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The author of the arts
and crafts movement.
William
Morris was born in Walthamstow in 1834 and studied theology at Oxford.
As a student he was drawn to the ideologies of socialism; when he
embarked on a career as an artist, it was his intention to apply
socialist philosophy to his work -- from conception to design to
production. This goal led him to abandon painting in favor of architecture
and then to the decorative arts. 
 During
university and after, Morris associated with the Pre-Raphaelite
artists of the period, men such as Dante Gabriel Rosetti and Edward
Burne-Jones. These relationships would bolster his allegiance to
socialist values and influence his roles as poet, artist, and businessman.
In
1861 he formed Morris, Marshall, Faulkner, and Co.-- which was essentially
Britain's first design firm. The group included many of Morris'
Pre- Raphaelite peers. Together they set out to disrupt the world
of Victorian design.
Morris’
company produced all manner of materials for home décor:
wallpaper, stained glass, tiles, carpets, furniture, and upholstery.
Inspired by Medieval art Morris covered surfaces with spiraling
vine patterns, and carved Celtic-looking animals onto furniture
legs. Organic forms, rather than classical motifs or Victorian curlicues,
prevail in his work. Each piece also revealed the handicraft of
its maker. There was no machine-produced regularity at Morris' design
firm.
It's
an irony that only the wealthy could afford Morris' hand-crafted
products. Still, Morris spoke out on behalf of socialism in his
utopian writings and through his support of the British Labour Movement.
While the works of the designer and his company may not have been
available to the masses, his struggles to preserve the individual
identity of the craftsman, and to emphasize simplicity and utility
of design, left an important mark on modern design.
Morris's
wallpapers were his best-known output, with complex designs incorporating
plants, flowers and birds.
Morris
married Jane Burden,
a beautiful model who appears in many Pre-Raphaelite paintings (she
sat for nearly all Rossetti's later works, had an affair with him
and appears above right in his Astarte
Syriaca ).
Jane,
together with her sister Bessie, did embroideries for Morris's firm.
Philip Webb designed much of the furniture, metalwork, and many
tiles. For stained glass, Morris generally designed the backgrounds
and Burne-Jones drew most of the figures, with Rossetti and Ford
Madox Brown also contributing designs. Burne-Jones also collaborated
with Morris on tapestries, designed many tiles, and drew for the
books produced by the Kelmscott Press, founded by Morris in 1891.
Morris
was described by Walter Crane as the first to approach the craft
of practical printing from the artists point of view.
 The
most important book of the Press was the Kelmscott Chaucer, which
has been described as the most beautiful book to be produced since
the Renaissance. This had typography and borders by Morris, with
87 illustrations by Burne-Jones. Other artists working as designers
for the Kelmscott Press included C. M. Gere, Arthur Gaskin, and
E. H. New, all from the Birmingham School of Art, and the Birmingham
illustrators were in general much influenced by Morris's books.
Morris's
novels are still available from second hand bookshops
and the Kelmscott Press books are very precious. A complete set
is held at the William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow, London. The
Kelmscott Chaucer has been reproduced several times.
In
1996
there were many large exhibitions of Morris's work, marking the
centenary of his death, and for this reason there are many catalogues
and books currently available.
Morris
left few paintings but his Guinevere and Sir Tristram and Iseult's
Dog (in the Tate Gallery) are a few.
Examples
of Morris's work can be found in stained glass windows, in many
churches up and down the country, and in various museums such as
the V&A and in Birmingham.
Hiis
wallpaper designs and tilework are found in reproductions and rare
originals.
The country
home of William Morris from 1871 until his death in 1896
was Kelmscott Manor in the Cotswolds.
 William
Morris chose it as his summer home, signing a joint lease with the
pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti in the summer of 1871.
Morris loved the house as a work of true craftsmanship, totally
unspoilt and unaltered and in harmony with the village and the surrounding
countryside.
He considered it so natural in its setting as to be almost organic,
it looked to him as if it had "grown up out of the soil";
and with "quaint garrets amongst great timbers of the roof
where of old times the tillers and herdsmen slept".
Kelmscott Manor is owned and managed by the Society of Antiquaries
of London
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The
creator of the american craftsman arts and crafts furniture and
the Craftsman magazine.
Gustav
Stickley -- was a hardworking, dedicated man, and
achieved success in the early 1900s as the leader of the Arts &
Crafts Movement in America. 
 In
1891, the brothers Albert and Leopold Stickley founded
the original Stickley Brothers Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
They also established operations in England which exposed them to
the European arts and crafts movement that proved so influential.
They manufactured simple yet finely crafted furniture in the arts
and crafts style for the European market, but soon were also importing
these styles into the United States as U.S. consumers developed
a more sophisticated taste for well designed and well crafted items.
Gustav Stickley, was born in Wisconsin, the son of German immigrants.
He began working with his father as a stone mason, and gained a
sound appreciation for craftmanship.
In
1870, Gustav began working in his uncle Jacob Schlaeger's
chair factory in Brandt, Pennsylvania, not leaving until 1884 to
establish his own business with his two brothers Charles and Albert
in Binghamton, NY.
 In
1897 during a trip to England, Gustav was inspired
by British reformers, John Ruskin and William Morris and subsequently
created a new line of handcrafted furniture based on honesty and
simplicity. He returned to the US and established United Crafts
which later became known as Craftsman Workshops.
In
1898 he opened United Crafts in Eastwood, New York
where he introduced his Craftsman line which, by 1900, reflected
an indigenous American Arts
& Crafts philosophy.
His
quarter sawn oak furniture incorporated overt structural details
such as tenon-and-key construction, chamfered boards, and exposed
tenons.
His
recti-linear shapes were free of any excessive ornamentation except
for what occurred naturally in the construction, design and material.
This revealed not only the excellent craftsmanship that went into
each piece, but also the beauty, simplicity, and utility of the
design. 
Gustav
occasionally decorated his tabletops with Grueby tile and often
used Grueby vases in his displays.
His
trip to the 1900 Paris Exhibition confirmed his bias against reproductions,
but while taking his philosophical inspiration from the European
Arts & Crafts movement, Stickley took his artistic inspiration
from America. Stickley felt that art should represent the everyday
lives of everyday people.
 In
1901, Gustav published The Craftsman magazine, a
chronicle of the arts and crafts movement and its design principles.
The
Craftsman promoted simple honest style in home design, decorating,
and even gardening, and become the best known and most widely read
publication of arts and crafts design.
In
1903, Harvey Ellis
was hired to write for The Craftsman, but soon began working directly
with Gustav to design a wider variety of the simple, finely crafted
furniture and accessories for which Stickley Brothers is still known
today. Where Gustav's designs were somewhat more substantial, Ellis
retained the simplicity and fine craftsmanship while evolving a
more comfortable, elegant style reminiscent of the Scottish designer
Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
However, as with most arts and crafts productions, the labor intensity
and limited market of Stickley designs coupled with the approach
of World War I led to the bankruptcy of the company in 1915. At
that point, Gustavs younger brothers Leopold and John George assumed
Gustav's debts, took over his workshops and formed the L & JG
Stickley Company.
 The
L & JG Stickley Company followed the same principles of furniture
design pioneered by Gustav, but they also fostered a greater sense
of design freedom among their craftsmen and this led to a more diverse
production.
By
this time, many U.S. manufacturers were copying the Stickley designs,
creating an entire industry around the mission style furniture that
Stickley's work had come to be known as.
While
Stickley furniture always had a degree of machine involvement in
creating the design, Gustav and his brothers really looked to machining
more as a precursor for hand crafted details. This balance provided
the foundation of the American arts and crafts movement, where machines
were used to a limited but productive degree in the furniture designs,
bringing down the cost sufficiently to open up the market to the
middle classes.
This
is a distinction unique to the American movement, for in England
any dependence whatsoever on machinery was shunned and made English
arts and crafts designs too costly for most people. Designs were
simple yet elegant, free from ornamentation and allowing the craftsmanship
itself to show through in the structural elements such as mortise
& tenon and tongue & groove joints in the furniture.
The
Stickleys always appreciated the inherent beauty of wood and leather,
and they did not feel the need to embellish the cleanliness of the
design.
In
1974, L & JG Stickley was sold by Mrs. Louise
Stickley to Alfred and Aminy Audi whose family still own and operate
the company today
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William
Frend De Morgan, arguably the most important ceramic designer of
his era was a central character in the Arts & Crafts Movement.
 He
was a life long friend of William Morris and close associate of
Edward Burne-Jones, but his style was unique. A vase, dish or tile
decorated by De Morgan is immediately recognisable by its original
motifs and technical quality.
De
Morgan was born into an intellectual family with an enthusiasm for
new ideas.
His
father, Augustus De Morgan (1806-1871), held the first chair of
mathematics at University College, London and introduced the abstract
approach to algebra.
His
mother, Sophia Frend (1809-1892), was a pioneering spiritualist
as well as being a campaigner for women’s rights and prison
reform.
William
inherited his strong urge to innovate from his parents evident not
only in his imaginative artistic designs, but also in his wide range
of technical improvements in pottery. He developed new methods of
decoration, re-introduced and refined production processes and designed
kilns as well as equipment. 
In
1859
De Morgan began studies at the Royal Academy, but was not destined
to become a painter or sculptor.
In
1863, he started experimenting with techniques to
create stained glass and decorated tiles. Contrary to what is commonly
assumed, De Morgan never became a partner in William Morris’s
Firm, but Morris did market De Morgan’s products and used
them in his decorative schemes.
During
1872,
after burning the roof of his studio in Fitzroy Square, De Morgan
moved to larger premises in Chelsea. Here he established his own
firm, which produced decorative tiles and ornamental pots. De Morgan
did not throw or paint pots himself, but he was responsible for
their decoration: Animals and birds were his favourite subjects
during this period and they appeared on his wares boldly outlined
and in bright colours. The popular Stork and Frog design dates from
this period.
Also in the early 1870s
De Morgan revived the technique of lustreware. This type of ceramic
was popular in the Middle East until the thirteenth century and
in Spain until the fifteenth century. In
Italy, where it was known as ‘maiolica’, its popularity
peaked in the sixteenth century.
What
made lustreware special was a fine metal film deposited over its
surface, which renders the colours iridescent: this shimmering shift
in colour depends on the angle at which light hits the decorated
object. Because making lustreware involves complicated firing conditions
in the kiln, it is quite hazardous. However, this did not deter
William De Morgan, who not only re-introduced this technique into
nineteenth century pottery, but refined it.
Between
1875-76 De Morgan developed what he called his Persian
colours: deep, rich tones of blue, red, yellow, violet and green.
This type of decoration was inspired by the brilliantly coloured
sixteenth century pottery of Iznik, in Turkey.
De
Morgan’s designs used the same freely drawn floral and abstract
motifs, but were of his own invention. He continued using Turkish-inspired
decoration throughout his career.
 In
1882,
demand for his ceramics increased and De Morgan moved his business
to larger premises; close to William Morris’s at Merton Abbey.
The production of ornamental vases, bowls and dishes increased significantly
and owed much to Morris’s influence, De Morgan’s beasts
and floral patterns became more intricate and refined.
In 1887 and well into
middle-age, De Morgan married the artist Evelyn Pickering (1855-1919),
almost sixteen years his junior. It was a harmonious marriage and
in addition to their artistic pursuits, they shared a well-documented
sense of humour and an idealistic spirit. Their mutual interests
included social reform, spiritualism and music. Evelyn provided
financial and moral support for her husband’s pottery business,
which was successful but still required investment capital.
In
1888 the business was moved, for the last time,
to Sands End (Fulham), where De Morgan began a ten-year partnership
with the architect Halsey Ricardo.
It
was here that De Morgan created much of his finest work. Though
his earlier decorative pottery, including the humorous or mock-heraldic
animals and persian designs, remained popular he now developed a
more mature and beautifully atmospheric style. Among the masterpieces
of this period are the triple-lustred dishes (using copper, silver
and gold) from a set that De Morgan called his ‘Sunset and
Moonlight Suite’.
Around
the same time De Morgan became involved with the Arts and Crafts
Exhibition Society. Like William Morris, De Morgan firmly advocated
fine hand craftsmanship. He served on the committee for the 1888,
1889 and 1890 exhibitions and over the years contributed regularly
to the Society’s exhibitions from 1888 until 1906.
From
the early 1890s, due to health problems De Morgan
and Evelyn decided to spend the winters in Florence and as fellow
artists they led an idyllic life in Italy. Evelyn created many of
her best pictures, while De Morgan worked on his designs with the
Italian painters he had hired. 
The
De Morgans spent weekends in the hills above Florence, at the sumptuous
villa of Evelyn’s uncle, the Pre-Raphaelite artist John Roddam
Spencer Stanhope (1829-1908).
Unfortunately, because his absence, De Morgan’s English pottery
business suffered. His partner, Ricardo, who had his own practice,
could not spend enough time overseeing work at the De Morgan factory
and their partnership ended in 1898,.
De Morgan then embarked on a new partnership with three of his employees,
but the days of his pottery were numbered.
Distance,
lack of business acumen and changes in stylistic taste all contributed
to its demise.
Finally,
in 1907, after years of financial struggle, De Morgan’s
firm went into voluntary liquidation.
Once
he stopped designing he needed another outlet for his ingenuity
and he chose writing and re-invented himself as a novelist.
His
first novel, Joseph Vance (1906), became an unexpected international
success. It was followed by other bestsellers like Alice-For-Short
(1907), Somehow Good (1908) and It Never Can Happen Again (1909).
Like
much of his design work, his novels are filled with De Morgan’s
playful sense of humour. None of his books remain in print today,
but they can still be found in libraries and specialized shops.
In
1917
William De Morgan died, probably of influenza.
Today
he is almost forgotten as a writer, but well remembered for his
magnificent and unique ceramic decoration. His glowing lustreware
is highly sought after by collectors like Andrew Lloyd Webber and
it is exhibited at the Victoria & Albert Museum, the De Morgan
Centre and other exhibitions.
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 English
Arts-and-Crafts designer, celebrated for his metalwork, but also
an architect, with some sixty buildings, most of them houses, to
his credit.
Born
in London, the son of a prosperous city merchant. Articled to GF
Bodley between 1883 and 1885 and lived at the pioneer University
Settlement at Toynbee Hall. Where he developed a Ruskin reading
class, which developed into an art and craft class, which in turn
became the nucleus of the School Of Handicraft and the Guild of
Handicraft.
He
was influenced by Morris, Ruskin, and idealistic socialism and worked
for a time with Bodley. 
In
1887-8 he founded the School
and Guild of Handicraft, which exhibited at the 1889 arts
and crafts exhibitions. The guild worked for a while in the
East End of London and is chiefly known for the metalwork
and jewellery designed by Ashbee himself, and for the furniture
and metalwork made for the Grand Duke of Hesse in conjunction with
the designer MH Baillie Scott.
In
1893 Ashbee designed a house, which was destroyed
in 1968, for his mother at 37 Cheyne Walk, London, the interiors
of which were decorated by the Guild. Other houses followed, notably
72–3 (destroyed) and 38–9 Cheyne Walk, in the Queen
Anne Revival style (1897–1903).
In
1898, the guild designed furniture for Baillie Scott's
house and for the reigning Grand Duke of Hesse at Darmstadt.
In
1900, he exhibited at the Vienna Secession.
In
1902, the guild moved to Chipping Campden in the
cotswolds and was eventually forced into liquidation in 1907.
 Ashbee
was in the forefront of conservation, and carried out many restorations,
new buildings, and extensions in Chipping Campden, all of which
were carefully considered in order to respect the character of the
place. His sensitivity was well tested when he adapted a ruined
chapel of c1100 as a dwelling-house at Broad Campden (c1906–7).
He
was one of the first British architects to realise the significance
of Frank Lloyd Wright, and he was in the vanguard of the endeavour
to bring order and care to the planning of towns and cities.
Mindful
of the huge losses of historic buildings through redevelopment,
he began a process of surveying London buildings that led to the
important Survey of London volumes.
In
1906, he published A Book of Cottages and Little
Houses (1906)
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 CFA
Voysey was the architect and designer son of the Rev. Charles Voysey,
founder of the Theistic Church.
Originally
trained as an architect, and after working as a pupil in the offices
of JP Seddon, he set up his own design practice in 1882 where he
concentrated initially on decorative work, including his own designs
for fabrics and wallpaper.
He
joined the arts and crafts
ArtWorkers Guild in 1882 
In
1888 he built his first house, a commission for
MH Lakin at Bishops' Itchington.
He
soon developed his own characteristic style; linear, simple and
with virtually no surface decoration. His designs were published
widely, exhibited at the Arts & Crafts Exhibition Society from
1888 and were highly influential.
Voysey's
furniture was made by F C Nielsen. His metalwork by Thomas Elsley
& Co. and his textiles by Alexander Morton, GP&J. Baker,
AH Lee, JW&C Ward, Stead McAlpin, Thomas Wardle, Turnbull &
Stockdale, Donald Brothers, Foxton's, Templeton's, Tomkinson &
Adam and sold to the shops Liberty
& Co., Story's and Wylie & Lochead.
In
1900
he completed his own house, The Orchard at Chorley Wood, Hertfordshire,
for which he designed most of the furniture.
In
1914 at the outbreak of WW1, his architectural practice
virtually ceased but he took up decorative designs again in the
1920's.
Given
his Quaker background there is, in his best work, an almost Shaker
spareness to which he added simple elegance well suited to todays
minimalist, clean lines philosophy. Voysey furniture designs are
still being reproduced by a number of manufacturers in both England
and America.
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Walter
cave was articled to Sir Arthur Blomfield and after a time spent
travelling abroad set up his own practice in London in 1889.
He
was a member of the inner circle of the Art Worker's Guild and used
forms of expression very close to those of CFA Voysey.
In
1897 he took over one of Voysey's commisions, a house in Steatham
Park, London.
Other
Voyseyesque houses followed but he later changed his style to a
more French Classical look. He also designed furniture, light fittings
and painted.
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Born
in Kent, the eldest son of fourteen children of a Scottish Laird.
Originally sent to agricultural college, being groomed to take over
the family holdings in Australia. However his aptitude for drawing
led him to be articled to Charles Davis, Bath City architect. Married
in 1889 and went to the Isle of Man and set up practice as an architect.
There
he met the designer Archibald Knox and later collaborated with him
on the design and execution of stained glass, iron grates and fireplace
hoods for the houses he designed there.
In
1897 he collaborated with CR Ashbee on the refurbishment
of the grand Ducal palace at Darmstadt.
In
1901
he moved to Bedford, England and through the furniture manufacturer
John P White issued a catalogue of furniture. This was retailed
thorough Liberty's as well
as White's own showrooms in Bond St, London.
Scott
rRetired in 1939
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Born
in London, the son of a prosperous lawyer. Founder member of The
Art Worker's Guild.
Persuaded
by William Morris in 1880 whom he had met at Oxford, to open a workshop
in Hammersmith, London, specialising in metalwork.
Moved
to larger premises in 1882 and in 1887 opened a showroom in Bond
St, London.
His
famous lamp and lighting designs were on show at Samuel Bing's Maison
de l'Art Nouveau in Paris.
Benson
also designed wallpaper and furniture for Morris & Co, becoming
their Managing Director in 1896. He also made furniture designs
for JS Henry & Co.
William
AS Benson retired in 1920.
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Born
in Glasgow, the son of an excise officer.
Dresser
studied at the Government School of Design and then lectured at
The Department of Science & Art at South Kensington, specialising
in botany.
 He
published a number of works, continuing to explore the relationship
between botany and design with a later interest in Japanese art.
In
the late 1860's he included designs for furniture by Burges and
Bruce talbert.
In
1871 he made his first designs for the Coalbrookdale
Co
In
1875
he began designing for Elkingtons.
In
1876 Dresser went to America and then onwards to
Japan, collecting examples of Japanese manufactures on behalf of
Tiffany & Co of New York.
He
designed for various manufacturers in subsequent years, including
Hukin & Heath, James Dixon & Sons, Ault, Linthorpe, Mintons,
Benham & Froud and William Couper amongst others.
His
range of designs covered almost all aspects of interior design &
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