The Arts and Crafts Exhibition, London, 1906 
MAHOGANY CHAIR AND OAK ARM CHAIR BY THE GUILD OF HANDICRAFT 
DESIGNED BY MR. CHARLES R. ASHBEE 
There is much less extreme 
work this time than in former 
exhibitions especially among 
furniture. With the excep¬ 
tion of one or two chairs 
there is nothing that is even 
a little too clever. There is 
one form of decoration on one 
or two of the best pieces, an 
interrupted chamfering which 
gives an unpleasant suggestion 
of “rustic work,” but on the 
whole the furniture is char¬ 
acterized by a deliberate 
reticence which is really ar¬ 
tistic, and does not emanate 
from lack of idea, or lack of 
expenditure of workmanship. 
The latter is there, but it is 
not shown in carving and 
inlay but in exquisite panel¬ 
ling and moulding. Mr. 
Penty is responsible for some 
very simple and beautiful 
pieces. Mr. A. Romney 
Green shows excellent work¬ 
manship but tends a little 
toward over-elaboration in 
design. Heal & Son have 
several especially attractive 
pieces of plain well-made 
furniture, after the best Eng¬ 
lish traditions of the 18th 
century. 
Among metal work, forged iron is noteworthy for 
its conspicuous beauty. Mr. Ernest W. Gimson and 
the Artificers’ Guild, some of whose work we are eiv 
abled to illustrate, need no further praise. Two cop¬ 
per vases designed 
by Miss Anne G. 
Stubbs and made 
by jesson Birkett & 
Co., entirely with¬ 
out decoration, are 
very good indeed. 
The jewelry is 
most disappoint¬ 
ing, with the ex¬ 
ception of that sent 
by various technical 
schools. It is gen¬ 
erally over-elabo¬ 
rate in detail, with 
a mixture of color 
that together give a 
meretricious effect; 
some again is 
strained in idea 
and inappropriate, in fact it is a section in which 
rank bad taste prevails. There is one case of 
simple and appropriate work which, though not 
highly distinguished, has considerable charm, by 
the Misses M. Wilcock and E. D. Cairo. There 
is a silver buckle with labradorite and serpentine 
by Miss Margaret j. Awdry that is also among 
the pieces with real beauty. There is a great 
deal of enamel which runs largely to pictorial 
lines, landscapes with tree trunks over a setting 
sun are a prevalent form of the disease, which has 
broken out badly on small boxes. Mrs. Geraldine 
Carr has some simpler enamels mounted in silver 
for saltcellars which are very charming. One of 
the most satisfactory pieces of metal work is a cast 
iron fire-grate by Longden & Co., designed by Mr. 
C. F. A. Voysey. Although Mr. Voysey has before 
now proved what wonders may be attained by 
suitable designs in iron-casting, this exhibit strikes 
one as quite unexpectedly beautiful. The lines are 
severe and the only ornament consists of two little 
squares of relief casting. This is, unfortunately, 
the only exhibit bearing Mr. Voysey’s name. 
A particularly attractive class of metal work is 
that for table use; hand-wrought silver utensils and 
CARD CASE WORKED IN SILVER 
THREAD (“ Silver Rose ”) BY 
MISS MAY MORRIS 
213 
