Utility And Beauty: Robert Wellford And Composition Ornament In America

Reinberger, Mark

Newark, Delaware: University of Delaware Press, 2003. Hardcover. black boards w/ gilt spine printing. 190 pgs w/ bw illustrations. green pictorial dustjacket. VG. spine end worn. back cover flyleaf has an area of yellow soiling/discolorization. pg 53 has a speck of yellowed discolorization, otherwise pgs clean w/ light edge toning. dustjacket has light edge-wear; flaps lightly toned. Item #178133
ISBN: 9780874137606

"Utility and Beauty: Robert Wellford and Composition Ornament in America is the first book-length treatment of this important decorative art in Federal-period America. Composition (or compo) was a plaster-like material which was pressed into finely carved molds, a process that produced exquisitely detailed ornaments that could be attached to architectural woodwork, especially mantelpieces. First popularized in England by architect Robert Adam in the late eighteenth century, composition ornament soon reached America where it became a significant part of interior decoration in the early republic. Utility and Beauty examines the art and craft of composition ornament through the life and work of Robert Wellford (1775-1844) of Philadelphia, the foremost maker of compo in America." "Composition ornament brought into American homes an abundance of neoclassical decoration, both architectural enrichments and figural imagery. Compo made available scenes and motifs from classical mythology and allegory, as well as nationalistic themes that proclaimed America's independence and rise among nations. Such themes made compo useful as well as beautiful, because the ornaments edified the viewer and conveyed patriotic and moral lessons. The book examines the iconography of Wellford's artistic work, which encompasses almost one hundred scenes or motifs. Copious illustrations depict the wide range of Wellford's work. Utility and Beauty also includes a catalog of 132 mantelpieces and other woodwork thought to have ornament by Wellford."--Jacket.