History:Victoriana

From HandWiki
An 1843 Victorian circus poster for the Pablo Fanque Circus, which inspired the 1967 Beatles song "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!", a homage to Victorian circuses
The Dusty Circus font, a commercial font inspired by Victorian circus posters, is an example of Victoriana.

Victoriana is a term used to refer to material culture related to the Victorian period (1837–1901).[1] It often refers to decorative objects, but can also describe a variety of artifacts from the era including graphic design, publications, photography, machinery, architecture, fashion, and Victorian collections of natural specimens.[2] The term can also refer to Victorian-inspired designs, nostalgic representations, or references to Victorian-era aesthetics or culture appropriated for use in new contexts [3]

The term "Victoriana" was coined in 1918, just before a wave of interest in Victorian objects and artifacts began in the 1920s. Another increased period of collecting of Victoriana emerged in the 1950s.[4] In 1951, the Festival of Britain commemorated the centenary of the Victorian era's first world's fair, the 1851 Great Exhibition held at the Crystal Palace.[5]

In the 1960s and 1970s, the eclectic character of Victorian era wood type inspired graphic designers like Seymour Chwast and Push Pin Studios.[6] Items such as Stevengraphs were popular collectable items during the revival of interest in Victoriana in the 1960s and 1970s.[7]

In the 1980s, Margaret Thatcher, then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, promoted an interest in Victoriana by emphasizing "Victorian family values"[8] as part of a roadmap to cultural, moral, and economic improvement.[9]

Popular culture

In science fiction circles (especially in genres like steampunk), Victoriana is used loosely to describe mock-Victorian worlds, where visual references to the machinery of the Industrial Revolution are incorporated into urban, romanticized pastiches with fantastic creatures and imagined mechanical contraptions.[10][11][12]

See also

  • Victorian decorative arts
  • Victorian fashion
  • Neo-Victorian
  • Gothic fashion
  • Vintage clothing
  • -ana

References

  1. ↑ "Definition of VICTORIANA" (in en). https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Victoriana. 
  2. ↑ Stevens, Matthes (18 January 2021). "John Gould: The age of collecting" (in en). https://australian.museum/learn/collections/museum-archives-library/john-gould/the-age-of-collecting/australian.museum/learn/collections/museum-archives-library/john-gould/the-age-of-collecting/. 
  3. ↑ Kaplan, Cora (2007) (in en). Victoriana: Histories, Fictions, Criticism. Columbia University Press. pp. 3. ISBN 978-0-231-14217-5. https://books.google.com/books?id=uJ-1oSR0MQMC&pg=PP1. 
  4. ↑ Gardiner, John (2006-10-27) (in en). The Victorians: An Age in Retrospect. A&C Black. pp. 91–2. ISBN 978-1-85285-560-4. https://books.google.com/books?id=Dipe9nVHV3cC&pg=PP1. 
  5. ↑ Taylor, Miles; Wolff, Michael (2004-09-04) (in en). The Victorians Since 1901: Histories, Representations and Revisions. Manchester University Press. pp. 138. ISBN 978-0-7190-6725-9. https://books.google.com/books?id=_-MEXXKgGGwC&pg=PP1. 
  6. ↑ Chwast, Seymour (2004-09-09) (in en). The Push Pin Graphic: A Quarter Century of Innovative Design and Illustration. Chronicle Books. pp. 67. ISBN 978-0-8118-4103-0. https://books.google.com/books?id=qs3NRbNjCSwC&pg=PP1. 
  7. ↑ Thorncroft, Antony. Memories are made of this FT.com 29 November 2008
  8. ↑ "TV Interview for London Weekend Television Weekend World ("Victorian Values") | Margaret Thatcher Foundation". https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/105087. 
  9. ↑ "What is Thatcherism?" (in en-GB). BBC News. 2013-04-09. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-22079683. 
  10. ↑ Albrecht, Kathe Hicks (2021-11-04) (in en). The Machine Anxieties of Steampunk: Contemporary Philosophy, Victorian Aesthetics, and the Future. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. pp. 223. ISBN 978-1-5013-4934-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=9iRBEAAAQBAJ&pg=PP1. 
  11. ↑ McAllister, Robbie (2019-03-07) (in en). Steampunk Film: A Critical Introduction. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 978-1-5013-3122-0. https://books.google.com/books?id=vM6aEAAAQBAJ&pg=PP1. 
  12. ↑ Whitson, Roger (2016-12-01) (in en). Steampunk and Nineteenth-Century Digital Humanities: Literary Retrofuturisms, Media Archaeologies, Alternate Histories. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-50910-3. https://books.google.com/books?id=9JqiDQAAQBAJ&pg=PP1. 

Further reading

  • Bridgeman, Harriet & Drury, Elizabeth, eds. (1975) The Encyclopaedia of Victoriana. Feltham: Hamlyn for 'Country Life'
  • Field, Rachael (1988) Victoriana. London: Macdonald Orbis ISBN:035615856X
  • Gabriel, Juri (1969) Victoriana. London: Hamlyn ISBN:0600001385
  • Latham, Jean (1971) Victoriana. London: Muller ISBN:0584103263
  • Laver, James (1966) Victoriana. London: Ward Lock
  • --do.-- (1973) --do.-- revised ed. London: Ward Lock ISBN:0706312791
  • Victoriana. (Miller's Antiques Checklist.) London: MitchellBeazley, 1991 ISBN:0855338954
  • Palmer, Geoffrey & Lloyd, Noel (1976) The Observer's Book of Victoriana. London: Frederick Warne
  • Woodhouse, C. P. (1970) The Victoriana Collector's Handbook. London: George Bell & Sons



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