DOI Heft:
Division I. Great Britain
DOI Artikel:Halton, Ernest G.: Decorative and applied art in Great Britain
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.37423#0018
DECORATIVE AND APPLIED ART IN GREAT BRITAIN
originality in design. The few attempts made to break away from
accepted models have in most cases ended in failure, while in nearly
all directions we find nothing but reproductions of the old styles.
This dearth of ideas applies more especially to furniture, and while we
should be the last to disparage the work of the great English crafts-
men which has been handed down to us, it is obvious that the present
craze for copying denotes anything but a healthy condition. The
proper appreciation and close study of the splendid work of the past
is in every way desirable and essential, in order that the craftsman
may understand the great lessons which it teaches. But having
acquired that knowledge, he should endeavour to apply it, so that it may
assist him to work out his own individuality. Every age has its peculiar
requirements. Customs, habits, and tastes change, and with these
changes comes the designer’s opportunity to prove his originality, to
assert his ego. If he fails to take advantage of this opportunity, if he
is content to simply reproduce what has been done over and overagain,
how is he going to justify his artistic existence ? He is no designer,
he is only a copyist, and under such conditions his art will languish
and disappear. The craftsman, too, if he be repeatedly executing the
same design will unconsciously become mechanical, his hand will lose
its cunning, and his workmanship will deteriorate accordingly. In
short, this slavish copying of the old models must in time bring about
a state of degeneration and also of crystallization.
If we inquire into the cause of this stagnant condition we are
told that the public is responsible for it, that the popular demand for
copies of the antique has compelled the manufacturer to confine his
productions to the hackneyed models. We are not prepared, however,
to accept this as the only explanation. May it not be that the public
is compelled to accept these reproductions, because it is almost im-
possible to obtain any good original designs ? We venture to think
that good design combined with sound workmanship, whether it be
antique or modern in feeling, will always find a public. The work
of such individual artists as Mr. Frank Brangwyn, Mr. Baillie Scott,
Mr. C. F. A. Voysey, Mr. Alexander Fisher, Mr. Ernest Gimson,
Mr. Edward Spencer, Mr. G. P. Bankart, Mr. Frederick Vigers, and
Miss Ann Macbeth, for instance, cannot fail to appeal to those who
can recognise a beautiful design well carried out, and if only Great
Britain could produce more such designers and craftsmen the public
would not be slow to show its appreciation.
But there is another and a very important side to this question.
It is only a few years ago that Great Britain was looked to as the
leader of a great revival in the decorative and applied arts. The
Arts and Crafts movement in England was then in its infancy, and
4
originality in design. The few attempts made to break away from
accepted models have in most cases ended in failure, while in nearly
all directions we find nothing but reproductions of the old styles.
This dearth of ideas applies more especially to furniture, and while we
should be the last to disparage the work of the great English crafts-
men which has been handed down to us, it is obvious that the present
craze for copying denotes anything but a healthy condition. The
proper appreciation and close study of the splendid work of the past
is in every way desirable and essential, in order that the craftsman
may understand the great lessons which it teaches. But having
acquired that knowledge, he should endeavour to apply it, so that it may
assist him to work out his own individuality. Every age has its peculiar
requirements. Customs, habits, and tastes change, and with these
changes comes the designer’s opportunity to prove his originality, to
assert his ego. If he fails to take advantage of this opportunity, if he
is content to simply reproduce what has been done over and overagain,
how is he going to justify his artistic existence ? He is no designer,
he is only a copyist, and under such conditions his art will languish
and disappear. The craftsman, too, if he be repeatedly executing the
same design will unconsciously become mechanical, his hand will lose
its cunning, and his workmanship will deteriorate accordingly. In
short, this slavish copying of the old models must in time bring about
a state of degeneration and also of crystallization.
If we inquire into the cause of this stagnant condition we are
told that the public is responsible for it, that the popular demand for
copies of the antique has compelled the manufacturer to confine his
productions to the hackneyed models. We are not prepared, however,
to accept this as the only explanation. May it not be that the public
is compelled to accept these reproductions, because it is almost im-
possible to obtain any good original designs ? We venture to think
that good design combined with sound workmanship, whether it be
antique or modern in feeling, will always find a public. The work
of such individual artists as Mr. Frank Brangwyn, Mr. Baillie Scott,
Mr. C. F. A. Voysey, Mr. Alexander Fisher, Mr. Ernest Gimson,
Mr. Edward Spencer, Mr. G. P. Bankart, Mr. Frederick Vigers, and
Miss Ann Macbeth, for instance, cannot fail to appeal to those who
can recognise a beautiful design well carried out, and if only Great
Britain could produce more such designers and craftsmen the public
would not be slow to show its appreciation.
But there is another and a very important side to this question.
It is only a few years ago that Great Britain was looked to as the
leader of a great revival in the decorative and applied arts. The
Arts and Crafts movement in England was then in its infancy, and
4