DOI issue:
No. 238 (January 1913)
DOI article:The Arts and Crafts Society's exhibition at the Grosvenor Gallery, [1]
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21158#0320
The Arts and Crafts Society's Exhibition
MIRROR IN CARVED AND GILDED FRAME. BY
JOSEPH ARMITAGE ; GILDING BY EDGAR ARMITAGE
including many things designed by Sir Robert
Lorimer. An upright book cabinet in kingwood,
with a dull green marble top, and a music cabinet
in Italian walnut are the most striking of these.
Sir Robert is less happy with his leather waste-
paper pails, which are heavy and clumsy and never
likely to supersede the handy basket. Mr. George
Jack’s fireplace of oak and grey-green marble, in-
tended for a new room at Dunsany Castle, is an
imposing piece of work which is not seen to the
best advantage at the Grosvenor. A good side-
board in English walnut shown by Mr. Hamilton
T. Smith ; the book and print case in black-bean
by Mr. Ambrose Heal; and the arm-chair of walnut
with a tall back and a buff leather seat by Mr. A.
Romney Green, are all worthy of attention. The
green painted chairs by Mr. Alfred Powell decorated
with floral devices are described as from an old
pattern, but it is one not worth reviving. The
most remarkable of several examples of gilt and
decorated furniture is the cabinet designed by
Miss Jessie Bayes and executed by her with the
assistance of Mr. F. Stuttig, Miss Emmeline Bayes,
and Miss Kathleen Figgis. The design and draw-
ing of the picture panels of the doors are a little
298
weak, but the cabinet is upon the whole an able
and creditable piece of design and workmanship.
Another cabinet, simpler in shape but as elaborate
in decoration, shown by Mrs. A. P. Trotter, is
painted in colour ground in varnish. The blazoned
shields which form such an interesting pattern on the
gold doors are laid in with wax melted in copal and
the whole is finished with numerous coats of copal
applied in the manner of the old coach-painters.
Equal pains have been lavished on the inner sides
of the doors, which are adorned with allegorical
paintings of Hope and Truth. The corner cup-
board of painted mahogany by Mr. Joseph Armit-
age is of greyish blue with a gilt decorative border
of swans and foliage. The steel hinges (by Mr.
Edward Spencer) add not a little to the effective-
ness of this work by Mr. Armitage, who shows in
addition, among other interesting things, a mirror
CORNER CUPBOARD, MAHOGANY, CARVED, PAINTED,
AND GILDED. BY JOSEPH ARMITAGE ; HINGES
DESIGNED AND EXECUTED BY EDWARD SPENCER
MIRROR IN CARVED AND GILDED FRAME. BY
JOSEPH ARMITAGE ; GILDING BY EDGAR ARMITAGE
including many things designed by Sir Robert
Lorimer. An upright book cabinet in kingwood,
with a dull green marble top, and a music cabinet
in Italian walnut are the most striking of these.
Sir Robert is less happy with his leather waste-
paper pails, which are heavy and clumsy and never
likely to supersede the handy basket. Mr. George
Jack’s fireplace of oak and grey-green marble, in-
tended for a new room at Dunsany Castle, is an
imposing piece of work which is not seen to the
best advantage at the Grosvenor. A good side-
board in English walnut shown by Mr. Hamilton
T. Smith ; the book and print case in black-bean
by Mr. Ambrose Heal; and the arm-chair of walnut
with a tall back and a buff leather seat by Mr. A.
Romney Green, are all worthy of attention. The
green painted chairs by Mr. Alfred Powell decorated
with floral devices are described as from an old
pattern, but it is one not worth reviving. The
most remarkable of several examples of gilt and
decorated furniture is the cabinet designed by
Miss Jessie Bayes and executed by her with the
assistance of Mr. F. Stuttig, Miss Emmeline Bayes,
and Miss Kathleen Figgis. The design and draw-
ing of the picture panels of the doors are a little
298
weak, but the cabinet is upon the whole an able
and creditable piece of design and workmanship.
Another cabinet, simpler in shape but as elaborate
in decoration, shown by Mrs. A. P. Trotter, is
painted in colour ground in varnish. The blazoned
shields which form such an interesting pattern on the
gold doors are laid in with wax melted in copal and
the whole is finished with numerous coats of copal
applied in the manner of the old coach-painters.
Equal pains have been lavished on the inner sides
of the doors, which are adorned with allegorical
paintings of Hope and Truth. The corner cup-
board of painted mahogany by Mr. Joseph Armit-
age is of greyish blue with a gilt decorative border
of swans and foliage. The steel hinges (by Mr.
Edward Spencer) add not a little to the effective-
ness of this work by Mr. Armitage, who shows in
addition, among other interesting things, a mirror
CORNER CUPBOARD, MAHOGANY, CARVED, PAINTED,
AND GILDED. BY JOSEPH ARMITAGE ; HINGES
DESIGNED AND EXECUTED BY EDWARD SPENCER