Turners of the Victorian Era

Ornamental Turning in the Victorian Era (1837 – 1901)

In earlier times, turning ivory had always been concerned with designing and forming novelty, one-of-a-kind objects. In the mid-19th century, with the production-style automated approach of the Industrial Revolution, the princely enthusiasm for the machine ended. At the same time, Romanticism brought new ideas that broke the rigid social and governmental framework, and the machine as a model for authoritarian order no longer made sense. The entrepreneurs, engineers and factory workers of the Industrial Revolution redefined machines with an entirely different set of goals.

During the Victorian Era, the high cost of ornamental turning equipment mainly restricted its use to wealthy scientific amateurs. Many of the very best amateur turners were among the professors and clergy. (In fact, ecclesiastics who did not adopt a trade or supplemental activity were accounted unworthy members of the church.)

Below are details of a few elite dilettante turners, along with an accounting of some of the manufacturers of ornamental turning equipment during this time. (The Bavarian lineage presented in the Early Modern Period also continued into the Victorian Era, which has been left intact rather than repeat the details again here.)

• Earls of Craven
• Lady Gertrude Crawford
• The Beckford Family
• The House of Fabergé
• 19th C. Makers of OT Equipment