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- Title
Vodrey Dublin Pottery: Commodification of Celtic Style as a Symbol of Irish National Identity in the 1880s.
- Authors
Molloy, Aisling
- Abstract
This paper examines style and ornament in nineteenth-century design production within the context of the Irish economic and cultural revival. It focuses on the ceramic retailer and art pottery manufacturer, Frederick Vodrey (1845–1897). In Ireland, during the 1880s, the merits of Free Trade versus Protectionism were debated. The ethos of ‘practical patriotism’ promoted by the ‘Buy Irish’ campaign led to consumer demand for the Celtic style, regarded as a national style. In response, Vodrey set up the Vodrey Dublin Pottery, during a period of shifting class dynamics and rising national identity. Analysis of the ceramic objects produced offers new perspectives on Irish national identity and the interpretation of style and ornament in nineteenth-century design. Vodrey’s activity reveals the origins of the design profession in relation to design theory. Research indicates that, as with the British designer Christopher Dresser, Vodrey had a keen interest in design theory. Like other Art Industry enterprises in England, Vodrey created ‘cultural capital’ from the commercialisation of Arts and Crafts ideals, which appealed to the Aesthetic taste. Vodrey’s success, revealed in his evidence to The Royal Commission on Industries (1885), demonstrates the upward mobility of artisans within the lower middle class during the nineteenth century.
- Subjects
STYLE (Design); DECORATION &; ornament; HISTORY of design; IRISH history -- 1837-1901; IRISH national character; VODREY, Frederick; IRISH pottery; ARTS &; crafts movement; NINETEENTH century
- Publication
Journal of Design History, 2014, Vol 27, Issue 1, p38
- ISSN
0952-4649
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1093/jdh/ept019