May Morris: Arts & Crafts Designer
Anna Mason and Jan Marsh
From armchairs and chaises longues to cabinets and nightstands, the period between the late 1930s and early 1970s was one of the most productive, inventive and exciting eras for objects and furniture in the home. Post-war optimism combined with new manufacturing methods and material techniques to create an explosion of new design and objects of desire.
The appetite for mid-century modern remains as strong as ever, both for classic designs – many still in production since they were launched – and for rare, hard-to- find or out-of-production pieces from lesser-known designers. While numerous books surveying mid-century modern style have appeared over the years, no publication has been specifically conceived for the increasing collector’s market in mid-century modern design, focusing on each piece of furniture as an object of formal invention, manufacturing intelligence and material innovation.
This definitive book profiles hundreds of pieces in a substantial format perfect for reference in design libraries, studios and the homes of private collectors – or as an object of design in its own right. Each item of furniture is presented in detail, illustrated in colour and profiled via in-depth descriptive texts by Dominic Bradbury. The book’s substantial reference section includes essays on materials (eg, plywood) and designer profiles. Work by a host of influential talents is profiled throughout, alongside lesser-known pieces by Piet Hein, Bruno Mathsson, Lina Bo Bardi and Alexander Girard.
Anna Mason is a former curator and manager of the William Morris Gallery, London, winner of the Art Fund Prize for Museum of the Year 2013. She has also worked for the National Trust at Red House, and organized many exhibitions on Morris and his legacy. Jan Marsh is the author of Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood, Jane and May Morris and biographies of Christina and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. She has also curated exhibitions on 19th-century art and artists, including ‘Black Victorians: Black People in British Art 1800–1900’, held at Manchester City Art Gallery and Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery in 2005. She is former president of the William Morris Society and a Trustee of the Brangwyn Gift at the William Morris Gallery. Jenny Lister is a curator of textiles and fashion at the Victoria and Albert Museum, specializing in the nineteenth century. Her publications include The V&A Gallery of Fashion and London Society Fashion 1905–1925: The Wardrobe of Heather Firbank. Rowan Bain is curator at the William Morris Gallery and was formerly assistant curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum. She is the author of several books and a contributor to May Morris: Arts & Crafts Designer. Hanne Faurby is assistant curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum specializing in nineteenth-century design. Her research encompasses textiles, fashion, jewellery and embellishment with particular interest in social-reform influences on the creative industry.
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