More on the Arts & Crafts Movement: Industrial Revolution
France had a revolution, The French Revolution, and it changed the politics of France. England had a revolution, The Industrial Revolution, and it changed the nature of the world. The British revolution emerged when it developed steam power which replaced the horse and the blast furnace which made iron an alternative to wood. As well, came a population explosion which made workers for the subsequent mills and factories as well as the customers who bought what the mills and factories turned out in greater quantities than ever before. This Industrial Revolution changed a way of life that hadn’t changed much at all for hundreds of years prior.
Throughout this period, men of letters censured the outcome of industrialization for the loss of skills and abilities of the workman as the executor of his work and his craft. The workman had become a cog in a machine. The societal changes were written about, attitudes and mores were expressed in the writings of Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881); John Ruskin (1819-1900); and William Morris (1834-1896.) As with any great movement which affects change and introduces sea changes in thought and behavior, no one man is responsible. The times and other like minds play their parts. That said, condensed history and focus singles out one or two names. In this case it was William Morris.
In 1856, when he was 22, he signed articles to enter the tutelage of the architect, George Edmund Street expected to take 5 to 7 years. This was also his introduction to friends and acquaintances who were also students of architecture, men who were to become significant in one way or another in the development and establishment of the Arts & Crafts Movement. Names such as Phillip Webb, John Sedding, Norman Shaw, Alfred Pawel, William Lethaby, Ernest Gimson and the brothers, Ernest and Sidney Barnsley.
It was Morris who was the most prolific as a writer, lecturer and organizer. He is said to have become proficient in better than ten crafts and it is of some consequence that some of his work is still in the marketplace today. That said, it was Arthur Mackmurdo who organized and launched the “Country Guild” for craftsmen in 1882. It championed the idea that there was no meaningful difference between fine art and the decorative arts, which was a radical notion at the time. In 1887 the Arts & Crafts Exhibition Society was formed with Walter Crane as its founding president. In 1891, William Morris succeeded Crane. Its purpose was to promote the decorative arts alongside fine art. Exhibits were held until the end of the first decade of the new century and by then, its influence had spread throughout The British Empire, most of Europe and the United States.
It is to Ernest Gimson and Ernest and Sidney Barnsley that furniture makers owe a debt of gratitude. In 1893, they got together and moved to The Cotswolds, a rural area of south and central England. It has rolling hills with a mix of medieval villages and stately homes. All three had architectural and interior work on hand but they were determined to become active in the building and furniture making process. Because of their ability as architects, they were successful in their goal to design simple and elegant solutions to furniture problems. As well, what they collectively succeeded in doing, was to create a common vocabulary and common working methods for making solid wood furniture.
Put briefly, their work method goes like this: “We have concluded that for any process the best result is achieved by such and such a working method. We will all adopt said method but, if the method can be improved upon by getting the same outcome in a shorter time, we will adopt the improvement. Or, if a better result can be accomplished in the same time we will adopt the technique.” The reality is that their working methods were and are practically unassailable. These were the working and making methods and techniques which I learned in my time at Loughborough. They were not by chance.
In 1901, Gimson offered the position of foreman and manager of his workshop to Peter Van Der Waals, a cabinet maker trained in The Netherlands. After Gimson’s death in 1919, Van Der Waals continued to run the shop until 1937.
In 1935, he was appointed as a consultant and visiting professor at Loughborough. He introduced the standard of work and methods developed by Gimson and the Barnsleys that were the basis of my education. The adoption of this comprehensive program was totally effective. Van Der Waals died in 1937 so his tenure at Loughborough wasn’t long.
In 1900, Sidney Barnsley had a son named Edward. From 1952-55, during my time at Loughborough, Edward was the visiting professor. Reggie Gough, his earlier foreman, had been appointed a senior lecturer so the atmosphere and the work were steeped in what had come to be known as “The Cotswold Tradition.” The methods and mores had been developed by Gimson and The Barnsleys.
Throughout my studies at Loughborough, the material we used was solid wood, the tools were hand tools and the glue was animal glue. This study prepared me to do two things; first, develop the skills to put the working methods into practice; second, to apply the thinking and attitude such training imparts and use it on the materials which were developed in that period, the 1950s and 60s. These materials included particleboard, medium density fiberboard, glues and the more finely sliced veneers of the disappearing rare and exotic wood species.