subject: The Elements of Victorian Door Hardware [print this page] Victorian interior design and architecture was in many ways a product of the technological innovations of the industrial revolution. Mass production of decorative objects made possible by the factory and the mechanized assembly line fit right into the needs of a growing middle class who had the money to spend on ornamental hardware and decorative arts. Door hardware of the Victorian age reflects a lot of the essential elements of the style, giving you a good idea of the larger concerns of interior dcor and architecture of the era. Door Hardware in the U.S. Queen Victoria started her reign in 1837, but Victorian architecture and design did not hit the United States full-force until the second half of the 1800s. Before that, American decorative hardware was still highly concerned with hand-crafted styles and functionality. Popular door hardware at this time was simple, sometimes elegant, and definitely concerned with practicality. Door knobs and backpanels were symmetrical and usually made out of a single metal (usually bronze or brass) or polished wood. When Victorian style was imported, though, America took it up enthusiastically. This was a time when people were highly excited about the possibilities brought on by industrialization. Victorian Door Hardware Victorian decorative style was essentially a retrospective of past decorative styles that were combined to emphasize their ornate and flowery elements. In this sense, Victorian style was one of the first revival styles. It borrowed from Neoclassical, Gothic, Tudor, Elizabethan, and Rococo design traditions, among others. The thing that Victorian designs had in common was an emphasis on ornate orderliness, slight asymmetry, and leaving minimal empty spaces. Homeowners, for example, were expected, when decorating their rooms, to fill up empty spaces with decorative objects that reflected the homeowners their interests and wealth. Likewise, using brass finials, door handles, knobs and backpanels of Victorian design left minimal empty space. Decorations were ornate and fanciful and gave the hardware an asymmetrical aesthetic. The high level of ornate decoration in Victorian hardware eventually became seen as excessive by many designers, who wanted to revive the hand-crafted, utilitarian and elegant elements of past styles.
