William Morris and Christopher Dresser

William Morris (1834- 96) and Christopher Dresser (1834- 1904) are both primarily known for their innovative designing skills. Both were, and still are, figureheads in the world of design. Dresser being regarded as the first true industrial designer and Morris is said to be the father of the arts and craft movement.

Morris and Dresser differ in many ways, including theory and practice, yet in some ways they share very similar ideas. The fundamental difference between them is that Dresser designed for mass production using continually advancing industrial methods, which would be more readily available for a larger proportion of middle class Britain . Morris, however frowned upon these methods and designed articles to be crafted traditionally by hand, ergo requiring the price of his goods to become higher and in turn making them available to the higher end of the country's middle class.

Morris first studied at Marlborough and Exeter College, Oxford. Originally intending to take holy orders, his decision was changed after reading of Carlyle, Kingsley and John Ruskin, steering him in a new direction which would eventually lead

Christopher Dresser studied and lectured at the government school of design

Moriss drew a lot of influence from John Ruskin, a critic who praised the art of medieval craftsmen, sculptors and carvers who he believed were free to express their creative individuality. He was also extremely critical of artists and designers of the 19th century, like Dresser, who he believed to be “slaves of the industrial age”. It seems this is where Morris inherited and developed his theory and practice of traditional design, and dislike of designers like Christopher Dresser.

William Morris successfully created a taste with the buying British middle classes for quality manufacture over factory machined objects. This method provided a model for other, following manufacturers. These manufacturers then combined the workshop and master craftsman approaches to produce handmade objects on a mass scale, to compete with Dresser and his fellow industrial counterparts. Objects of both beauty and utility resulted from initialising practices of fine craftsmanship, related to Morris's strong socialist beliefs. Instead of factory workers repeating tasks on a long production line, Morris wanted to have a comfortable workshop setting. Here the master and his assistants worked the entire process of making an object from start to finish. To this end, both the methods of production and the aesthetics of William Morris were dictated by both his political and artistic beliefs. Morris's particular type of socialism and the medieval guild model stand not as contrasting theories but interwoven and overlapping to suit his own purposes. By combining his political beliefs with the production of decorative arts and crafts, Morris created a new means of production coupled with a new aesthetic. His

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