Toast rack

Charles Francis Annesley Voysey was one of the leading British architects and designers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Known as the father of industrial design, he was a central figure in the later part of the British Arts and Crafts Movement. In addition to his architectural work, he designed furnishing fabrics, wallpapers, furniture and many other objects.

The simplicity and ingenuity of the Toast rack shows great originality and remains a striking example of early twentieth-century design, while its plainness is characteristic of much of Voysey’s design work. The circular tray for catching crumbs supports a hemisphere of arched ribbed sections and the handle is itself a circle. Such innovative approaches to object design in this period are matched only by Christopher Dresser.

This toast rack was owned by Voysey and remained in the family until the Gallery purchased it in 2000.

Rebecca Evans, Curator of Decorative Arts & Design