Peasant Literature

I am attempting to create a bibliography of the books, journal articles and references written by or about  the Haslemere artists on Kings Road, Haslemere c.1900:

• Godfrey Blount
• Ethel Blount
• Joseph King
• Maude Egerton King
• Greville MacDonald
• Luther Hooper
• Arthur Romney Green

This is under-construction (I am not sure when it will ever be fully completed!) on a separate page 'Literature'.  Where there is an online copy of the book or journal, it is hyperlinked into the reference.

The Spies on tour & on the move

In my post about The Spies I looked at the Haslemere peasant industries panel c. 1900 that is in the Victoria & Albert Museum's collection.   Having recently re-visited the museum's online entry for this work I noted that there is an 'exhibition history' entry for this item which I had not seen before.

The Spies, Haslemere Peasant Industries panel c.1900
designed by Godfrey Blount

Whilst the panel is marked as 'in storage' it has been viewed across the globe: in the United States and Japan.

"Exhibition History
Life and Art: Arts and Crafts from Morris to Mingei (Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, Nagoya 12/06/2009-16/08/2009) 

Life and Art: Arts and Crafts from Morris to Mingei (Metropolitan Art Museum, Tokyo 24/01/2009-05/04/2009) 

Life and Art: Arts and Crafts from Morris to Mingei (The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto 13/09/2008-09/11/2008) 

International Arts & Crafts (Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco 18/06/2006-18/08/2006) 

International Arts & Crafts (Indianapolis Museum of Art 27/09/2005-22/01/2006) 

International Arts & Crafts (V&A 17/03/2005-24/07/2005) 

Textiles of the Arts and Crafts Movement (V&A 01/01/1988-31/12/1988)" V&A online 

The V&A have been re-housing their textiles in storage.  I believe that this piece and their Luther Hooper works are now in the Clothworkers' Centre for the Study and Conservation of Textiles and Fashion which opened earlier this week (8th October 2013).  One day I hope to visit them there.

Arthur Romney Green on wood, Foundry Meadow, 1907

When I was looking through the National Art Library's special collection on Arthur Romney Green, I came across this letter written on his headed note paper from 1907.

Arthur Romney Green Letterhead, Foundry Meadow, Haslemere,
24 July 1907

I have struggled to read it word for word, I believe it says:

"Dear Sir

Would you kindly supply me as soon as possible with lantern slides prepared from the negatives whose numbers on your catalogues I give below.  These slides you prepared a few months ago to illustrate a lecture given by me to the Society of Arts.  These numbers are:

18261 - XVI ? Oak Door
19305 XVII  -   -     Door
22041 XVIII   -  -    -
15949 an Oak Pulpit
19593  -     -    Cupboard
15503  a vestibule
13795  Carved Cupboard
26488  Carved Chair
23713   Norwegian Chair
24163
32350  Cabinet & chair from Paris Exhibition  PTO

Door ....
Pulpit
Chair
? ?
? Chair
Vestibule"

Arthur Romney Green letter 1907

Within the same folder is a copy of Journal of the Society of Arts (No. 2844, Vol 55, May 24 1907) which sets out a paper presented by Arthur Romney Green to the Society recorded under the section 'Proceedings of the Society' Applied Art Section - Mr A. Romney Green, "Joinery and Furniture-making".   It is interesting that the slides A.R. Green used included a Norwegian chair, an interest that would have overlapped with Joseph King.

The paper appears to be a quite dense piece on the subject, it begins:

Journal of the Society of Arts, No. 2844, Vol. 55, 24 May 1907
Applied Art Section: Arthur Romney Green 

"Joinery is one of those crafts which have to do with the building or fitting, the decoration or furnishing of fixed and permanent structures.  In this architectural process, it is found that certain materials are better adapted than others to certain purposes.  The upright walls of the structure, for instance, can be built of almost anything; but stone or brick are generally used because they are better adapted for the purpose, and much more abundant than any other material, and, by reason of their weights and fragility, are useless for non-architectural purposes.  But to use stone or brick for the roof, the upper floors of a building, is a more questionable and difficult matter.  The difficulty consists in carrying the heavy and brittle material under the downward action of the force of gravity, from any one point to another which is not vertically above it.  With stone or brick this can only be done, if the two points are any considerable distance apart, by the use of the arch or vault; and this is always an expensive process, whilst in the case of floors it involves a great waste of space and material between the floor and the vaulted ceiling.

But there is another material, wood - light and fibrous, and strong in the direction of its grain, which can be easily carried in a straight line, and therefore with the least possible waste of space or material, from one point to another at some distance off in a horizontal or an oblique direction; and, since this material is also fairly abundant and quite easy to work, it is generally the best material to  use for the roof and floors. .......But the art of using wood thus for structural purposes is the art of the carpenter; not that of the joiner, with which I am dealing to-night.  The work of the joiner only begins when the shell of the building is finished; it consist in providing doors, windows frames and sashes, handrails, and other permanent fittings.  And though in roofing a building we may sometimes hesitate between the stone vault and the timber gable, there is no doubt whatever that for doors and handrails, as also for such portable furniture as chairs and tables, wood, by reason of its strength, lightness and beauty, and of its pleasantness to the touch as compared with stone or metal, is very much the best material.

from Proceedings of the Society,
Journal of the Society of Arts, 24 May 1907
Arthur Romney Green lecture

Now the nature of each of the building crafts is of course very largely determined by that of the materials used; and wood has several peculiar properties in addition to those which I have already described.  One of the chief requirements of a door, which has exactly to fill a given aperture, is that it should reman constant both in size and shape.  And one of the most characteristic properties of wood, the material which in other respects it is most convenient to use, is its natural disinclination to constancy either of shape or size.  Wood is a fibrous material any prism of which cut with its axis parallel to the grain will be usually of constant length but of variable cross section.  The area of its cross-section, that is to say, will continually decrease as the wood dries, and even after the wood is dry it is sensitive to changes of atmospheric condition, swelling or shrinking as the moisture of the atmosphere becomes more or less.  And not only is the cross-section of such a prism variable in area, but also in shape..."

What is really useful must also be beautiful

Following on from my previous posts from Godfrey Blount's The Rustic Renaissance (The Simple Life Series No. 21, A.C. Fifield, London, 1905).  This chapter was published in The Craftsman, March 1906.

extract from The Craftsman, March 1906, pp.819-823

"That theory which I suppose our patriots of the manufacturing type hold, that our population is to be supported in its industrial slavery or artificial idleness by huge farms over sea worked first by foreign labour and finally by steam, has been so ruthlessly disembowelled by Ruskin in "Fors Clavigera" that we need not stay to discuss it (No nation could possible long survive such an artificial condition of things.)  I only refer to it to prevent our associating the Revival of Handicrafts merely with a fashionable reaction against the machine's invasion of the domains of art, while all the time we are consciously or unconsciously furthering that invasion of the whole domain of life.  Our instinct is beginning to rise in revolt against the great modern doctrine that use and beauty have nothing to do with one another.  Each of these is a test as well as a definition of the other.  What is really useful must also be beautiful.  What is really beautiful must be useful too.  God created it and called it good.

Nothing is more perplexing to the would-be reformer than the reverence people pay to a new custom as soon as its novelty has worn off.  One would imagine, to hear people talk, that the industrial revolution of the last few decades has been a gradual evolution extending over eras of civilisation.  They laugh, such is their confidence, at any serious plea for a simpler life as if it were a prehistoric ideal or insane prophecy, while as a matter of fact its memory should still be green; and then they proceed to build, on their own account, Utopias, whose realisation would involve an infinitely greater change than any we poor reactionaries advocate, not only in the customs of our lives, but in the very constitution of our souls.

Scarcely, a generation has passed away since those alterations began to take place in all our industries which, to their champions' imaginations, are going to set at naught the instincts and experiences of ages.  Stretching back from the beginning of the century, so bedizened with euphemistic clap-trap, which we have just escaped from, for century beyond century, civilisation beyond civilisation, disgraced at times no doubt, as in Greece and Egypt, by somewhat analogous conditions of production to our own (the results of slavery almost as stringent as that we uphold to-day), there has existed an unbroken understanding, or what used to be called a tradition, that what men made for their use should also be, nay, necessarily was, grateful to their eyes.  A unity in manufacture existed, a loving and living partnership between the making of a thing and the making it beautiful; or rather, for even that gives a wrong impression, it was taken for granted that every artisan was also an artist, less by training and education than by instinct and the force of tradition and environment; and it was expected of him that what his hand fashioned his fancy should also grace."

Peasant Inspiration - Coloured Woodcarving of Switzerland and South Germany

I had said in a previous post that the only article Joseph King had written on the Peasant Arts movement was his book Nesting Boxes for Birds (King, J., The Gallery of Handicraft).  Then I found two articles by Joseph King on handicraft in Issue 2 and 3 of The Art Workers' Quarterly (1902) at the Victoria & Albert Museum.  The illustrations that accompany the Issue 3 article he wrote on 'The Coloured Wood Carving of Switzerland and South Germany' (p.80-84) are fascinating as they look familiar.  I am unable to find out much about Franz Paukert, but it would appear that his woodcarvings inspired Godfrey Blount's trademark intertwined vine leave patterns.

panel from Franz Paukert's "Die Zimmergotik" plate 32
from The Art Workers' Quarterly, Vol. 1, Issue 2, 1902 (p.82)

illustration from Arbor Vitae, Blount, G., A.C. Fifield, 1910

King writes "Of course there are various styles and developments of this surface carving.  But one very remarkable things about it is its wide-spread traditions and distinct characteristics: the same designs and motives are seen in different centuries and in places so far apart as Northern Switzerland and eastern Tyrol. The beauty and simplicity of some of these designs is seen from the illustrations of this article.  But an hour in the Basel, Zurich, or Munich Museums, or a study of Franz Paukert's splendid work "Die Zimmergoitk in Deutsch-tirol" (Leipzig, 1897), will show at once how distinct a tradition this style of carving has established, and how it has affected the best domestic, ecclesiastical, and public architecture of South Germany and neighbouring lands."

panel from Franz Paukert's "Die Zimmergotik" plate 32
from The Art Workers' Quarterly, Vol. 1, Issue 2, 1902 (p.83)

  

Illustrations by Godfrey Blount, from Arbor Vitae, Blount, G., A.C. Fifield, 1910

Katharine Tynan - The Maker

The Irish poet Katharine Tynan contributed to the Peasant Art journal, The Vineyard.  In her collection Irish Poems (Tynan, K., Sidgwick & Jackson, London, 1913), Tynan dedicates a poem to Maude Egerton King, fittingly a poem about the beauty of the country.

Title page extract from
Tynan, K., Irish Poems, Sidgwick & Jackson, London, 1913

To Maude Egerton King

God made the country,

  Man made the town.

God clad the country 

  In a green gown.

Clad her in a kirtle

  Of the green silk.

God made the country 

  Of honey and milk.

Poor folk from Eden

  Driven away,

God made the country

  For a holiday.

God gave the country

  A flower, a bird,

To comfort His children

  For the flaming sword.

For easing and pleasing

  He made a tree,

Many a sweet rivulet,

  Dew and the bee.

God made the country,

Man made the town.

  Is not God a maker

Of great renown!

extract from
Tynan, K., Irish Poems, Sidgwick & Jackson, London, 1913

Are you sitting comfortably Arthur Romney Green?

I was recently talking to the Rector at St Christopher's Church, Haslemere, when I mentioned the church's Arthur Romney Green altar chair I did not anticipate her response.  Apparently the chair is extremely uncomfortable to sit in, and she refuses to sit in it for that very reason!  That knowledge has made me feel a little disappointed in the craftsmanship and it raises the question of form over function.  

I have quite a few pictures of Arthur Romney Green chairs.  It is interesting to look at these and not just admire their forms but also to wonder on how they may feel to sit in.

Sanctuary chair (oak) for St Christopher's Church, Haslemere
by Arthur Romney Green
from Art Workers' Quarterly Volume 4, Issue 13, January 1905 (p.45)

Walnut Chair convertible into Table
by Arthur Romney Green
from Art Workers' Quarterly Volume 4, Issue 13, January 1905 (p.45)

Arthur Romney Green chair which converts into a table
from Elkin, Susan, Life to the Lees:
A Biography of Arthur Romney Green, The Cromwell Press Limited, 1998

Dining Room Chairs in Spanish chestnut
by Arthur Romney Green
from Art Workers' Quarterly Volume 4, Issue 13, January 1905 (p.45)

Arthur Romney Green chair
National Art Library, Victoria & Albert Museum

Ceremonial chair by Arthur Romney Green,
Christchurch Priory from Elkin, Susan, Life to the Lees:
A Biography of Arthur Romney Green, The Cromwell Press Limited, 1998

Arm Chair of English Oak, with Laced Leather Seat,
designed and made by Arthur Romney Green,
Art Journal, November 1906

Arthur Romney Green chair and table
for sale at Haslam & Whiteway Ltd

Arthur Romney Green chairs
from Elkin, Susan, Life to the Lees:
A Biography of Arthur Romney Green, The Cromwell Press Limited, 1998

Arthur Romney Green chair,
photograph held at the National Art Library,
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

The National Art Library holds photographs of Arthur Romney Green works which members of the public have sent in.

Arthur Romney Green chair
National Art Library, Victoria & Albert Museum

Arthur Romney Green chair
National Art Library, Victoria & Albert Museum

Arthur Romney Green chair
National Art Library, Victoria & Albert Museum

Arthur Romney Green chair
National Art Library, Victoria & Albert Museum

The Millinery Works describe the chair below as "A rare oak Capstan armchair of exposed dowel construction, with chamfered legs and splats, profusely carved to the edges of the seat and to the splats with signature diamond motif carving, by Arthur Romney Green, circa 1925. 75.5cm (30in) high. See similar chair in The Studio 1924 p 101."
 

Arthur Romney Green chair
for sale The Millinery Works Art Gallery

The Antiques Atlas describes the stool below as: "Elm and oak stool attributed to Arthur Romney Green, of carved and joined construction, displaying great sculptural form and presence.  It shows signs of once having an upholstered seat but is now fitted with a green leatherette loose seat pad which works very well.  Of good mellow colour, circa 1920."

Arthur Romney Green stool
sold at Antiques Atlas

Arthur Romney Green stool
sold at Antiques Atlas

Set of 6 Arthur Romney Green chairs with original leather seats
for sale at Patch Rogers

Detail from set of 6 Arthur Romney Green chairs with original leather seats
for sale at Patch Rogers

Arthur Romney Green spindle back oak chair with thronged leather seat
pair for sale at the sale room

from Elkin, Susan, Life to the Lees:
A Biography of Arthur Romney Green, The Cromwell Press Limited, 1998

School oak armchair by Arthur Romney Green
for sale for £1,595 at Antiques Atlas

School oak armchair by Arthur Romney Green
for sale for £1,595 at Antiques Atlas