Necklace

Details

Date: c.1904
Dimensions: 37 length
Object Type: metalwork
Material: gold, garnets, sapphires and seed pearls
Catalogue number: L18
Designer and maker: Morris | May | 1862 | 1938
Credit notes: Presented by Miss Lyndon Lang, 1954

This short necklace was made by May Morris. Four gemstones (two saphires, pyrope garnet (front), almandine garnet (clasp) and seed pearls) are set in closed-back settings over heavily tinted foils to enhance their colour. May would have set the gemstones herself, probably using a gas torch and hand tools. She is unlikely to have made the gold belcher chain. The necklace was given to Marie Lyndon-Lang on her 21st birthday in 1904. Her father, the ophthalmic surgeon, befriended William Morris in his youth and was an enthusiastic customer of the Kelsmcott Press.

Details

Date: 1857
Dimensions: 116.8 cm
Object Type: metalwork
Material: iron
Catalogue number: H1a
Designer: Morris, William, 1834, 1896
Owner: Morris, William, 1834, 1896
Credit notes: Presented by J. W. Mackail, 1926.

This sword was designed by William Morris as a model for the mural paintings in the Oxford Union in 1857. It was made for Morris along with a helmet and suit of chainmail by a blacksmith near Oxford Castle. Edward Burne-Jones described the episode at Oxford that led to Morris commissioning the props in John William Mackail’s ‘Life of William Morris’: ‘For the purposes of our drawing we often needed armour, and of a date and design so remote that no examples existed for our use. Therefore Morris, whose knowledge of all these things seemed to have been born in him, and who never at any time needed books of reference for anything, set to work to make designs for an ancient kind of helmet called a basinet, and for a great surcoat of ringed mail with a hood of mail and the skirt coming below the knees. These were made for him by a stout little smith who had a forge near the Castle. Morris’s visits to the forge were daily, but what scenes happened there we shall never know’

Details

Date: c. late 1890s
Dimensions: 9.8 x 8.0
Object Type: metalwork
Material: silver
Technique: repousse
Catalogue number: H16
Owner: Morris, William, 1834, 1896
Designer: Webb | Philip | 1831 | 1915
Maker: Catterson-Smith, Robert (1853 - 1938)
Credit notes: Presented by Mr Gilbert Carruthers, 1962.

This silver case with repoussé design features a central glazed oval locket containing a lock of William Morris’s hair. The case is fastened at top, bottom and sides to wooden backing with silver studs. The lock of hair was cut from Morris’s head after his death by John Carruthers, who was closely associated with Morris as a Socialist and accompanied Morris on his voyage to Norway in 1896.

The case was made by Robert Catterson-Smith, a metalworker who had also assisted in the preparation of some illustrations and decorative elements for Morris’s Kelmscott Press publications. The case was almost certainly designed by Philip Webb and similar motifs of roses appear on a teapot designed by Webb in 1902, now in the Victoria & Albert Museum, and on a pair of brass candlesticks now in the church at Kelmscott.

Two very similar cases exist, one in the collection of the Society of Antiquaries at Kelmscott Manor, donated by Mrs Virginia Surtees which has minor differences in shape of rose leaves and border. Another gold case with different floral features is in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum (M.33-1939) and was bequeathed by May Morris.

Details

Dimensions: 6.4 x 1.3
Object Type: metalwork
Material: gold
Catalogue number: H5
Designer and maker: Unknown
Credit notes: presented by Miss Margaret Watson, 1951.

Apparently brought from Africa by one of William Morris’s brothers and given by the Morris children to their playmate, Thomas Samuel Watson c. 1850. Watson was born in Clay Street (now Forest Road), Walthamstow and went as a boy to work for the Morris family at Water House where he workid in the gardens. He became a friend of the Morris children with whom he spent many evenings; he afterwards went to work in Epping Forest. According to Thomas Samuel Watson’s daughter, the donor, the Morris children ..”when they secured a piece of game or a bird they would cook it themselves in the nursery and then leave him to eat the food while they put in an appearance at dinner downstairs..” “Watson ‘never left off learning till he died’ – the Morris influence led to intense interest in poetry, pictures, studies in general…” …”Wilson in later life.. went to work where he beautified the forest which William Morris had loved so much.” Source: curator’s? written file note (quoting Ms Watson) dated Oct. 25th., 1950.

Details

Date: c.1861-1863
Dimensions: 26.7 x 17.8
Object Type: metalwork
Material: brass
Catalogue number: H2
Designer: Webb | Philip | 1831 | 1915
Manufacturer: Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co.
Owner: Morris, William, 1834, 1896
Credit notes: Presented by Dr Robert Steele, 1942

This candlestick is one of a pair designed by Philip Webb and used by William Morris on his desk. Webb originally designed the candlesticks as part of the furnishings for William and Jane Morris’s first home, Red House in Bexleyheath, Kent for which he was architect. Webb’s account book lists a design for candlesticks on 28 June 1863, for which he charged £1.10s. An identical pair in copper were given as a wedding present by Philip Webb to the architect Charles Winmill and are also in the William Morris Gallery’s collection (see L20a and L20b).

Details

Date: 1857
Dimensions: 45 x 16 x 25
Object Type: metalwork
Catalogue number: H1
Designer: Morris, William, 1834, 1896
Owner: Morris, William, 1834, 1896
Credit notes: Presented by J. W. Mackail, 1927

This helmet was designed by William Morris as a model for the mural paintings in the Oxford Union in 1857. It is a type of ‘bascinet’ with a visor based on historic helmets that were common in the fourteenth century. The helmet was made for Morris along with a sword and suit of chainmail by a blacksmith near Oxford Castle. It features an adjustable visor and red-painted neckpiece supporting chain mail gorget.

Edward Burne-Jones described the episode at Oxford that led to Morris commissioning the props in John William Mackail’s ‘Life of William Morris’: ‘For the purposes of our drawing we often needed armour, and of a date and design so remote that no examples existed for our use. Therefore Morris, whose knowledge of all these things seemed to have been born in him, and who never at any time needed books of reference for anything, set to work to make designs for an ancient kind of helmet called a basinet, and for a great surcoat of ringed mail with a hood of mail and the skirt coming below the knees. These were made for him by a stout little smith who had a forge near the Castle. Morris’s visits to the forge were daily, but what scenes happened there we shall never know ; the encounters between these two workmen were always stubborn and angry as far as I could see. One afternoon when I was working high up at my picture, I heard a strange bellowing in the building, and turning round to find the cause, saw an unwonted sight. The basinet was being tried on, but the visor, for some reason, would not lift, and I saw Morris embedded in iron, dancing with rage and roaring inside.’

Details

Date: c.1904
Dimensions: 22 height x 15 diameter
Object Type: metalwork
Material: pewter
Catalogue number: L22b
Designer: Knox, Archibald (1864 - 1933)
Retailer: Liberty & Co, Ltd
Manufacturer: W. H. Haseler Ltd
Credit notes: WMG purchase, 1968

One of a pair of pewter candlesticks designed by Archibald Knox for Liberty and Co. The candlesticks are part of the Tudric range made for Liberty by W. H. Haseler’s of Birmingham. Archibald Knox was the chief designer, together with David Veazey, Oliver Baker and Rex Silver. They also produced a range in gold and silver known as Cymric. Liberty began producing ‘Tudric’ in 1899, and continued until 1926. The Art Nouveau shape of these candlesticks is typical of their style. The Tudric pewter has a high silver content, meaning it is very high quality.

Details

Date: c.1904
Dimensions: 22 height x 15 diameter
Object Type: metalwork
Material: pewter
Catalogue number: L22a
Designer: Knox, Archibald (1864 - 1933)
Retailer: Liberty & Co, Ltd
Manufacturer: W. H. Haseler Ltd
Credit notes: WMG purchase, 1968

Details

Date: 1856
Dimensions: 133.5 x 167.5 x 23
Object Type: metalwork
Material: iron
Catalogue number: L11
Designer: Stevens, Alfred (1817 - 1875)
Owner: Mackmurdo | Arthur Heygate | 1851 | 1942
Credit notes: Mackmurdo bequest, 1942

This chimney piece was formerly part of the furnishings of Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo’s bungalow at Wickham Bishops, Esse. It is one of number of designs made by Alfred Stevens for chimney and mantelpieces to be manufactured by the Coalbrookdale Iron Company, c.1856. The Chimney-piece is made of black-enamelled cast-iron, and decorated on upright supports and across the top with a continuous frieze in high relief in copper plate of swags of leaves with inter-twining ribbons and birds, a recumbent draped figure is to the right in the centre of the top frieze. The cornice above is decorated with moulding also in copper plate. The cornice was cast separately and bolted to the lower frieze and supports

Details

Date: c.1886
Dimensions: 14.5 x 6 x 3
Object Type: metalwork
Material: brass
Catalogue number: L5
Artist: Creswick, Benjamin (1853 - 1946)
Credit notes: Mackmurdo bequest, 1942

Identical figures appear on the settle designed by Mackmurdo and made by Collinson & Locke c. 1886 now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. The settle, which has Herbert Horne’s ‘Angel with the Trumpet’ textile used for upholstered cushions and curtains, was almost certainly made for Pownall Hall, Cheshire which was largely decorated by the Century Guild. Benjamin Creswick was supposedly responsible for the brass work reliefs which appear in the upper cornice.
This plaque has small attachments above and below the main scene which are pierced with holes for fixing the piece, and suggest that it may originally have been intended for attachment to furniture. Another small rectangular plaque of the same subject is now in the Colchester & Essex Museum (brass 13.5 x 7 cm), presumably among other items given by Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo in 1942.

Details

Date: c.1887
Dimensions: 28 x 83.8 x 33
Object Type: metalwork
Material: brass
Catalogue number: L26
Designer: Horne, Herbert Percy, 1864, 1916
Maker: Esling | George
Manufacturer: Century Guild
Credit notes: Purchased with a grant-in-aid from the Victoria & Albert Museum, 1976

This brass fender was designed by Herbert Horne for the Century Guild. It is made of brass with a pierced fretwork design of waving flowers and leaves. An identical fender was exhibited on the Century Guild stand at the Royal Jubilee Exhibition, Manchester, 1887 (illustrated in the Journal for Decorative Art, November 1887, p.173).

Details

Date: 1890s
Dimensions: 17.1 x 7
Object Type: metalwork
Material: brass
Catalogue number: L1a
Designer: Mackmurdo | Arthur Heygate | 1851 | 1942
Credit notes: Mackmurdo bequest, 1942

This small brass candlestick is one of a pair (with L1) that feature turned baluster stems on circular bases. They are possibly the candlesticks that Mackmurdo’s architectural assistant from 1892 to 1897 Harry Sirr described in his reminiscences of Mackmurdo, written to Mackmurdo’s niece, Miss Elinor Pugh in 13 May 1942. In the record he recounts, ‘I was attracted by metal work of his design which he told me had been done by his own workmen. Some brass candlesticks struck me by their beauty, of round baluster form, not unlike Italian Renaissance work, with his own individuality.’

Details

Date: 1890s
Dimensions: 17.1 x 7
Object Type: metalwork
Material: brass
Catalogue number: L1
Designer: Mackmurdo | Arthur Heygate | 1851 | 1942
Credit notes: Mackmurdo bequest, 1942

This small brass candlestick is one of a pair (with L1a) that feature turned baluster stems on circular bases. They are possibly the candlesticks that Mackmurdo’s architectural assistant from 1892 to 1897 Harry Sirr described in his reminiscences of Mackmurdo, written to Mackmurdo’s niece, Miss Elinor Pugh in 13 May 1942. In the record he recounts, ‘I was attracted by metal work of his design which he told me had been done by his own workmen. Some brass candlesticks struck me by their beauty, of round baluster form, not unlike Italian Renaissance work, with his own individuality.’

Details

Date: 1886
Dimensions: 47 x 31.8
Object Type: metalwork
Material: copper
Technique: repousse
Catalogue number: L9
Designer: Mackmurdo | Arthur Heygate | 1851 | 1942
Maker: Kellock Brown, William (c.1856 - 1934)
Credit notes: Mackmurdo bequest, 1942

This panel was designed by Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo and executed by the Scottish sculptor William Kellock Brown. It features a man surrounded by swirling drapery and an angel kneeling before him and clutching his legs. Kellock Brown was a member of the Art Workers Guild having trained at the Royal College of Art and the Royal Academy Schools in London.

Details

Date: designed c.1862-3
Dimensions: 26.7 x 17.8
Object Type: metalwork
Material: copper
Catalogue number: L20a
Designer: Webb | Philip | 1831 | 1915
Manufacturer: Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co.
Credit notes: WMG purchase, 1958

This type of candlestick was originally designed by Philip Webb as a part of the furnishings for William and Jane Morris’s Red House, Bexleyheath, Kent. Webb’s account book lists a design for candlesticks on 28 June 1863, for which he charged £1.10s. This pair in copper were given as a wedding present by Philip Webb to the architect Charles Winmill and his wife. Another pair, originally purchased from the Firm by Burne-Jones, are now in the Victoria & Albert Museum (M. 1130 & A-1926). For an identical single example in brass see H2.

Details

Date: c.1904
Dimensions: 9.5 x 6
Object Type: metalwork
Material: enamel on copper
Catalogue number: L24b
Designer and maker: Partridge, May Hart, Mrs. ( - 1917)
Credit notes: Presented by Miss Joan Partridge,1968

This small but intricately detailed enamel plaque was made by May Hart Partridge, an accomplished enamellist who had been a student of Arthur Gaskin at the Vittoria Street School for Jewellers and Silversmiths in Birmingham, the centre of jewellery production in the early 20^th Century. As well as executing work of her own design, Partridge also did enamelling on C.R. Ashbee’s jewellery at the Guild of Handicraft in Chipping Campden. Partridge was part of an artistic family; her husband Fred Partridge was also a jeweller while his sister Ethel Mairet was a pioneering weaver, with links to both the British Arts and Crafts scene in Ditchling and the Japanese mingei (folk art) movement. May Hart Partridge’s life and career were tragically cut short when she took her own life in 1917.

Jewellery design and enamelling in particular were increasingly seen as appropriate and respectable artistic pursuits for women at the turn of the 20th century. In addition to May Morris, who designed and made her own jewellery, women such as Edith Dawson, Georgie Gaskin and Phoebe Stabler worked alongside their husbands producing outstanding pieces in the Arts and Crafts style. Enamelling also became a popular amateur hobby for wealthy women, such as those permitted to observe C.R. Ashbee at work in Chipping Campden for the price of £1 a week. Accomplished aristocratic female enamellers included Princess Marie Louise, granddaughter of Queen Victoria, and Madeline Wyndham, who along with her husband Percy Wyndham commissioned Clouds House from Philip Webb.

Details

Date: 1890s
Dimensions: 17.5 x 15.2
Object Type: metalwork
Material: copper and brass
Catalogue number: L32
Designer and maker: Benson, William Arthur Smith (1854 - 1924)
Credit notes: Donated by Michael Whiteway, 2000

William Morris encouraged WAS Benson to set up his own metal workshop in 1880. In 1882, Benson established a foundry in Hammersmith and in about 1887, a shop in Bond Street. This copper and brass teapot was made around the 1890s, it appears as No.693 in WAS Benson’s ‘Catalogue of Metalware’, 1899/1900. It was often important for Arts and Crafts objects to look hand-crafted, but WAS Benson’s metalwork was unashamedly machine-made.

Benson was a founder member of the Art Workers’ Guild, established in 1884. Following the death of William Morris in 1896, he became Managing Director of Morris & Co. (for whom he also designed furniture and wallpaper). WAS Benson played an important role in exporting the Arts and Crafts Movement abroad. His work was popular in Europe and sold through Samuel Bing’s famous Paris shop, ‘L’Art Nouveau’.

Object Type: metalwork

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