Founders Of The Arts & Crafts Movement 1870 - 1900

An anthology of writings on interior design by William Morris and his contemporaries, with information about the early years of the Arts & Crafts Movement in England and America.

• Arts & Crafts Movement Furniture for the Idaho Building at the Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893.
• Thoughts on House Decorating, by Walter Crane
• Art is Thoughtful Workmanship, by W.R. Lethaby, 1915
• Gossip About an Old House on the Upper Thames. by William Morris
• Embroidery on William Morris's Bed at Kelmscott Manor.
• The Decorative Arts, Their Relation to Modern Life and Progress, an address delivered before the Trades' Guild of Learning, London, Dec. 4, 1877, by William Morris
• The Lesser Arts of Life, an address delivered before the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, London 1882.
• "The Morris Exhibit at the Foreign Fair, Boston, 1883 - 84." by George Wardle.
• Art and The Handicraftsman, a lecture presented in America by Oscar Wilde, 1882
• House Decoration, a lecture presented in America by Oscar Wilde, 1882
• The English Renaissance of Art, a lecture presented in America by Oscar Wilde, 1882
• Visits To English Arts & Crafts Landmarks
• The Art of The House: Some Principles of Decoration. by Rosamund Marriott Watson, 1897
• Vinland, a Newport, Rhode Island, house decorated by William Morris

Selected Links on Related Themes:

• William Morris Home Page - the official web site of The William Morris Society
• Dard Hunter, American Craftsman, Artist, Papermaker, Printer
• Morris & Company please look at The Victorian Web - This is a link outside the Founders page.
• William Morris Stained Glass in the Cotswolds - This is a link outside the Founders page.
• The New England Artisans Guild - An Exhibition Society of Followers of the Arts & Crafts Movement
• The Arts & Crafts Society

A Brief Overview of the Early Arts & Crafts Movement in America

During the 1870's, American Anglophiles became acquainted with the Arts & Crafts Movement, first introduced through interest in the Gothic Revival and the paintings and writings of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. The art and architectural criticism of Ruskin, which laid the foundation of the movement, and lectures on decorative arts of William Morris were available at the Boston Athenaeum and other American libraries as soon as they were published in London. Morris & Company began to sell their wallpapers in Boston in 1873, and by the mid 1870s had representatives for their growing line of wallpaper, fabric and carpet in many major American cities. Inspired by English work, Arts & Crafts artisans and workshop groups around America began producing their own designs by end of the 1870's, with especially strong centers of activity in Boston and Cincinnati. The Arts & Crafts Movement also shaped American architecture, especially with the development of the Queen Anne Revival, and with emerging styles that were based on the "old-fashioned homes" of the American Colonial period: the Shingle Style and the Old Colony Style. The first generation of Arts & Crafts artisans employed a diverse expression of styles, which drew inspiration from England, but also from Japan and from the regional traditional crafts and architecture of America.

Arts & Crafts Movement ideas were given an even wider audience during the 1882 American tour of Oscar Wilde. He championed Morris, the Pre-Raphaelites and the design and art-manufacturing philosophy in lectures presented in over 120 North American towns and cities. By the mid-1880's, English designs and locally made Arts & Crafts products were specified by trendsetting American architects and selected by affluent homeowners for the most stylish and fashionable American townhouses, suburban cottages and country villas. It was the children who grew up in these artistic homes of the 1880s who became patrons of Gustav Stickley, subscribed to the Craftsman Magazine, and built bungalows for their first homes.

This web anthology includes articles and lectures on the Arts & Crafts Movement that have been transcribed from original copies found in libraries and private collections in and around Boston, with a majority from the collection of the Boston Athenaeum. The dates span from the early 1870's, when Americans first were introduced to the philosophy of art manufacture, to the end of the century, when a new, more commercial Arts & Crafts manufacturing style developed. A few early twentieth century writings of Arts & Crafts followers, who were active in their careers prior to 1900, are also included.

Information on second generation of the American Arts & Crafts Movement can be found at: The Arts & Crafts Society. More information on the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood can be found on The Victorian Web.

For further information on 19th century interior design, please see Booknotes

Second Illustration - A Modern Settle (American) From The Art of the House, 1897.

Lower photograph shows handpainted English tiles, c. 1880, from the collection of J.R. Burrows.