# Hall Stand

- By: Christopher Dresser (Made by Coalbrookdale Company (Shropshire, England founded c. 1756-c. 1762))
- Date: c. 1870
- Medium: Cast iron and marble
- Classification: Furniture
- Dimensions: 231.8 × 111.8 × 52.8 cm (91 1/4 × 44 × 20 3/4 in.)
- Culture: Coalbrookdale
- Credit line: John H. and Neville Bryan Fund, European Arts General Fund, European Decorative Arts Purchase Fund
- Museum: [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/209921)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/5ad15cef-58f9-ccfd-f1bf-940289ad313e/full/!1384,1080/0/default.jpg
- Who can see it: Teens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

The nineteenth century was a period of vast industrial developments, one of which was increased efficiency in cast-iron production. As cast iron proliferated into many aspects of architecture and applied arts, design critics renounced the material as vulgar and deceitful. In an effort to beautify cast-iron products, smelting manufactories hired professional designers, like Christopher Dresser, with visually stimulating results. In this hall stand, which was part of a larger series, Dresser combined medieval foliage motifs with classical depictions of the Greek gods of wind and water, Boreas and Aquarius.

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0