The Gothic Revival style is one of many early
Victorian tastes. Though Thomas Chippendale incorporated Gothic motifs
in his furniture in the mid-eighteenth century, the Gothic Revival originates
in the nineteenth century Romantic Movement and especially from the writings
and designs of the English architect Augustus Pugin in the 1830s. Pugin
promoted Gothic design for religious reasons, believing it to be the most
Christian style.
In this country the Gothic Revival Style was taken
up by two very prominent architects, Andrew Jackson Downing and Alexander
Jackson Davis, who both published designs for Gothic houses, landscaping,
and furniture. Lyndhurst, a mansion in Tarrytown, New York, designed by
Davis in 1838, is probably the most outstanding example of Gothic Revival
domestic architecture in America. Davis also designed much of the furniture
for Lyndhurst. Probably because Gothic designs tend to be intricate, and
thus expensive to execute, the Gothic Revival Style had a limited appeal.
Outside of churches and church furnishings, the style was largely out of
fashion by the 1860s |