The Arts & Crafts Movement
The Arts & Crafts Movement was an influential trend in the fine and decorative Arts which developed primarily in Britain from around 1880 leading to the 1920's or so with a focus on the hand crafted, folk arts; celebrating the traditional artisan and with an emphasis on socialism and belief in reform. The movement was considered to be a reaction against industrialisation in the arts and manufacturing. It held influence internationally upon design and architecture and encouraged a revival of traditional crafts as far away as Japan. It leant on movements which went before such as the Gothic Revival and work by Augustus Pugin towards a focus on structure, materials and function.
'The core characteristics of the Arts and Crafts movement are a belief in craftsmanship which stresses the inherent beauty of the material, the importance of nature as inspiration, and the value of simplicity, utility, and beauty.' University of Maryland.
Some consider that it is a British expression of what later came to be called the Art Nouveau movement and those involved produced distinctive buildings, fabrics, tiles, ceramics, furniture and metalwork.
'The term was first used by T.J.Cobden-Sanderson at a meeting of the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society in 1887, although the principles and style on which it was based had been developing in England for at least 20 years. It was inspired by the ideas of historian Thomas Carlyle, art critic John Ruskin and designer William Morris. In Scotland, it is associated with key figures such as Charles Rennie MacIntosh. Viollet le Duc's books on nature and Gothique art also play an essential part in the esthetics of the Arts and Crafts movement.' Wikipedia
The British Jewellers
One of the strongest tenets of the movement was that a piece should be created from start to finish by a single artisan (rather than piecemeal in a factory setting as had become the way in industrialised settings for instance, in the Birmingham jewellery factories). A system of Guilds for the education of budding artisans and the exchange of ideas began and these were fruitful grounds for the crafts revival. The movement encouraged more women to become involved, emancipated by modern mores to pursue their creativity and independence.
The Designs
Arts & Crafts jewellery is quite unusual and easy to identify as such as it often has a bold back to nature aesthetic in which organic floral and foliate motifs abound alongside medieval and renaissance stylings. The jewellery produced by the better known artisans can be defined by a primary use of Silver (with Gold used more so for highlight elements) and more modest semi-precious and baroque shaped gemstones in preference to Diamonds and Rubies for instance; the jewels should be artistic rather than intrinsically valuable. In celebration of hand work, the art of enamelling saw a great resurgence and can be seen as one of the foremost feature of jewels of the period.
The Artists
The bohemian cluster of individuals at the heart of the movement included established artist Georgie Gaskin and May Morris the daughter of William Morris who both produced jewellery. It is said that jewellery making was the first area of the movement in which women received real acknowledgement as in the Guilds they could train to the same level as their fellow male students.
With a wide and popular appeal, companies such as Liberty's of London saw the attraction of this beautiful style and employed artists Archibald Knox, the Gaskins and Jessie King to create collections for them. Whilst Murrle Bennet & Co produced more affordable jewels in the Arts and Crafts style in their Phorzheim, Germany factory for the British market (for the interested collector, these can still be found today). Charles Horner is another name associated with the style and could be said to be perhaps the most prolific workshop of the time. Many smaller workshops and bench jewellers also brought this influence into their work to produce rings etc for an appreciative market in somewhat of a renaissance in decorative jewellery.
We have worked out from our observations
We can often see an Arts & Crafts influence in the jewels we handle. These jewels are usually from the smaller workshops whose names and identity have been lost over time.
Something we've particularly noticed of late are pieces such as the five stone half hoop rings with beautifully leafy or carved cathedralesque shapings to the galleries. We enjoy their quiet artistry of the everyday.
We have also noticed over the years that the Chester Assay Office seemed to have handled many pieces in this style (many rings and brooches hallmarked at Chester around the turn of the 20th century show distinctive Arts and Crafts elements in their design) and we imagine a hub of busy workshops buzzing with creativity in the vicinity.
See our current collection here
The latter years
'The movement waned in the pre-World War II era and the guild movement all but disappeared after the war. However individual artisans continued to work in the Arts & Crafts style adapting their work to the changing tastes and breaking new ground with a metamorphosis to the Modernist Movement.' AJU
Artists such as Sybil Dunlop continued to work in the Arts & Crafts tradition late into the 1950's, as did Dorrie Nossiter and Bernard Instone, inspiring a new generation of studio jewellers to further experimentation in the Modernist Movement.
