Edward William Godwin, designer

This octagonal center table with finely turned legs and rosewood veneer reveals the late 19th- century Anglo-American interest in Japanese art and design. Its style is characteristic of the British Aesthetic movement, which often sought inspiration in designs from a range of Eastern cultures and boldly asserted that art did not require a message or purpose beyond offering aesthetic pleasure through materials, craftsmanship, and form. The table is light and portable for practical reasons: its designer— architect E.W. Godwin, a central figure in the Aesthetic movement—wanted to make furniture that could be rearranged easily.