Catalogue description Gloucestershire Guild of Craftsmen

Noteworthy Guild craftsmen represented in this archive include Ted Banks, wrought iron worker (Guild member 1933-1956), Phyllis Barron, hand-block printer (Guild member 1933-1940 and chairman 1958-1964), Rita Beales, spinner and weaver, (Guild member 1938-1987), George Brint, basket maker (Guild member 1933-1973), George Brotherton, heraldic artist (Guild member 1954-1984 and president 1983-1984), Michael Cardew, potter (Guild member 1933-1945), Fred Foster, furniture maker, (Guild member 1933-1968), Theo Moorman, weaver and textile artist (Guild member from 1933 and chairman 1970-1972), William Simmonds, sculptor and puppet maker (Guild member 1946-1968), Sir George Trevelyan, furniture maker (Guild member 1946-1953), Peter van der Waals, furniture maker (Guild member 1934-1938).

The Guild's records show very clearly the concerns and challenges faced by those involved in high quality craftwork. The commitment to maintaining the highest standards of work, such an important element when the Guild was first formed, is reflected in, and is in fact responsible for, many of their records. The Guild minutes include meetings of the selection committee which interviews prospective members and decides by vote whom to admit as an associate member; the Guild application forms which all potential members are required to fill in are also preserved, both on the main series of "archive files" (from 1980 to 1990) and amongst the membership secretary's papers; part of the business of the AGM is to vote on which associate members should be granted full membership of the Guild.

This emphasis on the highest possible standards of workmanship is also reflected in the detailed preparation which goes into each Guild exhibition. During the 1950s the Rural Industries Committee and the Guild regularly exhibited the work of Cotswold craftsmen at the Olympic horse trials at Badminton. The Duke and Duchess of Beaufort, patrons of the Guild for many years, offered the use of the orangery of Badminton House. The "archive file" for 1950-1955 (D8709/1/5) and several of the loose photographs (D8709/7/1-3) are interesting in this respect. The annual summer exhibition and market which has been held in Painswick since 1937 is perhaps the Guild's best known showcase and the archive files contain many newscuttings about this event. In 1985 it was opened by Diana, Princess of Wales. The event generated a visitors' book, signed by the Princess, and a photograph album, both preserved in this collection (D8709/1/24/2 & 3 respectively).

Another significant document to be found in the "archive files" for 1985 (D8709/1/24/2) is a report on the Guild, commisioned by the Guild itself and written by an independent researcher funded by the Sainsbury Trustees. It contained a frank analysis of the Guild's strengths and weaknesses and made several recommendations which would put it on a more secure footing for the future. In line with the report's recommendations a paid administrator was appointed in 1990, membership was increased and in 1993 the Guild was looking to extend membership beyond the county boundaries. The report's final recommendation, that the Guild should acquire a permanent centre, was fulfilled in 1999 when the Gardiner Room of the new Painwick Centre, formerly the Painswick Institute, became their permanent home.

This archive contains disappointingly little high quality visual material illustrating members' work and, with the exception of the Fred Foster papers already mentioned, no drawings or designs. However, a collection of photographs of the work of Guild craftsmen, intended to be a working index of images representing the whole membership and available for reference, publicity and archive purposes, is apparently maintained by Guild member Rod Forss (see D8709/4/1 below). Such visual information as there is about the work of Guild members is generally to be found in the memorabilia section of the annual "archive files", often in the form of illustrated newscuttings.

The early files (D8709/1/1-6) contain rather more photographs of work than the later files, although from around 1990 they increasingly contain brochures, leaflets and colour postcards featuring the work of guild members. The file for 1983 (D8709/1/22) contains a list of photographs of Guild members taken to mark the 50th anniversary exhibition in Cheltenham, 1983, but these were not amongst the records which have been deposited.

The records of the Guild also contain papers relating to the Whiteway Colony, near Stroud (see also D5847). In 1904 C R Ashbee and some of his craftsmen had visited the community whose members included a number of craftsmen and later, when the Guild of Gloucestershire Craftsmen was formed, some Colony members were amongst the founders. These included Fred Foster and one of the files of his papers in this archive (D8709/8/4) is concerned almost entirely with Colony matters. Moreover the Dodo Press, the subject of two files in this archive (D8709/2/4/1-2) was run by Whiteway Colonists Rhoda Desmond and Gus(tave) Marin from their home. The link between the Whiteway Colony and the Guild continues to recent times, being the home of Guild archivist Stuart Robinson and his wife Patricia, also a Guild member.

"Archive files", (1888)-2000

Subject files, (1933)-1990

Treasurer's papers, 1982-1984

Guild administrator's papers, 1984-1996

Membership secretary's papers, 1992-1995

60th anniversary exhibition organisers' papers, 1993-1994

Loose photographs, c.1950-c.1970

Papers of Fred Francis Foster, furniture maker and Guild member, 1901-c.1965

Other records, (1907)-1990

It would seem that many of the Guild's own early records (minutes, visitors' book and seal) have gone astray. They were known to be missing in 1983 when Guild chairman Stuart Robinson undertook to try and find them as part of the research he was undertaking for a history of the Guild to commemorate its 50th anniversary (see file D8709/2/5/2). He discovered that the visitors' book, which contained many royal and other signatures from exhibitions at Badminton and other shows, was known to have been deposited at Lloyds Bank, Gloucester in 1959 but was withdrawn a few months later by a Guild member. He was unable to discover its fate thereafter and no trace was found of the other missing records. However, Mr Robinson had clearly managed to gather together a quantity of earlier records of and relating to the Guild during his research and in 1985 he was appointed the Guild's archivist.

He set about organising the Guild's records (including minutes, annual financial statements, correspondence, newsletters and newscuttings) into annual bundles of "records" and "memorabilia" which he classified and listed. These he termed "archive files" and they form the backbone of records in this collection. Further details of their content and method of arrangement is given at the start of section D8709/1 He also created a number of subject files, again largely comprising material he accumulated during his research into the Guild's history and arranged in a similiar manner to the "archive files". These are listed as section D8709/2

It was Mr Robinson's intention to create subject files on specific Guild members. However, only three such files have been deposited (one file on Fred Foster, listed as D8709/2/3 and two files concerning the Dodo Press at Whiteway, started by Rhoda Desmond and Gus Marin, listed as D8709/2/4/1-2). Consequently researchers interested in particular craftsmen will need to search the chronological "archive files" for relevant material. The index to Guild members compiled by Mr Robinson (listed as D8709/2/1) will direct them to relevant documents on these files.

The link between the Guild of Gloucestershire Craftsmen and the Gloucestershire (later Rural) Community Council has been mentioned above. Hence information about the Guild's inception and early days can be found in the records of Gloucestershire Rural Community Council (D3168 particularly D8709/1/18/1-2 & 10/1-3). The Crafts Study Centre, Holburne House, University of Bath has collections of records and work of a number of present and former Guild members. Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum has a large collection of artefacts and records relating to architect Ernest Gimson and a number of the craftsmen at his workshops at Daneway House near Sapperton who helped establish the Guild.

Guild of Gloucestershire Craftsmen, 1933-1984

Gloucestershire Guid of Craftsmen, 1984-

THESE DOCUMENTS ARE CLOSED UNTIL 31 YEARS OLD

Records of the Gloucestershire Guild of Craftsmen deposited per Ms Penny Smith, Secretary, 20 October 2000

The Guild of Gloucestershire Craftsmen was founded in May 1933 (the name was changed to its present title of the Gloucestershire Guild of Craftsmen in 1984) with a constitution drawn up by the Gloucestershire Community Council.

Earlier in 1933 the Gloucestershire Rural Industries Committee, (part of the Gloucestershire Community Council) had invited craftworkers of outstanding ability to a conference to discuss what practical steps could be taken to ensure that the tradition of high quality craftsmanship within the county was preserved and, if possible, developed. The main threats facing such craftsmen were perceived as economic: the difficulty of finding customers who were prepared to pay a reasonable amount for work of a high quality; the temptation to lower the standard of workmanship by cheapening the cost of production; the impossibility of taking on apprentices because of the insecurity of the market and the lack of incentive for each individual craftsman to produce work to the very best of his ability. It was felt that what was needed was, therefore, help with marketing, education of the buying public to appreciate the importance of quality and some mutual meeting ground where inspirational help would be possible. It was clear that the Gloucestershire Rural Industries Committee was prevented by its terms of reference from providing the desired help with marketing and so it was unanimously decided that the craftsmen should form their own Guild which would be independent from, but able to co-operate with, the Rural Industries Committee.

The Guild of Gloucestershire Craftsmen was officially formed on 12th May when it was agreed that the Guild should consist of men and women who earned a considerable amount of their income from their craft and who had reached a standard of work which would not discredit the high level already traditional within the county. The Guild agreed to open its membership to any productive creative craft, whether this was concerned with a utility product or a more decorative craft, the worker carrying out the entire process from beginning to the end of the finished article. It was felt desirable that some indication of the standard of work should be produced which would indicate to the public that the craftsman displaying it was of outstanding ability. To this end, the Guild issued a blue sign for Guild members to display outside their workshops and on their business stationery.

The official links between the Community Council and the Guild were not severed until the late 1960s when the Rural Industries Committee was taken over by CoSIRA (The Council for Small Industries in Rural Areas) and the Guild rapidly expanded to include new crafts and improved standards of display. (This information is taken from a statement prepared by G Basil Robert, organiser of the Rural Industries Committee, while the Guild's Honorary Treasurer, 1948. A copy can be found on file D8709/1/4)

The various threads which weave together to form the earlier history of the arts and crafts movement in Gloucestershire are well documented in A Fertile Field: an outline history of the Guild of Gloucestershire Craftsmen and the crafts in Gloucestershire written by Guild chairman Stuart Robinson in 1983 to commemorate the Guild's 50th anniversary (GRO reference IN 116; a bound copy is to be found in file D8709/1/16 below). However, some key figures require mention here because of their impact on the Guild and the presence in this collection of material relating to them, particulaly in the early "archive files" (section D8709/1 throughout especially D8709/1/1-6).

The choice of a discused silk mill in Chipping Campden as the new headquarters for C R Ashbee's Guild of Handicraft (founded in London in 1888) was of lasting significance for the town and county leading to the formation of the Campden Guild of Craftsmen which was itself an early member of the Gloucestershire Guild of Craftsmen. Another significant relocation from London was that of Ernest Gimson (1864-1919), and the Barnsley brothers Sidney (1865-1926) and Ernest (1863-1926). Although all architects by training they had become interested in producing furniture to arts and crafts principles. After settling initially in Ewen near Cirencester they moved to Pinbury and set up workshops which Gimson finally established at the Daneway House near Sapperton in 1902. They had been joined the previous year by Peter van der Waals, a Dutch cabinet maker, who became Gimson's foreman and was a founding member of the Guild of Gloucestershire Craftsmen. The furniture made at Daneway by this group is now considered part of the English tradition and Gimson was described by Pevsner as "the greatest English artist-craftsman". Other craftsmen notable in their own right, and in terms of the Guild's early history, worked at Daneway including Alfred Bucknell the ironworker, Harry Davoll, Fred Gardiner, Fred Foster, Owen Scrubbey and Ernest Smith, all furniture makers. Of these, Fred Foster (d. 1968) is particularly well represented in this archive. There is a subject file devoted to his life and work (D8709/2/3) and four files of Foster's personal papers which include a few of his original design drawings (D8709/8/1-4).

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