Christening Mug Designer: Charles Robert Ashbee, 1863-1942 Manufacturer: G. of H. Ltd, London 1903 5 1/2 inches Silver with chased decoration in the form of flowering plants An inscription reads "A.N.B. March 29thy, 1909 from R.M.H." The donor was presumably Rob Martin Holland, one of the directors of the Guild of Handicraft. The Guild of Handicraft was set up by C. R. Ashbee in 1888 in the East End of London an area of poverty and high unemployment. He trained craftsmen to work in the Guild making metalwork, leatherwork, silver, jewellery and furniture mainly to Ashbee's own designs. Early pieces were rough and amateurish but construction and finishes were soon refined. In 1898 the Guild made furniture for the Darmstadt Palace of the Grand Duke of Hesse to designs by H. M. Baillie Scott. The workshops moved to the Cotswolds in 1901 but could not survive commercial pressures and fierce competition and closed in 1907. ReferencesSpring '99. 1999. 89 plates. London: The Fine Art Society, 1999. No. 7.
Last modified 6 November 2004 |