Ernest Gimson, Arts & Crafts furniture designer

Ernest Gimson (1864-1919) was born and raised in Leicester, and was one of the pre-eminent figures of the English Arts & Crafts movement. In 1884, as a nineteen year-old articled architectural draftsman, he attended a lecture given in Leicester by William Morris after which the two men conversed for several hours, the beginning of an ongoing mutually-admiring relationship based on their shared strong interest in traditional English architecture and craftsmanship. In addition to his work as an architect (including, in 1912, submitting designs in the competition to design the new Australian capital, Canberra), Gimson turned increasingly towards furniture and other handcrafts inspired by earlier English tradition. In the early 1890s he joined with others in moving to the Cotswolds to establish a community of like-minded designer-craftsmen and artists, thus establishing what was to become known as the 'Cotswold School' within the Arts & Crafts more... movement. The furniture designed by Gimson and made in his workshop is widely regarded as being amongst the finest and now most sought after of English Arts & Crafts furniture. Also raised in Leicester, Harry Peach (1874-1936) is today perhaps best known as the founder of Dryad Furniture, a highly successful manufacturer of cane furniture, but he was in his work and interests generally another keen believer in Morris's vision to revive and promote traditional English artisanship and to bring good design and craft into as many households as possible. To this end, in 1915, alongside Ambrose Heal and others, he was a co-founder of the Design and Industries Association which continues to this day (original slogan: 'Nothing Need be Ugly'). As successful business families in Leicester, the wider Gimson and Peach families had been friendly for some years by the time, in the 1910s, Peach began furnishing his house 'Crowbank', largely with furniture acquired from Gimson and his foreman (and successor) Peter Waals.

[Courtesy of Leonard Joel Auctions]<p> less...