Seven Designs for Decorated Cups, including Venice, Osborne Tapetry and Osborne Patterns 1845 - 1855

Alfred Henry Forrester made these seven designs for decorated cups on paper, sometime in the nineteenth century. The designs point to the rise of industrial manufacturing and commercial culture in Britain. Here, Forrester imagines patterns for cups named after places like Venice and Osborne, the royal residence of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. This reveals the increasing influence of royalty and exotic locales on domestic life and consumer tastes in the Victorian era. Consider the growth of design schools at this time, like the Government School of Design, which aimed to improve the standards of industrial design and educate designers. These institutions played a crucial role in shaping the visual landscape of Victorian England. Historians consult trade catalogs, design manuals, and archival records of manufacturers to understand better the economic and cultural forces shaping artistic production. Art is very much contingent on its social and institutional context.