Arts & Crafts - design movement

William Morris, 1834-1896

The arts and crafts movement was a direct response to the industrial revolution and mass production - the designers, artists and craftspeople involved were trying to return to the art of hand-crafting to remind us of our abilities to create, not just mass-produce (read more here).

In design you can't go past the name William Morris when investigating this subject - he was a British textile designer, artist and furniture craftsman. Much of his textile design inspiration came from nature, particularly his own garden. His textile designs are still created today, under his name. Below are some examples, re-coloured as prints, embroideries, woven patterns and wallpapers:

Forest (velvet) 

Forest Velvet in-situ

Acanthus (wallpaper)

Acanthus in-situ

orignial Morris chair, crafted by Ephraim Colman

Adapted Morris chair, by Gustav Stickley

He had his own company, the Morris company which created furniture pieces. One of the most well known pieces created by his company was the Morris chair, which was an arm chair with an adjustable back (pictured left). One of the most well known adaptations of this style of chair (pictured right) was designed by Morris enthusiast, American designer Gustav Stickley in the early 1900s (read more here)

Jane Morris, 1839-1914 (image source)

Reverie by Dante Gabrielle Rosetti
(image source)

He was also a part of the pre-raphaelite art movement - I'll show some paintings below. William Morris' wife, Jane Morris (as pictured) was one of the models for these paintings - they show a keen interest in a romantic view of medieval design and a return to nature:

Ophelia, 1852 by Sir John Everett Millias 

La Belle Iseult, 1858 by William Morris

This interest in hand-crafting and nature is very apparent in the New Zealand examples of arts and crafts design - like those pictured below:

Christchurch home, 1915 (image source) - note the simplicity of the timber panelling and the chair

Fendalton home, designed by J S Guthrie for Captain MacDonald, 1913 (image source) - note again the simplicity of the space, the constant picture line running around the space with the window and the door at the top. Note the unpainted timber panelling and the timber beams on the ceiling. Also note the simplicity of the furnishings

And how do we see this in design today?
The image below has echoes of the arts and crafts movement in the simplicity & romanticism seen through the muted colours, the truth to materials and the colour palette inspired by nature. Although there are many machined elements present, all the elements in the space, especially the wall panelling and the chair involve an element of hand-crafting in their creation.