Vintage Aquariums

September 2015

We can all agree that aquariums are striking features and would look great in a modern setting. But the fish keeping hobby is no new phenomenon. Did you know that aquariums have been around for centuries?

There are records that can date the hobby to China in 2000 BC. The Chinese had fish farms to keep livestock fresh for cooking. Eventually, this type of fish keeping developed into the decorative Koi ponds that we commonly see in Japanese culture even today.

The centuries that followed saw limited developments in the hobby of fish keeping. That was until the Victorian Era when the hobby went through a revival which continues to this very day.

Elaborate aquariums with cast iron frames were displayed in the Great Exhibition of 1851. Aquariums became a source of entertainment with friends and family gathering to watch the “liveliness of its inmates”. This happened at a time when Colonialists were in the habit of collecting all things exotic to take back to their homes as trophies.

Today it’s easy to dismiss the mysticality of an aquarium, but one must wonder how remarkable it must have been over 150 years ago to look through a window into a truly unknown world. Saltwater aquaria commonly referred to as “The Ocean at Home” were less popular, being kept mostly for the study of ocean creature. Anna Thynne, a British marine zoologist, is credited with keeping the first marine aquarium. On the other side, freshwater aquariums, the “Lake in a Glass”, were in vogue and with a decided ease of access to its contents and hardier inhabitants were well adapted for the delight of thousands. A few years later in 1853 the first large public aquarium opened in the London Zoo .

Aquariums were so popular that by the 1860s they were being mass produced in all shapes and sizes. They were decorated with elegant cast iron designs to flaunt wealth.  In “The Ocean at Home: An Illustrated History of the Aquarium,” author Bernd Brunner declares, “By the 1860’s, aquariums were being mass-produced in every possible shape and combination, often so elaborately decorated that one wondered what was more important – the contents, or the aquarium itself.”

Entering the 1900s there were many advances in technology including the invention of the first mechanical air pump for aquariums. The pump made it easier for people to care for fish and made the hobby popular yet again.

Nowadays, there are many system options and unlimited design possibilities to choose from. However, we have noticed an increase in the requests for vintage aquariums. Is it the history that they come with or the details in the design that attracts more? The opulent designs of the Victorian era are truly unique pieces of art and some originals are sold in the region of ten of thousands or hundreds of thousands. For those that can afford a piece of history, Aquarium Architecture are here to make this possible offering an unique service of professionally researching and acquiring a vintage aquarium and adapting it for creating a healthy environment to maintain freshwater and even saltwater inhabitant.