The monumental publication Description de l’Égypte (1809-1829), produced by Napoleon’s multidisciplinary team of scholars, brought the wonders of ancient Egypt to European notice, and opened up a rich vein of inspiration for artists, architects, and craftsmen in all media.
The new-found fascination for ancient designs inspired further publications that had significant influence on the decorative arts throughout the 19th century, especially in the Empire and Art Nouveau styles. The English traveller and one of the earliest Egyptologists, Sir John Gardner Wilkinson, published his Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians in 1837. This work, copiously illustrated with drawings of buildings, art, and artefacts, was revised and abridged as A Popular Account of the Ancient Egyptians in 1854, providing a pattern book for artists and craftsmen.
Apart from material gathered from his own travels, Wilkinson described museum exhibits, notably from the British Museum, that were accessible to the general public.
From the Princes in the Tower to Northumbria’s Golden Age