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Regarded as Britain’s first industrial designer, Christopher Dresser (1834–1904) ran a London studio which created thousands of designs for interiors and all product types, from metalwork and furniture to textiles and wallpapers. This lecture will examine Dresser’s relationship with the South Kensington Museum (V&A from 1899), explaining how its personnel, teachings, collections and even interiors informed Dresser’s design principles, and paved the way for his career-changing visit to Japan from 1876–7. It will also reveal how the museum helped revive his posthumous reputation and explore the ways in which the V&A continues to collect, curate and celebrate Dresser’s work.
Max Donnelly is Curator of Furniture and Woodwork 1800–1915 at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Among his V&A publications are contributions to C.F.A. Voysey: Arts and Crafts Designer (London, 2016), The Story of Scottish Design (London, 2018) and the book Christopher Dresser: Design Pioneer (London, 2021; Beijing, 2024). He curated the V&A touring exhibition, Beyond William Morris: British Arts and Crafts 1890–1920 (China, 2023–5) and has lectured in the UK, Europe, North America and China.
Header image: Vegetable dish and lid in the Shanghai pattern, designed by Christopher Dresser and manufactured by the Old Hall Earthenware Co., Hanley, Staffordshire, c.1885. Transfer-printed earthenware. V&A: C.121-1999. Silver, rush, enamel, ivory, mother-of-pearl, carnelian. V&A: M.5-2006