Registered in the British patent office in 1881, this articulated toast or letter rack imitates a Japanese bridge, relating it not only to whimsical accessories for desk or breakfast table but also to notorious avant-garde paintings by James McNeill Whistler, whose widely publicized suit for libel against John Ruskin, then the single most influential art critic in Europe, pitted abstract art against representation. Similar issues confronted Dresser and other design reformers trying to move decoration away from literal interpretations of nature or slavish copying of historic styles. Most of Dresser’s geometric metalwork was silver plated, but this solid silver rack was made in London for the carriage trade.