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BRITISH DESIGN and the ARTS and CRAFTS MOVEMENT 

There are a few great things I love about the arts and crafts movement in Britain. I discovered the first when I walked through the doors of Liberty of London and found an Aladdin's cave of 
Fabrics, furniture, fashion and homewares in the most amazing Tudor revival building. 

Liberty of London

 LIBERTY of LONDON
Photograph by Jacob Surlands

The building as it is today was built in the 1920s with the timber from two British ships, HMS Impregnable and HMS Hindustan, and you can still get the feeling of the wooden cabins and corridors of a 19th-century ship as you walk around the galleries today. It has three huge lightwells which are surrounded by four levels of open wooden galleries and rooms, linked by wood lined staircases that seem straight from a Dickens novel. 

Liberty of London

One of the lightwells as it was in the 60’s with oriental rugs displayed on the gallery’s handrails 

Liberty of London

Liberty as it is today, looking up to the top of the lightwell.
Photograph Merlijn Hoek

When I first visited in the 1960s the gallery’s wooden handrails were casually draped with oriental rugs and in the fabrics section the influence of William Morris and other arts and craft British textile designers was a common theme.

Liberty of London

Bundles of Liberty cotton print for the quilters and patchworkers
Photograph from Amy Smart, Diary if a Quilter

ARTHUR LAZENBY LIBERTY

ARTHUR LAZENBY LIBERTY
with the Shand Voyage Carriage fabric from The Secret Garden range

Photograph Liberty London

The store was founded by Arthur Lasenby Liberty in 1875 

and the emporium as it is now was designed by Edwin Thomas Hall and his son Edwin Stanley Hall in the 1920’s. 
The store is a must on a visit to London.

Liberty of London

BOOKS

Liberty: British Colour Pattern

Liberty: British Colour Pattern

Produced in collaboration with Liberty, the leading destination store in London, and a unique and eclectic British emporium, this lavishly illustrated, official book, presented in a slipcase, showcases the heritage and innovation of this individualistic and one-of-a-kind department store that has served as tastemaker to the public since 1875

V&A Pattern: Liberty 

V&A Pattern: Liberty 

Liberty charts the development of a legendary company through its textile designs, from its beginnings in the Aesthetic movement through to Art Nouveau and the late twentieth century.

Screen Shot 2019-07-02 at 12.23.19 PM.pn
Liberty Style

Liberty Style

The story of Liberty's is the story of design. The brand has been an international byword for style and innovation since May 1875, when Arthur Lasenby Liberty opened the doors of his Regent Street shop.

The son of a draper, Arthur Liberty (1843-1917) was inspired by the conviction that if he could only raise the capital to open his own shop, he could change the whole look of fashion in dress and interior decoration. He did exactly that.

Liberty of London: Masters of Style & Decoration

Liberty of London: Masters of Style & Decoration

For more than one hundred years the name Liberty of London has been synonymous with the highest achievements in the decorative arts - from fabric to furniture, from carpets to ceramics. A great trading company is always affected by changes in fashion; what gives this one its remarkable distinction is that it has not just followed these changes but helped to create them since 1875.

TEXTILES

The late 19th century and early 20th century 
produced some legendary artists and designers in Britain who were part of the arts and crafts movement, formed in part as a reaction to the new industrialization of the time. Their ethos was to emphasis good design and craftsmanship in a naturalistic style which they believed was being debased with the modern mechanised production and design of the day.

WILLIAM MORRIS

WILLIAM MORRIS
Portrait by Emma Lesser, East Hampton, N.Y.

William Morris 1834-1896
I think everyone can recognize the textile designs of William Morris, the fluid botanical themes and subtle colourings that were used on everything from wallpapers, furnishing textiles to dress fabrics.

Strawberry thief cushion 

Strawberry thief cushion 

Strawberry thief tapestry

Strawberry thief tapestry

A pattern that captures the essence of William Morris’s romantic style, The Strawberry thief is still being produced by Liberty as a dress fabric today over a century later.

Chrysanthemum mug

Chrysanthemum mug

Poppies mug

Poppies mug

Birds in flight mug

Birds in flight mug

Tea for three, a set of three mugs or as singles on our homewares page

Morris was a leading cultural figure in Victorian Britain, a socialist, activist, novelist and poet, and it is his textile and wallpaper designs that we recognize him mostly for today.

Poppies cushion
Carnation tapestry
Carnation cushion

Poppies cushion

Carnation tapestry

Carnation cushion

Morris’s bold botanical patterns were designed for stylish sitting rooms and homes in the late 19th century, and their timeless quality fits ideally into the style of today. 

Two other textile print designers from the 19th and early 20th century bookend William Morris’s work.

WILLIAM KILBURN 1745-1818

 

In the latter part of the 18th Century and the early 19th century, just before the birth of the arts and crafts movement, William Kilburn worked as a designer and producer of printed calico.

Spring flowers

Spring flowers

Marble end

Marble end

Antique floral

Antique floral

Yellow bouquet

Yellow bouquet

Chinoiserie white

Chinoiserie white

Best used together as a patchwork of patterns these classic Kilburn designs are reproduced on soft linen style cushions.

Kilburns delicate floral designs were widely copied and he was an early petitioner for copyright protection in the textile industry. His designs conjure up English country homes, high teas, and chintz and were part of the foundations from which the more stylized Arts and Crafts textile designs evolved.

CHARLES FRANCIS ANNERLEY VOYSEY19-07-08 at 10.23.48 PM co

CHARLES FRANCIS 
ANNERLEY VOYSEY

Portrait by Harold Speed 1905

Architect and print designer Charles Francis Annersley Vosey 1857-1941 worked designing textiles wallpapers and furniture during his early career and later became renowned as an architect designing a number of notable country houses and for his influence on British architecture 

Birds in flight tapestry

Birds in flight tapestry

Birds in flight cushion

Birds in flight cushion

Voysey’s elegant design ‘birds in flight’ bridges the gap between the British arts and craft movement and the fluid style of Art Nouveau

MORE ARTS AND CRAFTS GOODIES

NOTEBOOKS

Carnation Notebook

Carnation

Marble end Notebook

Marble end

Antique floral Notebook

Antique floral

Birds in flight notebook

Birds in flight

Our notebooks measure 6”x8” with a handy pen pocket in the back cover.

Sturdy Aluminum Hand Fork and Trowel Garden Set, William Morris Green

Sturdy Aluminum Hand Fork and Trowel Garden Set, William Morris Green

William Morris Arts & Crafts Designs: A Folio of Notecards

William Morris Arts & Crafts Designs: A Folio of Notecards

William Morris 100% Cotton Gardening Potting Hand Gloves, One Size, Green

William Morris 100% Cotton Gardening Potting Hand Gloves, One Size, Green

Birds in Flight boxed set of 10 greeting cards

Birds in Flight boxed set of 10 greeting cards

CafePress William Morris Pimpernel Design Beach Sandals

CafePress William Morris Pimpernel Design Beach Sandals

V&A William Morris: 100 Postcards

V&A William Morris: 100 Postcards

BOOKS

William Morris: Artist, Craftsman, Pioneer

William Morris: Artist, Craftsman, Pioneer

William Morris was an outstanding character of many talents, being an architect, writer, social campaigner, artist and, with his Kelmscott Press, an important figure of the Arts and Crafts movement. 

William Morris: Décor & Design

William Morris: Décor & Design

William Morris, one of the most influential designers of the 19th century and an important figure in the Arts and Craft movement, is revisited in this inspirational interior design guide.

William Morris's Flowers

William Morris's Flowers

The leading figure of the Arts and Crafts Movement, William Morris (1834–1896) is one of the best-known and most popular of all British designers.

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Artistic Prints - Jewelry - Artwork

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