Designs for a Candlestick, Two Handled Vase, Decorated Plate and Footed Dish 1845 - 1855

Here is a page of watercolor and graphite designs for various decorative objects, by Alfred Henry Forrester. Forrester was working during a time of great shifts in class structure, in an England experiencing the industrial revolution. These designs speak to a rising middle class, newly wealthy and eager to emulate the aristocracy by acquiring fine household objects. Note the use of green, a color then associated with luxury and nature, in each of Forrester's designs. The repetition of the color evokes the harmony and opulence sought after in upper-class households. At the same time, the designs are clearly mass-producible. Here, Forrester's work illustrates a tension. He straddles the line between unique, handcrafted items, and the affordability enabled by industrialization. The artist captures an aspiration for refinement which was not just about aesthetics, but about claiming a new identity within a changing social order.