Christie's Arts and Crafts Style

Christie's Arts and Crafts Style, with new knowledge and previously unseen photographs, explores one of the most important periods of late nineteenth century design when craftsmanship and beauty were under threat from the mass production of the urban factory. Beginning with the Great Exhibition of 1851, which heralded the start of the Victorian age of mass-production, the book moves on to examine the birth of the Arts and Crafts movement, explaining the fundamental principles that governed it and showing how its champion, William Morris, inspired such a strong reaction against industrialism. The movement quickly spread to both Europe and America and the work of major contributors such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Comfort Tiffany and Bugatti are discussed in subsequent chapters with case studies of their particular work. The final section of the book concentrates on the diverse range of objects, from ceramics to furniture, glass to posters, which were influenced by the movement and analyses the new production techniques that were developed by artists during the period. In this authoritative guide, illustrated with 120 full colour photographs, Michael Jeffery, a Christie's specialist, profiles the main artists of the Arts and Crafts period and includes information on their individual hallmarks to aid the collector. For its countless enthusiasts, this book, part of the Pavilion series on Christie's collectables, contributes new knowledge to an increasingly popular market.