<I>Aquarium fountain, Canna indica</I>

ca. 1860

Cast-iron aquarium on base with plate glass windows. Decoration at each meeting point of glass may be a representation of Canna indica. A "leaf" bowl is placed above the center of the aquarium, where water jetted out. This octagonal aquarium fountain rests on a slender column on three legs with the feet raised on rolling castors. Cases with castors could be moved between rooms. Companies touted their mobility as a labor saving attribute of this device and a major selling point. Naturalism, the realistic reproduction of the beauties of nature, was a popular style in the Victorian era. Though it appears as early as the 1840’s in America, naturalistic designs continued to the 1900s. This was in part due to the influence of the natural sciences, and interest in nature and gardening, which spread through the upper and middle classes in the nineteenth century. Naturalistic designs incorporated floral, foliate, fruit, vegetal, and animal forms into furnishings and decorative objects for the home and garden. Popular subjects included grapes, cornstalks, ferns, Solomon seal or laurel leaf, passion flowers, lilies of the valley, morning glories, oak leaves, acorns, vines, and roses.