Three Panel Screen
Design Date c. 1880
Designer Christopher Dresser (1834–1904, British)
Media wood and lincrusta
Dimensions 76 3/8 x 66 1/8 x 2 inches
Considered the first Industrial Designer, by 1878 Christopher Dresser was considered one of the most prolific and successful wallpaper designers in Europe. That same year Frederic Walton invented a new material, he called it Lincrusta Walton. Lincrusta is a deeply embossed wallcovering made from gelled linseed oil and wood flour, designed to be washable. Dresser was one of the first designers to produce patterns for this new material; the panels on this screen are one of those early examples. His motif of a bird perched on flowering branches, visible on the screen, was also used for a block print on paper wallcovering now at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York. Dresser was known to submit his patterns for production in various materials and sometimes by multiple manufacturers.
ON VIEW in Arts & Crafts Gallery 3
Markings unmarked
Credit Line Collection Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art
Accession Number 2015.0007
