Turkish — Onion Domes, Minarets, Lattice, Horseshoe Arches, Multifoil Arches, Ogee Arches, Peacocks, Carnations, Vases, Arabesques, Flat and Intricate Designs

Motifs for Queen Anne and Stick Style

Sunflowers, Pediments, Columns, Spindles, Scroll Work, Quoins, Flemish Gables, Strapwork, Swags, Cherubs, Flowers and Foliage

Victorian Period

The period between 1830 and 1900 that was named for Queen Victoria who ascended to the throne in 1837.

Gothic Revival

Alternative style to classicism, considered pagan, challenges the style of Neoclassicism

Italianate or Italian Villa Style

The Picturesque Movement inspired English designers to explore alternatives to classicism, gothic, and other styles of the Middle Ages. In 1830s, Italian Villa Style Country Houses and train stations became more common in England. 1840 Osbourne House — Seaside house made for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Asymmetrical and Picturesque.

Renaissance Revival

Early 1830s, Sir Charles Barry initiated the Renaissance Revival (Palazzo Style). This style spread to North Smerica in the 1840s and used for public buildings and commecial structures. Symmetrical, Classical, Refined.

First Italian Villa Style in England

John Nash’s 1802 Cronkhill in Shropshire

First Italian Villa Style in the US

1837 John Notman designed the Riverside residence for Rt. Rev. George Doane in Burlington, New Jersey.

First Example of Renaissance Revival in England

1831 The Traveler’s Club in London, England, modeled after the Palazzo Farnese 1517-1589 in Rome

Early Example of Renaissance Revival in the US

1845-1847 Athenaum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Second Empire

Developed in France, is an international architectural style known for its mansard roofs, pavilions, and bold details

Rococo Revival

Based on 18th century French Rococo and was popular for both interiors and furniture, particularly in North America and England.

Rococo Revival in France

Gained popularity during the reign of Louis Philippe (1830-1870), and became known as Pompadour

Rococo Revival in England

Despite the war with Napoleon, England remained captivated by French design and decoration. Queen Victoria commissioned Louis Quatorze furniture for the Osbourne House in the Isle of Wight and for Balmoral Castle in Scotland.

Second Empire Concepts

An international style becomes an important expression of sophistication, cosmopolitanism, and French culture outside of France. No corresponding furniture style.

Rococo Revival Concepts

Depicts a French look associated with noble tastes which became popular for home decor in western countries between 1830-1860. No corresponding architectural style.

Exoticism

Looks to non-western cultures for inspiration and borrow forms, colors, and motifs. Egyptian Revival, Moorish or Islamic, Turkish, and Indian join yet never completely surpass other fashionable styles.

Egyptian Revival

The earliest widespread adoption of Egyptian forms and motifs in architecture and the decorative arts begins following Napoleon’s conquest of Egypt in 1798-1799. The style of architecture began in the mid 19th century.

Turkish, Moorish, and Indian Styles

The Alhambra Court at the Crystal Palace Exhibition of 1851 is a very successful as a model for designers. The Exhibition of 1876 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania served the same purpose.

Stick Style

Unique to the United States combining the character of medieval half-timbered buildings with the new balloon framing construction method in its use of wooden planks or sticks that form decorative surface patterns on exteriors. No corresponding interior/furniture style.

Queen Anne Style

Style of architecture that originated in England as an attempt to create an image of home, tradition, and middle-class comfort. Appeals to Americans who translate the style into wood rather than brick like England. No corresponding interior/furniture style.

Example of Stick and Queen Anne Style

The 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition

Stick Style Concepts

Style developed during the 1850s from concepts of the Picturesque in England and late gothic in England, France, and Germany along with the Swiss Chalets.

English Queen Anne Concepts

This style is introduced in the 1860s and includes characteristics from Elizabethan, Tudor, and Japanese architecture.

American Queen Anne Concepts

Translates to Queen Anne, Stick, and other styles into common or folk versions for the middle and working class.

Colonial Revival

Originated in the second half of the 19th century in the United States, this style strives to emulate the architecture, interiors, furniture, and decorative arts of English and Dutch settlements in North America. Has roots in Nationalism, Picturesque Movement, and a greater interest in the nation’s history beginning in the early 19th century.

Most often repeated style of Colonial Revival

American Georgian — Federal Style

Examples of Colonial Revival

Winterthur in Delaware by Henry Francis Dupont, Bayou Bend by Ima Hogg in Texas

Colonial Revival Motifs

Columns, Pediments, Pilasters, Engaged Columns, Lintels, Stringcourses, Quoins, Urns, Acanthus Leaves, Shells, Rosettes, Palmettes, Eagles

Spanish Colonial Revival

Originating on the West coast of the United States in the late 19th century, this style is counterpart to the English Colonial Revival in the Eastern half of the country. This movement is in response to renewed interest in the Spanish past in California, the Southwestern states, Texas, Florida, Mexico and the Carribean.

Name for the earliest phase of Spanish Colonial Revival

Mission or Mission Revival

Spanish Colonial Revival Motifs

Ogee Arches, Interlaced Arabesques, Geometric Shapes, Heraldic Symbols, Twisted Columns, Estipite, Niches, Foliated Windows, Scrolls, Garlands, Swags, Flowers and Foliage

First Step of Spanish Colonial Revival Missions Preservation

When Texas declared the Alamo in 1883.