Gothic Revival

Several so-called revival styles were particularly popular in interior decoration and architecture in the 19th century. Together, these styles can be called Historicism, as they consciously drew influences and inspiration from previous styles with regard to aspects such as ornamentation and motifs. Historicism was particularly visible in fields such as decorative art and architecture. The selection of items here, picked from the collections of the National Museum of Finland, highlights one of these styles: the so-called Gothic Revival style, which – as the name suggests – was inspired by the Middle Ages and the Gothic style.

Even though the popularity of Gothic Revival was at its peak in the 19th century, one of the earliest buildings representing the style is from the 18th century. The building in question is English author Horace Walpole’s home Strawberry Hill in Twickenham near London (built in 1749–1776). Gothic Revival was particularly popular in architecture in England: one of the most famous examples of this is the Palace of Westminster (architect Augustus Pugin, completed in 1834, repaired and updated to its current look in 1870 after a fire). The Albert Memorial in London (architect Gilbert Scott), built in 1872 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s prince consort, is a later representative of pure Gothic Revival.

Gothic Revival was used in architecture in Finland as well. Two of the most significant examples of it are the House of Nobility in Helsinki (architect G. T. Chiewitz, completed in 1862) and the main building of Tjusterby Manor in Uusimaa (architect C. J. von Heideken, completed in 1867). The banquet hall of the House of Nobility, with its original oak wall panels and chairs with narrow arched backrests, is also significant in terms of interior decoration. Among the most representative examples of church architecture are the red brick buildings of the New Church in Helsinki, today known as St. John's Church (architect A. E. Melander, completed in 1891), and Keuruu Church (architect Th. Granstedt, completed in 1892), and as a representative of wooden church architecture, Kajaani Church (architect Jac. Ahrenberg, completed in 1896).

The stable built originally for Princess Zinaida Yusupova’s villa in Kaivopuisto, Helsinki, in 1842 features narrow pointed window arches, and the simply painted walls of the building imitate brick masonry. The stable is currently located in Seurasaari Open-Air Museum, and its original plans featured more Gothic Revival elements than the final building.

Interior decoration and the art industry followed the style prevalent in architecture, sometimes as details integrated into other styles. The inner door of the compartments of the bureau (90008), crafted in 1842 and representing the Biedermeier style for the most part, is decorated with a threefold narrow pointed arch. The bureau was crafted in Turku as a journeyman work by Nils Gustaf Holmberg. Even some lighting equipment, such as the rapeseed oil sconces (41001:843a and 41001:843b) and floor lamp (41001:854) from the second quarter of the 19^th century, borrowed typical design details and decorative ornaments of the period.

Decorative elements featuring narrow pointed arches or other Gothic influences were also often used in the ornamentation of small pieces of furniture, such as key cabinets. The ornamentation at the top and bottom edges of the front wall of the cabinet was often simple, like the four-leaf openings of the cabinet belonging to the Seurasaari collections (S3008), or in an overflowingly abundant pointed arch style (6264). The tips of the console shelf (65050:292) supports are reminiscent of Gothic ceiling ornamentation, and the edge of the flower table (59067:1), made in Viktor von Wright’s willow and rattan furniture factory in Helsinki, feature pointy ornamentation motifs around them. The factory, owned by a cousin of the famous bird and landscape artists, was established in 1879.

The decorative edge of the six-section screen (41001:1744) featuring a landscape painting is a panoramic view depicting the city of Pori that opens behind an attractive pergola-themed arcade formed by pointed arches. The landscape view is based on an illustration by Johan Knutson featured in the Finland framstäldt i teckningar series of booklets published in 1845–1852. The other screen (5557:24) is made of rattan, the flexibility and malleability of which made it excellently suited for creating pointed arch shapes, like in the aforementioned shelf and flower table. The red background cloth of the screen combined with black-stained wood creates a striking contrast of colours, the likes of which were common in revival-style decorations.

The wood and rattan-framed oven shade (35096:1) is decorated with a cross-stitching piece depicting the unlucky lovers Francesca da Rimini and Paolo Malatesta from the first part of Dante’s Divine Comedy (Inferno, 5th canto, 134–135). The cross-stitching piece was made in 1844 by Agnes Ottilia Flodin, married name Kajanus (1824–1902). Like Walter Scott’s knight novels, the Medieval narrative poem was well-suited to be used as a motif in the world of Gothic Revival. The cross-stitching piece was based on an engraving depicting a painting by Henri Decaisne (1799–1852), like the wood engraving featured in Illustrated London News on 10 February 1844. The cross-stitching on the other oven shade (26069:22) probably depicts the same scene from Dante’s poem. The shade is from the manor of the Armfelt family (Åminne) in Halikko, Joensuu. These shades also show a clear overlap of chivalric romanticism and Gothic Revival.

One indication of the pervasive impact of the Gothic Revival style is that Gothic-style features and influences were utilised in a very wide range, from decorative prints in small items (children’s rattle 52061:23, made by R. Mellin or O. R. Mellin in Helsinki 1864) and tableware to furniture (lantern 1284, cradle 95010, rattan shelf 68030:15a).

The often tall and narrow shape of table clocks with a pendulum, popular in the mid-19th century, was well-suited for utilising pointed arches. The housing of the clock was often designed to resemble the facade of a Gothic cathedral (4986:1 and 83038:5), or the pointed arch motif was used to create an independent fantasy structure combined with a decorative figure indicative of chivalric romanticism (2676 and 83093:6).

Decorative motifs in the Gothic Revival style, often pointed arches, were also used to ornament book bindings. A rare example of Gothic Revival style book cover art is the original paper cover of A. J. Palm’s work Kejserliga Alexanders-Universitetets i Finland matrikel (Helsingfors 1842). The Gothic pointed arch motif was also used as ornamentation in the gold prints on the back of book bindings. The dark purple leather cover of the album made by the Parisian book and paper store Susse in the mid-1820s (2003116:112) is decorated with embossed ornamentation resembling the rose window and pointed arches of a cathedral. August Mannerheim gave the book to his sister Minette Mannerheim as a present in around 1826. The cover of the small cardboard notebook (48050:96) features a printed Gothic arch motif. The notebook is from the estate of Akseli Gallen-Kallela.

Jouni Kuurne