<I>Aquarium or terrarium on stand</I>

J.W. Fiske Iron Works · ca. 1881-1893

Cast-iron aquarium on base with plate glass windows. The rectangular tank has two windows on the front, two on the back, and one on each side. Between each pane of glass is a cast column with a spike finial on top. The base is made of cast iron with two legs joined by upper and lower stretchers. The design is in the Rococo Revival style with C-scrolls, vegetal forms, and scroll feet. The major characteristics of the art, architecture, and decorative arts produced in nineteenth century are historicism, eclecticism, and mixing multiple styles together. Rococo Revival style was the most popular style of the Victorian era in the United States. It emerged as early as the 1830s and continued to be seen into the 1900s. This style was modeled after eighteenth-century French designs, yet the revival of the style pushed elements further. Rococo Revival objects tended to be highly ornamental, with more substantial, less delicate forms, and visually dense decoration. This style is defined by its sense of movement and its delicacy, as well as curvaceousness, asymmetry, and curvilinear forms. Rococo Revival motifs included floral imagery, abundant swags of fruit and foliage, shell-like waves, ‘S’ & ‘C’ scrolls, rocaille decoration, serpentine curves, frozen water forms, volutes, acanthus leaves, and cabriole legs.