Note: pages 126, 183, and 209a are missing from the original. / Designed in 1870 and opened in 1876, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
was encrusted with ornamental terracotta, a material essentially unknown
in America at that time. Across the Atlantic the South Kensington Museums
in London (now the Victoria and Albert Museum) had grown up following the
Great Exhibition of 1851. By 1869 they were housed in buildings which are
among the best known examples of terracotta architecture in the world. In
both philosophy and structure, the South Kensington Museums were the model
for the Boston enterprise, the first great public art museum in America.
The mid-nineteenth century re-emergence of terracotta has been an
accepted fact for some time. Heretofore most scholarly attention has arisen
in connection with its application as cladding to steel frame structures
like skyscrapers in the last quarter of the century. Consequently, research
on the origins and use of the material is fragmented and inconclusive. This
dissertation addresses questions of its technological development, early
applications in England at mid-century, and its long-range aesthetic implications
which have not been generally recognized by architectural historians.
Because of its specific and documented transatlantic connections,
the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, assumes a central role in the matter of
the terracotta revival and stylistic influences from England to America.
It would appear that Sturgis and Brigham (1866-1886), architects of the
museum, were in a unique position to design and execute a terracotta building
in America in 1870 because of the English education and affiliations of
John Sturgis (1834-1888), who was able to research and contract the production
of the terracotta ornament in Stamford, Lincolnshire from John Marriott
Blashfield. With his able young partner, Charles Brigham (1841-1925) running
the Boston office during his long absences abroad, the complexities of
the construction were carried forward on a transatlantic basis by Sturgis,
the prime designer. Much new source material concerning those personalities
involved with the early nineteenth century production and use of terra
cotta in England is contained in the letters and papers of John Sturgis,
the foundation of this work.
This study attempts to establish the nineteenth century chronology
of the terracotta revival in England prior to 1870. The technological development
of the material and its role within the South Kensington Museums
is explored in detail. Major terracotta installations in England prior to
1870 are identified and the relationship of the material to museum architecture,
a newly emerging form, is discussed. The Boston museum is then assessed
in terms of its origins. On a larger, aesthetic base the role of
terracotta is reviewed within the framework of the Gothic and Queen Anne
Revivals of the third quarter of the nineteenth century.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bu.edu/oai:open.bu.edu:2144/44201 |
| Date | January 1974 |
| Creators | Floyd, Margaret Henderson |
| Publisher | Boston University |
| Source Sets | Boston University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
| Rights | This work is being made available in OpenBU by permission of the copyright holder, and is available for research purposes only. All rights are reserved. |
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