"NOT TO MODERN TASTE" | The Pleasures and Problems of Defining Decoration with Sophia Errey

Is Grinling Gibbon’s Cravat “a tasteless exercise in superhuman skill”? How has 'modern' taste encouraged us to regard ornament and decoration as relegated to an inferior role as ‘craft’ rather than ‘art’? Why is ornament feared as inappropriately seductive? By exploring some of the debates around these issues we can come to better appreciate the role crafted objects play in our lives.

SOPHIA ERREY is an artist, art educator and writer. Her first doctorate (The University of Melbourne) on architectural ornament, and her interest in the field of ornamentation has continued and expanded with studies in metalwork, ceramics and fashion.

Grinling Gibbons (England, 1648 - 1721), untitled carving (Cravat), London, circa 1690, Limewood, with raised and openwork carving, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, W.181:1-1928, gift of The Hon Mrs Walter Levy