Archive for the ‘Edwardian Fireplaces’ Category

Why an Edwardian Fireplace Could Help You to Sell Your Home?

September 16th, 2009

Despite the fact that Edwardian period lasted for just 9 years – between 1901 and 1910 – the era left a remarkable legacy in terms of home and hearth.

The Edwardians appreciated space and comfort and were fond of quirky Arts & Crafts-style cosy corners;  panelled alcoves including bookshelves and cushioned benches beside the fireplace. These are  houses of the Great British surburbia; squat semi-detached, two-storey houses featuring large, light-filled rooms, dado rails, plate rails, picture rails and any other rail that you can bring to mind. It shouldn’t surprise you that these original features can help to sell a property, particularly if they include stained glass in and around front doors, and elegant cast iron fireplaces with Art Nouveau or Arts & Crafts tiling.

Arts and Crafts Fireplace

Arts and Crafts Fireplace

It makes sense, then, if you are thinking of selling your Edwardian property in the current slow, if not stagnant, market, to ensure that the period features in your house are both present and well-maintained. And a fireplace of the correct era is probably the number one selling point, with a reproduction fireplace of the right era coming a close second.

So, exactly what features make a fireplace and hearth ‘Edwardian.’

At the start of the Edwardian era most fireplaces featured a cast iron frame  incorporating tilesets. The Edwardian mantel would probably have been made from slate, pine or deal and it would have been painted. Mahogany and oak mantlepieces, however, were never sullied by a paintbrush! on sliders on either side.

The final days of the Victorian reign were dark as the Queen continued to mourn for her late husband. When her successor Edward VII acceded  the throne, the populace were quick to throw off  dark tiles and even darker woods.

Small cast iron frames known as canopies on legs with larger tiled panels became popular and, replacing the old tiled strips were replaced with completely tiled inserts.  Unsurprisingly, pastel colours became incredibly popular.  In terms of interior decor, Edward VII’s reign opened the windows and allowed fresh air into the stuffy Victorian parlour.

Coal was still burned in Edwardian grates, although the rising Arts and Crafts Movement were more attracted to the thought of  wood, kept in free-standing dog baskets and burnt in inglenook fireplaces.  However Arts and Crafts fireplaces, mostly handcrafted from copper, were more-or-less confined to larger, wealthier homes.

The major Edwardian style, was Art Nouveau, which was characterised by long curving and undulating lines based on plant forms.  This is the style that held sway in most homes throughout the Edwardian era,  eventually falling from favour in the run up to  World War I.

The outbreak of World War I saw the cast iron fireplace industry die a sudden death as  factories were taken over by the government for the war effort and a Great British tradition died with it – only to be resurrected in the hectic world of the 21st century. The fact is, an Edwardian fireplace in your home somehow helps to turn your home into a sanctuary.

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Edwardian Mantels

August 1st, 2009

The architect and designer Charles Annesley Voysey (1877- 1941) was a member of the Arts and Crafts Movement and he wanted to design fireplaces which were suitable for an advancing modern age, such as the Edwardian era. Voysey believed that there was an infinite number of ways to enhance the hearth through the fireplace surround, and he designed many styles of mantel in cast iron, pressed metal, wood and tile. In common with the movement’s principles, Voysey favoured the minimal look and dismissed the Victorian love of excess and splendour as ‘a mass of useless ornament’.

edwardian-mantelAs a result, Edwardian mantels were markedly less decorative than Victorian ones, with cleaner lines and less ornamentation. However, the Edwardians shared the same eclectic tastes as the Victorians and there were many decorative influences to be seen in fireplaces of the period, from Neo-medievalism and Georgian through to the more recent Art Nouveau. The Art Nouveau style was characterised by long curving lines, often referred to as ‘whiplash lines’, and bold shapes. This style was short lived and fell out of favour before the First World War.

Early Edwardian mantels were made from slate, pine or deal, which was painted – mahogany and oak mantlepieces were still popular, but these were never painted. .Taller over-mantels with mirrors were an innovation of the Edwardian age, with cast iron, copper or tiled fireplace inserts. Although marble mantels could still be found in grander homes, they were generally in decline.

In the late Edwardian era, around the beginning of the First World War, the cast iron fireplace industry rapidly fell from favour and came to an end. From this point, fireplace inserts were usually made wholly from tile, using a technique known as ‘slabbing’. With this technique, manufacturers were able to mass- produce a wide range of Edwardian mantels, made from tile, stone and brick, for the huge housing estates being built at the end of the war. Tiled fireplaces tended to be in pastel colours or iridescent glazes, leaving the dark and depressing shades of Victorian tiled fireplaces in the past where they belonged.

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Edwardian Fireplaces

July 31st, 2009

The Edwardian era, considered an age of elegance, spanned from around 1900 up until 1920, after the end of the First World War.

edwardian-fireplaceEdwardian fireplaces were slightly smaller and more understated than Victorian models, with minimal design and surface decoration. Although Edwardian fireplace designs were generally simpler than Victorian ones, a wide range of decoration could still be found, such as finials and classical motifs reminiscent of the Tudor and Elizabethan eras. Like the Victorians, the Edwardians were influenced by past designs – although not to anywhere near the same extent.

Like Victorian cast iron fireplaces, early Edwardian fireplaces consisted of a cast iron frame that had tiles sets into each side. The canopy on legs, introduced in 1880, was also very popular in Edwardian times – there were frames for tiles to sit in and these were placed either side of the canopy.

At the start of the Edwardian period, gas heating was introduced. Coal and wood were still widely used as fuel, but many Edwardian fireplaces were adapted so they could use gas. The elements of Edwardian gas fires were made from a white vermiculated ceramic substance and were either stood upright in metal cabinets or laid in the hearth. These Edwardian fireplaces could still be seen in homes in the fifties, although they were not as efficient as their more modern counterparts. A downside to gas heating was that it dried out the atmosphere, and, for many decades, homeowners tried to compensate for this by leaving a dish full of water on the hearth.

Another Edwardian innovation was the first log and coal-effect gas fires.

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