Arts & Crafts Metalware at The Festival of Antiques this Friday & Saturday! You can discover vintage metalware, such as brass, copper, pewter, silver and silver plate.
Paul Howe’s passion is metalware, he says it’s mainly because of the ever colour changing of brass, copper and pewter. Or perhaps it’s because of the flowing lines and organic forms of pieces created, especially during the Art Nouveau period. Paul loves the honesty and representations of the natural world that is portrayed so well in the items he sells.
Paul mentions how the arts and crafts movement was a time of great change, with reaction against forces of industrialisation leading to a time of creativity and a passion for hand-crafted metalware. During the 1880s and 1890s several metalwork schools and guilds grew up such as the Birmingham Guild and the Glasgow School. The Keswick School of Industrial Arts and the Newlyn Industrial Class shared that arts and crafts purpose. It was the history and landscape of the Lake District intertwined with the patterns and designs of earlier times that epitomised the brass and copper of the Keswick School, whilst Newlyn copper very much reflected its fishing heritage, seabirds and other marine creatures.
During this same period Arthur Lasenby Liberty founded his London store. Building relationships with leading designers he was a driving force in the 1890s behind the British Art Nouveau movement. These designers developed items in both pewter (‘Tudric’ range) and silver (‘Cymric’ range) from candlesticks and bowls to tea caddies and clocks. Liberty also imported items from Europe from companies such as Orivit and Kayserzinn.
Between 1895 and 1910 the German metalware firm Wurttembergische Metallwarenfabrik (WMF) dominated the production of artistic domestic metalware in Europe. They produced a huge range of products reflecting the art nouveau and secessionist styles. Early on they were one of many German companies producing decorative metalware. From the flowing forms of Kayserzinn to the brilliant designs of Orivit, Orion and Osiris. However, only WMF survived and they are today the one metalware company that most people have heard of.
Purchase tickets today for the Festival of Antiques this Friday & Saturday for the chance to speak with Paul Howe and learn more about the arts and crafts movement.
