Arts and Crafts Antique Furniture - A Return to Simpler Times

When we anticipate of names like Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1812-52) and William Morris (1834-1896) today, we anticipate of these men as decorators - Pugin getting amenable for the abdomen of the Houses of Parliament, and conceivably rather unkindly, Morris for wallpaper, tiles and abode mats. However, both these men were agog reformers of their day and were in allotment amenable for the ancestry of the Arts and Crafts Movement, which reacted adjoin low superior accumulation produced appliance and added domiciliary items getting bogus during the Victorian era.

Both these men capital a acknowledgment to simpler duke crafted forms of production. For Pugin it was the medieval designs of Gothic appliance and bluntness in construction, area joints were apparent on the apparent of pieces. A acclaimed architecture of his, an armoire fabricated by J. G. Crace for the 1851 Great Exhibition, was purchased anon by the Victoria and Albert Museum area it charcoal today.

Morris set up Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. in 1861. Unlike Pugin, Morris did not architecture appliance but his assembly J P Seddon, William Burges and Philip Webb all produced the duke crafted artlessly styled pieces so evocative of Arts and Crafts furniture. The 'Sussex' chair' by Webb was an archetype of a commonly styled blitz built-in armchair fabricated of begrimed or ebonized beech. Added afterwards examples by George Jack included a handmade oak dining table with herringbone architecture forth the side, and eight duke carved and askance legs with floral decorations inserted.

Keeping to the idylls of the Arts and Crafts movement was difficult. Pugin beat himself in his attempts to charm his Gothic Revival appearance in the Houses of Parliament and died anon afterwards the decorations were completed. Morris was angry a accident action in his admiration to attempt with Victorian accumulation produced appliance which was abundant cheaper than his firm's duke created pieces. Ironically, Arts and Crafts appliance that was fabricated to best the handcraftsmanship of the artisan could alone be afforded by the actual wealthy.

After traveling into backroom in 1883, Morris caved in to accumulation assembly somewhat by acceptance appliance from his close to be fabricated application accouterment in allotment in adjustment that pieces should be cheaper and added about affordable. In his idealised world, factories were alone accessible four hours a day and workers were able to aberrate about branch area and acknowledge pieces of carve on show, rather than be chained to the caster of Victorian accumulation production.

The Arts and Crafts Movement itself acquired drive afterwards in the 19th aeon and through followers such as Voysey, Mackmurdo, Ashbee and Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Arts and Crafts 'progressive' appliance was developing its own accurate appearance and was eventually adopted by firms such as Heals & Son. Rennie Mackintosh's appliance designs still absorb that aspect of change today and his plan managed to alternate the simpler appropriate angled administration of the Arts and Crafts with the added amoebic floral forms of the Art Nouveau.

Fine Arts and Crafts appliance and Cumbria accept become alike in the antiques world. Should you ambition to antecedent some absorbing examples of Arts and Crafts appliance in Cumbria, bounded antiques dealers will be able to abetment you.