INFLUENCES IN DESIGN AN OMNIUM GATHERUM || PUTTING TOGETHER THE PIECES: The Century Guild of Artists...

The Decorative Arts Society 1850 to the Present

PUTTING TOGETHER THE PIECES: The Century Guild of Artists Room at the Royal JubileeExhibition, Manchester, 1887 and its work at Pownall HallAuthor(s): Stuart EvansSource: The Journal of the Decorative Arts Society 1850 - the Present, No. 31, INFLUENCESIN DESIGN AN OMNIUM GATHERUM (2007), pp. 22-35Published by: The Decorative Arts Society 1850 to the PresentStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41809379 .

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PUTTING TOGETHER

THE PIECES

The Century Guild of Artists Room at the Royal Jubilee

Exhibition, Manchester, 1887 and its wor' at Pownall Hall

Stuart Evans

In Journal 21 (1997) Stuart Evans wrote of the

history of the short-lived Century Guild of Artists and their participation in the International Inventions Exhibition in London in 1885 . The record of the Guild's activities remains incomplete, but he here adds to the picture by examining their stand at the Manchester exhibition which celebrated

Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee , and whether it

formed the basis of their chief commission , the

drawing room at Pownall Hall

The career.

promoted

Century During

artistic

Guild its of

individuality.

Artists

time, it had

publicly

a

It

brief

was career. During its time, it publicly promoted artistic individuality. It was

based in London and was active between 1883 and 1892, during the partnership of its only full

members, the architects Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo (1851-1942) and Herbert Percy Home (1864-1914). Today its work is largely known from published reports of its room

settings, which were displayed at half a dozen exhibitions between 1884 and 1888, and through its journal, The Century Guild Hobby Horse.1 This article is occasioned by the discovery of a

previously unknown illustration (Fig. 1) of the room displayed by the Guild at the Royal Jubilee Exhibition in Manchester in 1887 ('the Manchester exhibition'), previously known only

4. View of the stands on the East Nave of the Manchester exhibition, 1887, from H.Garside, A photographic record of the Manchester Royal Jubilee Exhibition, 1887. Courtesy of Stephen Yates.

1. The Century Guild of Artists display at the Manchester exhibition, 1887, from A Notice* of the exhibits of E.Goodall & Co at the Manchester Royal Jubilee Exhibition, 1 887*. Courtesy of Stephen Yates.

23



2. The Century Guild of Artists display at the Manchester exhibition, 1887, from The Journal of Decorative Art, 1887.

3. The Century Guild drawing room at Pownall Hall, Cheshire, drawn byT.Raffles Davison, from The Art Journal, 1891.

from a poorly drawn view (Fig. 2). The record of the Guild is in general remarkably incomplete: there is no list of its clients or main

work, and no definitive list of those who were involved. In addition to adding a piece to the

picture, it gives us a more developed view of their refitting of the drawing room at Pownall

Hall, Cheshire. This was also undertaken in 1887 and has speculatively been thought to be based on the furnishings shown at Manchester.2 The extensive reworking of the Pownall

drawing room (Fig. 3) has come to be seen as the Guild's chief commission and is the only instance known of the Guild's work being illustrated as it was at the time.3 It is therefore

appropriate to consider both of the Guilds two

important projects that year, and to evaluate its other work and its relationship with its Manchester agents, Goodall & Co.

PRIMARILY A SOCIETY OF ARTISTS

This essay is a sequel to one published in Decorative Arts Society Journal on the Century Guilds stand at the Inventions Exhibition in 1885. That also dealt in detail with the Guilds

aims, the artists who are known to have taken

part and how its work was organized.4 In addition to Mackmurdo and Home, the artist

Selwyn Image (1849-1930) was closely involved. Others were associated with the

Guild, and showed their work in its group displays. More distant were those who

produced work that was in sympathy with what the Guild was trying to do. Its

overarching aim was 'the unity of arť - the fine and applied arts and architecture, and, through the Hobby Horse, the literary arts. A commentator noted that 'it is a society of artists

primarily, and a trading concern secondarily, which is an inversion of the ordinary trading method'.5

Nevertheless, it had agents in London and Manchester who made the furniture it

designed, and who displayed and sold its work. The designs for wallpapers and textiles, includ-

ing carpets, were produced by specialist firms. It is thought to have had some influence at the time as a result of its exhibition appearances and through The Century Guild Hobby Horse, which was one of the earliest of the little magazines'.6 In style its work has been described as

'proto-Art Nouveau', and it was known not

only in Britain but in northern Europe and in North America.

THE EXHIBITION

The Manchester exhibition was one of a number which took place around the country to mark the fiftieth anniversary of Queen Victoria's accession to the throne. Along with

24 THE DECORATIVE ARTS SOCIETY JOURNAL 2OO7



most of the others, Manchester sought to celebrate the age by inviting manufacturers to hire stands and to display their wares. It was

enthusiastically supported by the local business and manufacturing community. Manchester was a city of great wealth and second only to London as a centre for furniture making. This

industry was well represented by such leading firms as Lamb, Kendal Milne and Goodall.

Overall artistic control for the design of the exhibition lay in the hands of the architect and furnisher George Faulkner Armitage. The stands he designed for the display of the applied arts resembled Cheshire half-timbered houses. The Century Guild and its agents were situated on the East Nave of the exhibition (Fig. 4). A

contemporary illustration shows Goodall & Cos stand second on left. Due to the angle, one can see the thin treatment of the black and white facades. With the tawdry feeling of the exhib-

ition space empty of visitors, the bleak light and worn matting, the picture compares badly with the line drawing from Goodalls advertising pamphlet (Fig. 5). The latter shows passers by gazing in at the goods displayed, watched by a

group on the 'balcony*. The view is framed by a 'tree' to the left and a 'kerb' in the foreground; one could be looking at a busy shopping scene in Cranford. In both views The Century Guild of Artists cantilevered sign with its prominent classical frame is clearly visible.

The advertising pamphlet was also issued

by Goodall & Co to promote its own work and the Guild's. It illustrates the suite of 'miniature rooms' (full-size although small in area) shown

by Goodall & Co - hall, drawing and dining rooms, boudoir and two bedrooms - with

lengthy and effusive descriptions. It also shows the Century Guilds adjoining stand and includes a description for which a very different

5. View of the adjoining stands of Goodall & Co and The Century Guild of Artists at the Manchester exhibition, from Goodall & Co's publication . Courtesy of Stephen Yates.

THE DECORATIVE ARTS SOCIETY JOURNAL 2OO7 25



and more guarded tone was adopted. It identifies the Guild as 'a body of disciples of

John Ruskin, William Morris, and other

apostles of artistic culture', outlines its aim and

activities, and continues:

'. . .the present Exhibit is intended to show how far this lofty aim can be satisfactorily carried out in modern interior decoration and furnishing. In the first place, the Guilds

Drawing Room is severe. It is as well to admit this at once. No concessions to inartistic or vulgar considerations are allowed to hold sway for a moment. At no point, and in no single instance, is communion held with the Commonplace. The result to the untutored eye is somewhat hard and heavy, but a moments inspection serves to reveal the

many beauties of the furnishing and

decoration, emphasises the absolute correctness of the Guild s theory and clearly demonstrates the value of its practice.'7

Coming from the Guild's agent this is a cautious comment and could be read as Goodall & Co distancing itself. However, it neatly introduces the very different qualities of the Guild's designs, and prepares and entices the viewer with the promise of the exclusive cachet and avant-garde character of the austerely refined approach. That the 'notice' had been written by an independent critic - if it really was - adds a note of authority to circumvent criticism from other sources. Notices of the Guild and its work in the two previous years had been divided. The Cabinet Maimer, representing the furniture trade, was critical of the Guild's anti-commercial stance as well as its

exaggerated designs, while the architectural

press was generally favourable. The Builder, in

1885, had outlined its aims and praised its work at the Inventions exhibition, while in 1886 The British Architect praised the Guild's activities and work at the Liverpool exhibition.8 Press notices of the Guild's work shown at the Manchester exhibition were brief and not very supportive, apart from one in The Journal of Decorative Art,9

6. Conjectural layout plan of The Century Guild of Artists stand at the Manchester exhibition, 1887.

In general, the notices commented that the Guild's stand appeared cramped and that it was

impossible properly to appreciate the rather

large individual items shown because they were

placed too close together. Both the illustrations of the interior of the Guild's stand are taken from near the entrance. They agree on the main

points although each one shows items not seen in the other. Using the three illustrations of the stand (Figs. 1, 2 & 5) and references in press notices it is possible to identify many of the items

shown, and thus to consider what happened to them and whether they formed part of the

drawing room scheme at Pownall. It is also

possible to propose (although conjecturally) a

layout plan of the exhibition stand (Fig. 6).

THE CENTURY GUILD STAND

The bays of the galleries at the Manchester exhibition were circa 4.5 m (15 feet) in width, and this was also the approximate depth. The

frontage of the Century Guild's stand was open with a waist height railing fronting a 'veranda' around lm (3 feet 3 inches) deep. This was used

2Ó THE DECORATIVE ARTS SOCIETY JOURNAL 2OO7



for demonstrations of modelling by Benjamin Creswick, who was a protégé of John Ruskin.

Creswick, who was from Sheffield, was

working with the Guild. The major fixed

pieces were a fireplace, which stood opposite the entrance and on an axis with it; a cabinet which was on the left and a third piece to the

right. The rear corners of the stand had coved corner units, which were probably repeated in * the angles between the side walls and the veranda returns, although these are not visible in the illustrations. These items were linked by wainscoting, all of which were of the same

height, circa 2.2m (seven feet). All the

furnishings were carried out in Australian

abeille, 'the colour of old satinwood'. As the

quotation given earlier notes, the overall design was severe and rectilinear. It is likely that the architectural fittings and furniture were

designed by Mackmurdo. They were certainly executed for the Guild by Goodall & Co.

although each item carried the sort of enrichment the Guild preferred, executed

individually by named contributors. With its bold central arch the fireplace is

a more dramatic composition than other Guild

fireplaces, including the two at Pownall. It is not known what happened to it subsequently. The mantelshelf is supported by crouching figures, depicting miners winning coal. They were modelled by Creswick, who had

provided similar figures for the stands at the Inventions and Liverpool exhibitions. He also modelled the bust of Ruskin, identified by the Guild as its inspiring genius, which can be seen on the cabinet shelf on the left in the illustration from Goodall's pamphlet. In

addition, Creswick was responsible for the moulded plaster panels in the frieze above and to the side of the fireplace. The fire opening has a simple marble surround and is lined with De Morgan tiles. The architecturally treated basket grate was to the Guild's design and was cast by the Coalbrookdale Co in iron with cast brass details originally modelled by Creswick. In front of the fire can be seen a fender with a

waved top and pierced panels. This appears similar to one designed by Herbert Home. The brass sheet is pierced with stylised flower or flame shapes. It is now in the collection of the William Morris Gallery.10

THE CABINET AND THE PIANO

In its overall design the cabinet which stood to the left suggests an Italian Renaissance model

(Fig. 7). It is a curious composition, combining different elements. The lower part, a stepped and coved plinth or stand, has an infill of horizontal boards with grooved joints and forms a massive, almost rugged base. The more delicate upper part has a canopy and pillars, with a dentilled cornice. The door panels are filled with lush, vigorously painted scrolling decoration of vine leaves and grapes threaded

through by a text from Shelley which is so

7. Century Guild canopied cabinet on stand executed in abeille with painted decoration to the doors. Courtesy of the William Morris Gallery.




stylized it has to be picked out rather than read: 'Nor heed nor see/ What things they be/ But of these create he can/ Forms more real than living man'. There are drawers below the cupboards, with brass handles enriched with repoussé back

plates with swirling decoration. Overall it is a massive and rather severe piece. It appears to have remained in Mackmurdos possession and was later donated to the Century Guild collection at the William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow.11

Also visible in the exterior and interior views from the Goodall & Co pamphlet is an

upright piano. The back is paneled and enriched with columns so that it could face into the room. This is similar to one shown by the

Century Guild at the Inventions exhibition in 1885. It is not known what happened to this

piece. It does not appear in the contemporary description of the Pownall drawing room

although the owner, Henry Boddington, was interested in music.

A 'MUSIC THRONE'?

It has been speculated that a settee of the type shown at the Inventions exhibition, and called a 'music throne' by The Cabinet Matter, was shown at Manchester.12 It is tempting to identify this with one thought to have been designed and made for the drawing room at Pownall, namely, a canopied settee. This is described in the

contemporary review of the house as 'a canopied seat with brass repoussé panels on the frieze'.13 It is identified with one now at the Victoria and Albert Museum (Fig. 8).14 This has an

upholstered seat cased in a wooden base with wooden back panels rising above and a wooden

canopy supported on slender pillars. The

simplicity of its design suggests an Italian Renaissance model. The loose curtains hung at the sides and the upholstery are in Praise of the Soul cretonne designed by Herbert Home.15 The round pillars are enriched with shallow

carvings of flowering organic motifs, similar to

8. Century Guild canopied settee in abeille with metal plaques to the frieze and with curtains and upholstery in Praise of the Soul cretonne by H.P.Horne. Courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum.

9. Part of a Century Guild wall fitment with painted decoration. Courtesy of the William Morris Gallery.




those on the chairs shown at Liverpool. The

canopy's frieze is enriched with plaques alternately of cast brass and pierced repoussé brass, possibly by Creswick.

With the Goodall's illustration, a more

plausible explanation is that the wall fitment visible above the man's head is part of a linked

group of cupboards. Described as 'two match-

ing cupboards . . . formerly joined by a central

structure, the door of each unit decorated by Selwyn Image with a head and inscription in a

roundelV6 it was retained by Mackmurdo and survives in part at the William Morris Gallery. What can be seen from the drawing certainly resembles the surviving cupboard parts (Fig. 9). Fittings similar to the coved corner units visible in interior views were fixed in situ in the entrance lobby at Mackmurdo's house, Great

Ruffins, in Essex, when it was sold in the 1920s.

TWO CHANGES

Compared with work previously shown by the Guild there were two significant changes for

Manchester, both in the design of the overall scheme and in the individual pieces. First, although a predominantly rectilinear silhouette was maintained, there was no longer the mannerism of exaggerated cappings and deeply projected horizontal mouldings and cornices used at the Inventions and Liverpool. This resulted in an even more severe appearance than before in the design of the larger fixed items. The effect of this was to some extent

mitigated by the other change which the Guild

introduced, namely, rounded, even curvaceous forms which were employed for the smaller movable ifems placed among the main pieces. These included a circular table with turned

legs, a drum-shaped, painted cabinet on a stand, the curved, wall-hung corner fitments, two different freestanding chairs, and the embroidered fire screen shown at the Inventions exhibition.17

This shift can be clearly seen by comparing the design of the small rectangular cabinet shown

10. Century Guild cabinet with painted decoration by Selwyn Image shown at the Liverpool exhibition, 1886 .

at Liverpool (Fig. 10), and the small drum shaped cabinet shown at Manchester (Fig. 2, on the left), both of which had painted decoration by Image. The Liverpool cabinet is clear in form and

structure, with the slender framing of its stand, the upper stage sharp in outline with a deep cornice and with 'framed' panels of painted decoration. The drum-shaped cabinet, in

contrast, is less clear in form. It has a domed top and the stand has five turned urn-shaped legs. The painted decoration is said to depict tulips and butterflies and appears to flow around the drum.

Although it would be an important piece of

Century Guild painted furniture, and could have

gone to Pownall, like the circular table it is only known from the illustrations.

The view in Goodall & Cos pamphlet (Fig. 1) shows two other pieces. To the left is a

THE DECORATIVE ARTS SOCIETY JOURNAL 200J 2$



11. Drawing room displayed by Goodall & Co at the Manchester exhibition, from A 'notice' of the exhibits of E.Goodall & Co at the Manchester Royal Jubilee Exhibition, 1887'. Courtesy of Stephen Yates.

high backed side chair. This is a type seen before, when an example with a colonnaded top to the back was shown at the Inventions exhibition. The Manchester piece looks light and slender in

design, with thin cabriole legs and a tall framed back panel, perhaps with turning to the side frames. The seat and back have upholstery panels and there is a circular panel, painted or

upholstered, let into the top panel of the back. On the other side of the table is shown a semicircular

chair, also with cabriole legs, and with a drop-in upholstered seat pad, galleried arms and a framed and upholstered raised back panel. The

framing to the panel has carved swirls using plant forms, while the upholstery is described as hand- loomed silk and incorporates a Latin motto.18 Both of these chairs are unknown apart from these illustrations. Hanging from the ceiling is a fretted brass electrolier, shown with what appear to be rather bulbous early light bulbs. A brass oil

lamp sits on the table below. The colouring of the Century Guild's

scheme was mellow. The lower part of the room and the fittings were in yellowish abeille,

while the walls above were painted stone or buff. The cabinet furniture and items of metalwork were brass. Both illustrations show ceramic pieces which are probably by De

Morgan. The carpet is not described.

Scrutiny of the drawings and reports of the stand at the Manchester exhibition shows

examples of Century Guild work that were

previously not known. It also suggests that, unless the canopied settee was there, little or none of the work was to form part of the Guild's scheme for the drawing room at Pownall Hall. Instead, the Manchester exhibition stand was a separate project, several

significant items of which remained with Mackmurdo for many years. The layout plan suggests the enclosed and rather crowded nature of the space.

THE GUILD AND GOODALL

In discussing the firm's own work, Goodall & Cos pamphlet is informed by a knowledge of the furnishing business and is full of self-praise:




'for many years past [it] has deservedly occupied one of the - if not absolutely the - leading position among artistic furnishers'. It delights in the materials, colours and skills, the

description of the drawing room (Fig. 11)

lingering over the richness of the cedar and

rosewood, 'the carving masterly in execution'; the colouring of the rosewood furniture

'upholstered in pale blue Genoa velvet. . .[seen] ...against a wall of creamy white, appears to

great advantage' ; and the artwork 'a cleverly painted frieze, depicting orchids and other

exotics, with... a bird of rich plumage', rich

Japanese plaques, English water colours, an embroidered firescreen, and so on. The room is 'invested with artistic merit' and shows 'how

thoroughly Messrs Goodall & Co are aware of the effect of the minutest artistic detail'.19

As an ensemble Goodall & Cos drawing room typifies the art furnishing movement of the

period, not least because it was assembled by a commercial firm without naming either the artists who produced the works, or the designer who coordinated them. The quotation from the

pamphlet's cautious description of the Century Guild's display, given earlier, suggests just how different it was seen to be both ideologically and

stylistically. The Guild designs incorporated painted panels, carved capitals or repoussé metal handles and mounts, each one executed

individually by named contributors, as well as

separate items of metalwork, ceramics, textiles. To underscore this recognition of creative

contributions, Benjamin Creswick worked at the front of the stand for several sessions each week, a living demonstration of the Guild's artistic commitment. However, both Goodall & Co and the Guild must have thought they would benefit from their relationship, and not only for their mutual benefit in obtaining and realizing commissions. For Goodall there was the

dangerous excitement of having this radical

group on board, demonstrating to their clientele that they were keeping up to the minute. For the

Century Guild there may have been a fnancial

advantage - perhaps its display space was paid

for by Goodall & Co, perhaps even production of its display was not charged for?

Goodall & Cos 'alternative' strategy went

beyond the Century Guild, for on the upstairs landing of the firm's stand at Manchester they showed 'a chest of drawers designed for a workman's cottage' by Ford Madox Brown for

everyman to make, although this example had been made by 'Mr J. Waddington, a working cabinet maker residing at 29, City Road, Manchester'.20

THE POWNALL HALL DRAWING ROOM

The drawing room at Pownall Hall is known from the T. Raffles Davison articles on the

refitting of the house in The Art Journal , cited earlier. They include a drawn view of the room,

although this shows barely a quarter of the

space (Fig. 3). Davison was himself an architect. His comments are as perceptive and his

ascriptions as accurate as his sketches are

charming and informative. Some parts of the

drawing room scheme remain in situ , and the commission and the design have been explored in an earlier essay about the Century Guild's connection with Manchester and the North West region.21 It is argued here that none of the work from the Manchester exhibition went to Pownall. In recent years several items of furniture for which the house is the suggested provenance have appeared on the market, in

particular a secretaire and a group comprising a pair of chairs and a tea table. It is worth

considering these.22 The Guild's client at Pownall was Henry

Boddington, a wealthy brewer. He was a patron to many artists including Ford Madox Brown. His tastes were highly developed, and he was used to exercising them. Possibly the range of artists and craftworkers he used in the trans- formation of his new home reflects a familiarity based on the systematic enhancement of licensed premises. Boddington had already furnished his dining room with pieces from the

THE DECORATIVE ARTS SOCIETY JOURNAL 2OO7 3I



Century Guild stand at the Liverpool exhibition in 1886.

The drawing room is comfortably spacious, around 10 x 6m (33 x 20 feet), with two large Gothic windows with traceried heads. The Century Guild scheme gave it coherence by imposing a grid like frame and

using a limited pallette of colours, predominantly yellows (Fig. 3). The windows were given columnar surrounds with curtains

hung within them. The fireplace also has columns on either side. The walls had a narrow

display shelf at elbow height and the ceiling was

gridded into panels. The furniture and fittings were in yellowish abeille. The walls below were

painted a soft cream, and the walls above the shelf were hung with Home's Praise of the Soul

cretonne, citron coloured and gathered; the same fabric was also used for the curtains to the windows and the canopied settee. Around the room ran a deep frieze painted by Image showing the arts depicted as muses reclining in a classical landscape. The ceiling panels, designed by Home, were filled with a repeating arrangement of painted decorative panels, depicting snipe and hare counter-charged with

foliage. Chandeliers of pierced brass hung on tassels at the four corners of the ceiling panels and oil lamps on brackets are shown at least at the fireplace and were perhaps repeated around the room.

The illustration shows only one corner of the room and very little of its furnishings. However, the canopied settee can be positioned facing the fireplace from Davison's description. Out of view to the left is a mirror backed fitment of shelves that remains in situ . To the side of the fire, behind the coal box, can be seen a set of fire-irons suspended from a circular

plaque apparently enriched with the repoussé work flower patterning typical of the Guild's work. Of the loose furniture, the cabinet shown

standing in the corner, with its upper staging supported on inverted cabrioles, appears identical in design to one shown at the Inventions exhibition in 1885, when it was described as a music cabinet. Other pieces seen in Davison's sketch are obviously by the Guild: the coal box has pilastered angles and a typical oval floral motif; while the fender has what looks like panels of undulating foliage punctuated by sunflower heads, probably in

12, Pair of chairs by the Century Guild , probably from the drawing room at Poumall Hall Courtesy of Paul Reeves.

32 THE DECORATIVE ARTS SOCIETY JOURNAL 200J



pierced repoussé work, mounted in a rather solid looking frame composed with architectural mouldings.

The chair in the foreground is shown covered in what is recognizably Homes Praise

of the Soul pattern. This particular chair is of distinctive design with a rather French, eighteenth century appearance. It has a shallow cabriole curve to the front legs, which continues

up into the arm which is supported by a side

panel with an oval motif, similar to the floral

patterned one in the coal box. This chair is known only from this illustration, however a

pair of similar chairs and a related table have

recently come to light (Fig. 12). The form is

generally similar but without the arms, and the

photograph reveals information which applies to both. The vertical frames are emphasized by being carried above the top rail as knobs carved to suggest seeds. This is similar to the chairs in the dining room but here is more pronounced bringing to mind the Guild's emblem in which its initials 'CG' are curved around the stem of a

pomegranate - Persephone's legendary fruit -

split suggestively to show its seeds and symbol- izing the hope of artistic regeneration. The chairs have been reupholstered in an original fabric designed by Mackmurdo, which has a

beige-gold pattern on a grey blue ground and was also used to upholster the set of chairs in the dining room.

The tea table is even more remarkable and in one respect its design is close to later French Art Nouveau practice (Fig. 13). It has slender

legs, cut flat from the plank with a slight wave form to suggest a cabriole, a not unusual feature in Century Guild work. The shelf under the top is supported by braces which are angled upwards, again a familiar motif, but here angled to suggest branches so that they appear to grow from the legs, while the legs carry leaf motifs where these braces 'bud'. This suggests that Mackmurdo intended the timber constructional form and use of plant detail as a metaphor of

growth forms. This suggests Art Nouveau furniture designs, for example by Emile Gallé.

13. Aua table by the Century Guild, probably from the drawing room at Poumall Hall . Courtesy of Paul Reeves.

Given the similarities between these pieces and the armchair shown in Davison's view it seems

likely that these items formed part of the

original furniture for the room. The other item is a drop-front secretaire of

severely rectangular form, certainly designed by Mackmurdo and with inlaid veneered roundels

depicting flowers and designed by Image (Fig. 14). This is now in the collection of Saint Louis Art Museum.23 This has a cupboard below and a drawer at the top. The legs are plain and

rectangular and in overall design it is extremely simple. Its concept appears to be loosely based on French Empire models and its form fits well with the canopied settee, while the roundels with flowers relate to that on the coal box. This piece is of the correct height to sit with the display shelf in the drawing room at Pownall and it seems likely that it started life there.

Given the Century Guild's preference for formal and axial arrangements, rather than the loose drifts of 'furniture landscaping' common at the time, we can reflect on how these pieces may have been positioned, what other items may have been included and where they were placed.

THE DECORATIVE ARTS SOCIETY JOURNAL 200J 33



14. Century Guild secretaire, probably from the drawing room at Pownall Hall. Courtesy of Saint Louis Art Museum.

THE PRINCIPLES ENDURE

The Manchester exhibition was the last occasion on which the Century Guild exhibited a

complete interior. A significant plank in the Guilds platform was publicly to show work

publicly promoting artistic individuality and

naming those involved.24 This was to combat

furnishing firms which, like Goodall & Co, spatchcocked artists and craft workers by enforcing anonymity while imposing how

things should look. In 1887 this problem was addressed nationally with the foundation of The

Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society. It was an

independent body but shared the same

principles as the Guild and at its first show in 1888 Century Guild folk exhibited, attaching the Guild name. Thereafter the Guild surfaced from time to time, glimpsed through reports of work shown at its agents. It is known to have

completed other schemes, for example a

drawing room for Stewart Headlam and

furnishings for a hotel in Nantwich.25 The Century Guild of Artists enjoyed a

protean development across its decade of existence. Although after 1888 it did not appear at exhibitions it developed other areas of activity. From 1886 Home was increasingly involved in his editorial role with The Century Guild Hobby Horse , and in the late 1880s the journal became a

significant contributor in debates on the arts. By 1890, Home and Mackmurdo in particular were involved in a different sort of enterprise to help realise the unity of art: they established a

community house for the arts in Fitzrovia. This was partly studios and partly residential, with a communal dining room and space for meetings, performance, and for exhibiting work. Although some jokingly referred to it as 'The Fitzroy Settlement', contemporaries recognized it as an

interesting place with which to be involved.26 It both continued and extended the influence of the

group around Mackmurdo, Home and Image.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am grateful to Graham S. Gadd who noticed Goodall & Cos pamphlet, recognised its

significance, and passed it to me. Also to the staff at Manchester Central Library and Trafford Libraries who helped me access collections of exhibition material. Paul Reeves contacted me and generously supplied illustrations of the items of Century Guild furniture. Saint Louis Art Museum was helpful in supplying illustrations of the Century Guild secretaire. Peter Cormack at the William Morris Gallery answered numerous queries about the Century Guild and has offered much helpful advice.

34 THE DECORATIVE ARTS SOCIETY JOURNAL 100J



PHOTOGRAPHIC ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Figures 1, 4, 5 & 11 are copyright of Stephen Yates; Figures 7 & 9 are copyright of the William Morris Gallery; Figure 8 is copyright of the Victoria and Albert Museum; Figure 14 is copyright of Saint Louis Art Museum; Figures 12 & 13 are copyright of Paul Reeves; Figures 2, 3, 6 & 10 are copyright of the author.

NOTES 1 In 1884 at a Local Art Exhibition in Enfield,

north London; 1885 at the International Inventions Exhibition, London; 1886 at the International Exhibition of Navigation and Manufacture, Liverpool; 1887 at the Manchester Exhibition; 1888 at the exhibition of the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, London: in 1885, 6 & 7 the Guild showed complete room settings.

2. See, for example, the catalogue to the exhibition The eccentric A.H.Macfynurdo, Colchester, 1979.

3. T.Raffles Davison, 4 A modern country home', Art Journal , (1891), pp. 329-35 and 354-7.

4. Stuart Evans, 'Century Guild Inventions: The Century Guild of Artists at the International Inventions Exhibition, London, 1885', The Decorative Arts Society Journal , no. 21, (1997), pp. 46-53.

5. 'Inventions Exhibition: furniture by "The Century Guild'", The Builder , vol. 49, (1885), p.216.

6. The Century Guild Hobby Horse (latterly The Hobby Horse) is discussed in relation to the little magazines movement in Ian Fletcher, 'Decadence and the little magazines', in Ian Fletcher ed., Decadence and the 1890s : Stratford upon Avon Studies, 17, Edward Arnold, 1979, pp. 172-202; and in relation to the Century Guild in Ian Fletcher, Rediscovering Herbert Horne : poet, architect, typographer, art historian, ELT Press Queensboro, North Carolina, 1990.

7. A ' notice ' of the exhibits of E. Goodall & Co at the

Manchester Royal Jubilee Exhibition, 1887' (which includes a report on An exhibit by The Century Guild of Artists'), Manchester, 1887, pp.25-8.

8. The Cabinet Maimer, vol. 6, (1885), pp. 29-32 and vol. 7, (1886), pp. 85-9; The Builder , vol. 49, (1885), pp.216- 7, & 223; The British Architect , vol. 26 (1886), pp.104, 106-7, 114-5.

9. The British Architect , vol. 28 (1887), pp. 16-7; The Cabinet Maimer, vol. 8, (1887), p. 5; The Journal of Decorative Art, vol. 7, (1887), pp. 172-3.

10. Fender designed by Herbert Horne, William Morris Gallery L 26.

11. William Morris Gallery G12. 12. The Cabinet Matter, vol. 6, (1885), p.29;

it is referred to as a 'music throne'. 13. T.Raffles Davison, 'A modern country home',

Art Journal , (1891), p. 334. 14. V & A catalogue number FH664. 15. Often referred to as 'Angel with Trumpet',

a name descriptive of the motif: see Peter Cormack, The Century Guild : an exhibition of pattern-designs, textiles and wallpapers of the 1880s and 1890s by Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo and Herbert Percy Horne, William Morris Gallery, 2001; item 17 is the roller-printed cretonne to this design, item 19 the roller- printed velveteen.

16. William Morris Gallery GÌ la and Glib. 17. Century Guild fire screen, satin wood frame

with silk panels embroidered with lilies in silk, William Morris Gallery G 17.

18. The semicircular chair was also illustrated in The Cabinet Maimer, vol. 8 (1887), p.5.

19. A ' notice ' of the exhibits ofE.Goodall & Co at the

Manchester Royal Jubilee Exhibition, 1887 , Manchester, 1887, pp. 15-16.

20. Ibid, pl8. 21. Stuart Evans, 'The Century Guild connection',

J.H.G. Archer, ed., Art and architecture in Victorian Manchester, Manchester, Manchester University Press, 1985, pp. 250-68.

22. These items were brought to the author's attention by the London dealer Paul Reeves.

23. Saint Louis Art Museum accession number 87:1990.

24. The Century Guild's ideological position is discussed in The Builder , vol. 49, (1885), pp.2 16-7.

25. The furniture for Headlam was shown in, The Building News , vol. 54 (1888), pp. 477 & 479; a settle is thought to be one now in the William Morris Gallery, catalogue no. G26; some of the furnishings for the hotel can be seen in The Decorative Arts Society Journal , no. 21, (1997), p. 49.

26. At 20 Fitroy Street; 'Fitzroy Settlement' is an affectionate jibe associating its cultural do- goodery with the work of the recently founded University Settlement in East London.




INFLUENCES IN DESIGN AN OMNIUM GATHERUM || PUTTING TOGETHER THE PIECES: The Century Guild of Artists...

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