Design for Square Pianoforte, Louis Quatorze Style

About this artwork

Robert William Hume's design for a square pianoforte in the Louis XIV style exemplifies the Victorian era's fascination with historical revival and ornamental eclecticism. Created between 1835 and 1900, this pen, ink, graphite, and watercolor drawing showcases the elaborate decorative vocabulary associated with the Sun King's reign, transposed onto a nineteenth-century musical instrument. Hume (1816–1904), who worked in London before emigrating to Long Island City, specialized in creating orname...

Art Historical Context

Step into the Victorian world of opulent revivalism with Robert William Hume's *Design for Square Pianoforte Louis Quatorze Style (1835–1900). This intricate pen and ink, graphite, and drawing reimagines the grand, symmetrical motifs of France's Sun King era—think bold grandeur and profuse ornamentation—on a 19th-century square pian. Created as a template for furniture makers, it captures the era's passion for historical eclecticism, blending splendor with industrial-age innovation. Hume (1816–1904), a London-trained designer who later settled in Long Island City, specialized in such ornament...

About the Artist

Robert William Hume · 1816–1904

Robert William Hume (1816–1904) was a British artist and craftsman who contributed to the documentation of decorative arts and design in nineteenth-century Britain. Working during the Victorian era, Hume was part of a generation of artists and designers who combined artistic skill with antiquarian interests, producing detailed studies and records of historical objects, ornamental patterns, and arc...