THE NORTHERN ART WORKERS’ GUILD AND THE ARTS AND CRAFTS MOVEMENT IN MANCHESTER

19th-century Manchester was a bleak and troubled city, plagued by social inequalities, pollution and rampant industrialisation. Spurred into action by Ruskin’s excoriating lecture in 1857, a few enlightened residents began to seek change.

Local philanthropists T.C. Horsfall and Charles Rowley, inspired by Ruskin and Morris, made a huge contribution to the artistic revival of the city. There were Arts & Crafts ‘incomers’ alongside architect-designers such as George Faulkner Armitage and Edgar Wood. Commercial ‘Art’ manufacturers such as George Wragge (metalwork), the Pilkington Tile & Pottery Co. and Walter J. Pearce (stained glass) are also featured.

The book explores the Northern Art Workers’ Guild (NAWG), established in 1896. Unlike its London counterpart—largely architect-led—it included women members and enjoyed a more diverse membership comprising a wide range of Northern craft workers. The authors have diligently searched period journals, newspapers and archives to illuminate this important organisation. From its inception the NAWG established a striking visual identity, well served here by the extensive use of illustrations comprising published posters, syllabi, rules, advertisements and invitations. The structure and operation of the Guild is explored in detail.

The central chapter is a gazetteer, providing brief but important biographical information on the 75 known members of the Guild so far identified by the authors, illustrated with representative examples of their work. The penultimate chapter explores the four selling exhibitions organised by the Guild at Manchester City Art Gallery between 1898 and 1911, while the final chapter looks beyond the demise of the Guild around 1911.

Rich in both information and imagery, this publication is an essential and highly recommended resource for all interested in the Arts & Crafts Movement in the North of England.

THE NORTHERN ART WORKERS’ GUILD AND THE ARTS AND CRAFTS MOVEMENT IN MANCHESTER

Barry Clark, Stephanie Boydell & Richard Fletcher, MCR Books, 2024, pb £22   

Condensed from a review by Tony Peart in DAS Newsletter No. 134