WILLIAM MORRIS ARTS&CRAFTS MOVEMENT

Another theme of "Arts & Crafts" is that the artist and the craftsman were one person, the artist did not design and leave the execution to another but worked the item from start to completion. Arts and craftsmen clearly used tools and often machines too but the machine would be operated by and subordinate to a craftsman who could carry out the process wit

Julian barnard in his work 'Victorian Ceramic Tiles' goes further: Machine-made tiles were cheaper, simpler and made in larger numbers but that should not detract from their quality and value. Most of Moyr Smith's designs for Minton's were transfer printed; the famous Wedgwood tiles illustrating the months of the year were transfer printed and so were Kate Greenaway's seasons, made by T & R Boote. None of Morris's or de Morgan's designs were transfers but they are no better for that fact. The quality on the product depended on how well it was done rather than how it was done. But the machine was blamed for any bad decorative design.

Major manufacturers are never far behind trying to capitalise on a new trend and many attempted to satisfy this new market. Few if any reverted to using wet clay, they'd only been enjoying the benefits of the dust pressing process for little more than a decade. Most tried to achieve their Arts & Crafts credentials by applying the decoration in a medieval way. There was only one medieval printing method, block printing, many of the major Victorian tile manufacturers probably tried it but few lasted. Some of the designs by John Moyr Smith may have been block printed by Mintons China Works but given Mintons leadership in printing technology they would surely have produced similar results by more modern means. Minton Hollins coming from the same root and hence technology base as Mintons China Works were unashamedly a mass producer, I doubt very much that their tiles that look block printed actually were.

Morris' and de Morgan's wares were bettered by many of their contempories, one of the main reasons their names stand out in history because of marketing skill and the select rich and famous who were their customers.

hout the machine if needed, i.e. he fully understood the process. Ideals which if correctly fulfilled would produce a better product more suited to it's task and the customers wishes. Better however comes at a much dearer price, and better is more than most people need, good enough usually works just fine.

Jon Catleugh in his excellent book 'William de Morgan Tiles' concurrs with my stance on page 60 where he says "The Martin Brothers, by doing all the processes themselves, came nearer to Morris's ideals than either Morris himself or de Morgan'.

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