Although British artists and architects laid the foundations for the Art Nouveau style, the fame of Art Nouveau from Vienna, Paris and Brussels overshadowed the innovations from the British Isles. However, the Royal Arcade in Norwich is a fine example of this forgotten modernist style. Animal and plant motifs create a fairy-tale composition, whilst the architectural forms are reminiscent of medieval castles. Unfortunately, this extraordinary style never conquered the world, or even Britain itself.
Pioneers of Art Nouveau
The English had already realised by the 1880s that a revolution in architecture should draw inspiration from nature. Artists such as William Morris and Walter Crane created the Arts and Crafts movement, which rejected the industrial reality of the Victorian era and sought a return to nature. Their inspiration was, of course, vegetation, but also the Middle Ages and Oriental art. At the same time, these influences spread to Scotland, where the first truly Art Nouveau architectural designs were developed. Thus, from the romantic yet subdued Arts and Crafts movement, the expressive and more fairy-tale-like Modern style was born.
The Glasgow School of Art in Scotland was to British Art Nouveau what the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris was to the Beaux-Arts style. The architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh was the most important figure in the new style, and it was he who combined Japanese influences with the picturesque castles of Scotland. However, as Art Nouveau gained popularity across Europe, the Modern style also spread south to England, where George Skipper, known for his eclectic style, designed buildings in Norwich.
Modernity
Skipper favoured neo-Baroque and neo-Classical buildings, but in 1899 he received a rather unusual commission. The Norwich authorities wanted a modern shopping arcade to be built on the site of the historic Angel Inn and later Royal Hotel. For this reason, Skipper decided to explore the richness of the groundbreaking Art Nouveau style and design a prestigious arcade.
The Royal Arcade attracts attention from afar with its Art Nouveau façade. The cladding façade utilises traditional forms such as the pediment and triforia, translating them into its own fairy-tale style. The figure crowning the pediment is intended to represent an angel, a reference to the former Angel Inn. The ceramic tiles encircling the shops projecting from the façade were designed by William James Neatby at the renowned Royal Doulton studio. It was Neatby who steered the traditional pottery works towards the modern Art Nouveau style, and his tiles adorn almost every Art Nouveau building in the UK.
The floral patterns of the tiles blend well with the distinctive stained-glass window in the transom. The trees, laden with various fruits, perfectly capture the Art Nouveau spirit. Meanwhile, the bay windows and rounded shapes may allude to traditional provincial British architecture. The whole is crowned by the Art Nouveau, expressive inscription ‘Royal Arcade’.
Oriental Gallery
Inside, there are multi-storey premises with preserved woodwork and Art Nouveau signs. However, the most important feature of the interior is the Neatby tiles. Floral patterns reappear, but other, more inconspicuous tiles point to a much broader reference. Peacocks, classic dentils and large red circles are noticeable.
Although the dentils are an attempt to reference the English Middle Ages, both the peacock and the circle refer to the Orient, which served as an inspiration for Art Nouveau precursors such as William Morris. On the one hand, the red circle is a direct reference to the Egyptian Eye of Ra; on the other, the circle appears with yet another meaning. At the bases of the arches, a woman is depicted holding a red circle. In Neatby’s original sketch, the woman holds a zodiac sign inscribed within a circle.
Interestingly, the interior was clad in unglazed Parian ceramic, a type of bisque. This material was used to create the classic consoles and other decorative elements, and the whole is characterised by a distinct curved line. Such curvilinear details are noticeable in many places and it is precisely these that define the building’s ‘Art Nouveau’ character. It is worth noting that the current floor tiles and Art Nouveau lighting are later additions.
The poet Sir John Betjeman once said of George Skipper: “He was to Norwich what Gaudí was to Barcelona.” Although the Royal Arcade is Skipper’s only Art Nouveau design, his other projects have indeed become true icons of the county town of Norfolk. Skipper paid attention to the smallest details, and the Royal Arcade was no exception. To this day, the shopping arcade remains one of the most important examples of the Modernist style in Great Britain. Unfortunately, however, the Modern style never really caught on in the British Isles, and the rather conservative English preferred more classical forms right up until the Second World War.
Source: Royal Arcade
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