Move over, William Morris – 6 Arts and Crafts artists you need to know about
Most people have heard of William Morris, one of the leaders of the 19th century Arts and Crafts movement. His abstract, nature-inspired designs still adorn everything from wallpaper to notebooks and even dog beds. But the history of this artistic movement, the other creatives who were involved and the ethos that inspired them, is less well known.
In Radio 4’s history podcast, You’re Dead To Me, Greg Jenner and his guests examine Morris and the other talented creatives both inside and outside his circle. Here are just some of those individuals:
1. Gertrude Jekyll (1843-1932)
The Morris & Co. company helped create modern interior design, but Gertrude Jekyll brought Arts and Crafts into the garden.
Beginning with her mother’s home, Jekyll showed how garden design could be integrated with the house and surrounding landscape – leading to commissions and consultancies, from rich properties to ordinary homes (she once designed a window box for a factory worker). She worked on over 400 gardens in the UK, Europe and America.
2. William Lethaby (1857-1931)
An architect and historian, William Lethaby was passionate that architecure and art should go hand in hand. Among his famous designs was All Saints Church, Brockhampton.
As co-principal of what became the Central School of Art and Design, Lethaby promoted teaching by practising designers. He also publicly championed the emancipation of women in artistic careers.
3. Mary Seton Watts (1849-1938)
Artist, designer and philanthropist, Mary Seton Watts embodied the Arts and Crafts philosophy that creative labour inspired social change. For the Watts Mortuary Chapel (pictured below), she recruited 71 local people, training most of them from scratch in skills such as ceramics. The workers enjoyed it so much, they set up their own Compton Potters’ Arts Guild, selling and exhibiting work until 1956.
4. William de Morgan (1839-1917)
An early Arts and Crafts pioneer, William de Morgan was a stained-glass designer and self-taught ceramicist.
Despite blowing up his workshop in an early experiment, de Morgan became a master of his craft, inventing new colour techniques and kiln designs, and reviving lost methods.
William de Morgan's customers included writer Lewis Carroll and Tsar Alexander II of Russia.
5. Charles Robert Ashbee (1863-1942)
Not only an architect, metalworker and more, Charles Robert Ashbee founded the Guild of Handicraft in 1888 to provide training and employment for working-class men and boys in East London. It shared profits among its members, as well as holding communal meals, offering evening classes, and organising activities such as plays, singing, river trips and cricket games.
6. May Morris (1862-1938)
Okay, so she was William Morris’s daughter, but May Morris was a force in her own right. She was an influential embroiderer and designer, she taught at the Central School of Art and became an expert textile historian, producing books, articles and lecture tours.
May Morris co-founded the Women’s Guild of Arts to promote equal opportunities in creative careers.
