Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society
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| Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society | |
|---|---|
| Name | Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society |
| Founded | 1887 |
| Founders | William Morris; Walter Crane; May Morris |
| Location | London |
| Purpose | Exhibition and promotion of decorative arts and crafts |
Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society The Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society was a British organization established in the late 19th century to promote decorative arts and artisan craftwork in reaction to industrial manufacture. Its exhibitions and publications connected networks of designers, makers, patrons, critics and institutions across London, Manchester, Glasgow, Birmingham and beyond, influencing movements such as the Arts and Crafts Movement, the Aesthetic Movement and precursors to Modernism. The Society's activities engaged figures associated with William Morris, Walter Crane, Philip Webb and institutions like the Victoria and Albert Museum, Guildhall and the Royal Academy of Arts.
History
The Society emerged amid debates involving William Morris, John Ruskin, Walter Crane, Philip Webb and advocates in Oxford and Cambridge for craft revivals during the 1880s, intersecting with exhibitions at the Royal Society of Arts, the V&A, and municipal displays in Manchester Art Gallery and Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. Early meetings referenced events such as the Great Exhibition legacy and responses to industrial developments visible in Birmingham and Sheffield, while press coverage in papers aligned with editors tied to The Studio and critics like John Addington Symonds and W. G. Collingwood helped shape public reception. Debates over taste and production linked to patrons including William Morris's Kelmscott Press associates, collectors in Chelsea and institutions like the British Museum.
Founding and Key Figures
Founders and prominent members included William Morris, Walter Crane, May Morris, Philip Webb, C.R. Ashbee, R. W. Emerson-linked visitors, and proponents from Oxford University and the Slade School of Fine Art. Key administrators and exhibitors featured makers and designers associated with Morris & Co., workshops influenced by Birmingham School artisans, silversmiths with connections to Liberty & Co., and architects sympathetic to proponents such as E. S. Prior and Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Important critics and supporters encompassed figures from the Art Journal, curators at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and collectors tied to the Tate Gallery and country-house commissions in Surrey and Sussex.
Exhibitions and Activities
The Society organized juried shows that displayed work by potters, weavers, embroiderers, metalworkers, bookbinders and furniture-makers at venues including the New Gallery, the Grafton Galleries, and halls near Trafalgar Square. Exhibitions presented objects from studios connected to Morris & Co., workshops influenced by C.R. Ashbee and pieces by practitioners trained at the Royal College of Art, Glasgow School of Art, and provincial art schools in Birmingham and Leeds. Catalogues and lectures involved contributors from the British Museum, critics linked to The Studio, and correspondents associated with societies such as the Crafts Council and municipal art committees in Liverpool.
Influence and Legacy
The Society's imprint is evident in institutional collections at the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Tate Britain, the British Museum, and regional galleries like Manchester Art Gallery and Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, and in the careers of designers who later taught at the Royal College of Art, the Glasgow School of Art, and the Slade School of Fine Art. Its ethos informed later organizations including the Design and Industries Association and influenced figures involved with the Bauhaus, Frank Lloyd Wright-related circles, and reformers active in municipal art policies in London and Glasgow. The Society also shaped discourse in periodicals such as The Studio, The Art Journal, and later historiography by writers associated with the Victoria and Albert Museum’s curatorial staff.
Membership and Organization
Membership comprised professional craftsmen, amateur artisans, patrons, dealers and curators drawn from networks around Morris & Co., the Birmingham School, the Glasgow School of Art, and provincial guilds. Organizational structures reflected committees with representatives from bodies like the Royal Academy of Arts, the Royal Society of Arts, and municipal art committees in Manchester and Birmingham, and convened juries including critics from The Studio and curators from the Victoria and Albert Museum. Regional affiliates and exhibitors connected to workshops in Dorset, Devon, Cornwall, and industrial centers like Sheffield broadened membership beyond London.
Collections and Notable Works
Works shown and later acquired by institutions included textiles and wallpapers by Morris & Co., metalwork associated with C.R. Ashbee and Birmingham craftsmen, furniture designs by Philip Webb and pieces from the Glasgow School of Art, ceramics by studios linked to William De Morgan and potteries in Stoke-on-Trent, and book-arts from Kelmscott Press and private binders whose collections entered the British Library and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Surviving panels, embroideries, tiles and stained glass connected to exhibitors later featured in retrospective displays at the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Tate Britain, and regional museums including Manchester Art Gallery and Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, while auction records involve houses with histories overlapping Christie's and Sotheby's.