Exhibition of Arts and Crafts in London 
THE 
SEVENTH 
EXHIBITION 
OF 
ARTS AND CRAFTS 
IN LONDON 
l 9°3 
BY 
EDWARD W. GREGORY 
Table Lamps of Copper and Brass 
Designed by A. S. Dixon 
Made by E. Grainger , J. Burford 
and W. Withers 
I T is some fifteen years ago since the first 
Arts and Crafts exhibition was opened at 
the New Gallery, Regent Street, London. 
The efforts of the society, at that time, 
were looked upon as hardly worthy of 
serious attention. William Morris was an 
enthusiast in the cause of socialism. It is a 
curious paradox to 
think that his art 
was so wedded in 
spirit to feudal 
ages. His co¬ 
workers, many of 
them, held similar 
social beliefs to his 
own. What was 
the meaning of the 
revolution of artis¬ 
tic thought made 
manifest by the ex¬ 
hibits of furniture 
and deco rati ve 
effects ? Surely, it 
was only a fad, 
organized by a 
band of cranks. It 
would never last. 
No further notice, 
beyond a passing 
smile, would be 
taken of the new-fangled notions. Why 
should artists meddle with such prosaic things 
as chairs and tables ? What business had they 
to stray from their own proper vocations of 
picture-painting and statue-making? It was 
all very amusing. Artists were known to be 
eccentric, and as soon as they had had their 
fling at the bench, 
the anvil and the 
loom, the sensation 
would wear off and 
they would return 
to palette and 
picture. 
Strange reflec¬ 
tions these, when 
to-day it is impos¬ 
sible to walk down 
a thoroughfare of 
shops without 
seeing evidence 
(sometimes sad 
evidence) of the 
fruitfulness of the 
seeds thus sown by 
William Morris, 
poet, socialist, de¬ 
signer and crafts¬ 
man. The Arts 
and Crafts move- 
A HALL TABLE 
Designed by Ambrose Heal Made by A. Mackenzie 
208 
