Ernest Gimson: Arts & Crafts Designer and Architect

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Annette Carruthers worked as a curator with the Gimson collections at Leicestershire and Cheltenham Museums. Mary Greensted has been curator and deputy director at Cheltenham Museum. Barley Roscoe is a freelance curator and writer and formerly director of the Holburne Museum and Crafts Study Centre in Bath. Nicholas Hobbs also introduced attendees to his work, culminating in the impressive pieces he designed and made for St Hugh’s Chapel at Lincoln Cathedral in 2017 – furniture that is full of meaning yet intensely practical. Lawrence Neal First Floor - Landing, heavily beamed ceiling, exposed timber wall beams and built-in linen cupboard. In 1884 Gimson heard William Morris deliver a lecture and had the opportunity to meet him afterwards. Morris encouraged Gimson to move to London and helped him secure a position at the offices of J.D. Sedding, a church architect. Gimson was fascinated by traditional crafts and learned practical skills such as rush-seated chair making and moulded and modelled plasterwork. Harry Davoll, the cabinet maker who worked with Gimson from November 1901, described Gimson as a tall, thin man, about six foot, while his wife was a very little woman. Davoll and his fellow craftsmen were often amused to see the couple coming across the fields to the Daneway workshop. Gimson walked with long strides while Emily trotted along beside him.

The Leicester School of Art was built next to New Walk Museum and became part of the museum in the 1890s. Gimson designed many buildings in the UK, with the two most notable being his first new house commission, Inglewood in Leicester, and the National Trust property in Leicestershire called Stoneywell. Both are now Grade II* Listed in recognition of their architectural importance. [7] [8] His architectural commissions include:Bedroom 2, built-in wardrobes and bedroom furniture, beamed ceiling and access to roof void and wiring for surround sound. In the middle of our talk Gimson suddenly seized the iron fire clippers. “There,” said he “Can any smith of yours make a piece like that? Oh yes, you may well pore over it - it is the most difficult double joint you can forge’ Yours of Nov. 10th to hand. Mr. Pugsley has, I suppose, informed you about the conditions. We pay 8d. per hour and offer a permanency to good men. We make high-class furniture only, therefore, we want first-class cabinetmaker. Carruthers, Annette and Greensted, Mary. Good citizen’s furniture: the Arts and crafts collections at Cheltenham. Cheltenham, England: Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museums in association with Lund Humphries, 1994

Ernest William Gimson (1864-1919) for the Lea Cottage wardrobe Ulverscroft, England, circa 1898 oak, iron 46 1/2"w x 23"d x 77"h Provenance: Christie's, New York, New York, Important 20th Century Decorative Arts Including Wiener, 09 December 2003, Sale 1311, Lot 61 Catalog Note: Ernest William Gimson is known as one of the most important figures of English Arts & Crafts Movement of the 20th century. Born to an engineer and iron founder Josiah Gimson of Gimson & Company that manufactured steam engines and various machineries, Gimson gained his working knowledge in engineering and design at an early age. At 15, he began working as an apprentice at a renowned architectural firm in his hometown of Leicester. At 19, after attending a lecture entitled 'Art and Socialism' by William Morris, he was completely drawn by Morris' philosophy and the Arts & Crafts Movement as a whole. This encounter had such a significant impact on Gimson who maintained close ties with Morris thereafter. In 1887, upon completing his apprenticeship and education at Leicester School of Art, he began his professional career as a designer and architect in London with John Dando Seddin's firm. During his two-year tenure with the company, Gimson trained himself by creating intricate, natural design elements and embodying the philosophy of the Arts & Crafts Movement. In 1889, Gimson joined Morris' Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings and continued his effort in preserving not only historic architecture, but also the traditional methods of crafts — an essential part of Arts & Crafts Movement. By 1893, Gimson had uprooted his life in London and moved with brothers Ernest and Sidney Barnsley to a rural region of Gloucestershire in the Cotswolds, where they practiced furniture making for a small group of clients and planned to establish a "Utopian craft village" characterized by simplicity and pleasurable labor. This wardrobe was custom made for the Lea Cottage, designed by Gimson and executed by Detmar Blow between 1898 and 1899, for his siblings as their summer retreat. Toomey & Co. Auctioneers Both Fred Gardiner (1890-1963) and Bert Hunt (1893-1980) were local men and sons of builders. They were apprenticed to Gimson and worked at Daneway. Owen Scrubey (1905-1988), Frank Rust and Percy Tanner (1904-1984) were local boys who were apprenticed to Gimson just before the First World War.Drawing of Stoneywell by Ernest Gimson, July 1898. Ernest Gimson Blue Plaque displayed at the Belmont Hotel, De Montfort Street / New Walk, Leicester.

Carruthers, Annette; Greensted, Mary; Roscoe, Barley. Ernest Gimson : Arts & Crafts Designer and Architect. New Haven: CT: Yale University Press, 2019 The house is set in a small garden area that emphasises the wild surroundings and the trees of Charnwood Forest.Each generation creates wealth by the advancement of technology and a part of this wealth, via enlightened individuals, is then used to support the crafts of the age. Ernest Gimson received support from members of his family in the engineering business. I have received support as a result of the first Moon landing, and the apprentices of Lawrence Neal are supported by Hugo Burge with the proceeds derived from digital technology.’ The afternoon was devoted to contemporary woodworkers including the local firm Charles Taylor Woodwork responsible for numerous functional but carefully designed and beautifully made pieces for Marchmont including trestle tables based on one of Gimson’s designs. Adrian McCurdy who makes cleft oak furniture and decorative carved panels nearby in Jedburgh is very much part of the living Arts & Crafts tradition through his father Alec, a fine furniture maker who trained with Edward Barnsley at Froxfield near Petersfield. Another contemporary maker Nicholas Hobbs introduced us to his work culminating in his impressive pieces he designed and made for St Hugh’s Chapel, Lincoln Cathedral in 2017 – furniture that is full of meaning yet intensely practical. One of the highlights for many of us was the intensely personal and moving short film The Chair Maker: Lawrence Neal produced by Hugo Burge. The last in line from Gimson’s chair-making enterprise, Lawrence is now being supported to train two apprentices who will carry on the craft in new workshops at Marchmont. Some of Lawrence’s chairs and those of his father are in the regular use at Bedales and a new addendum to the film was a series of interviews with ex-students who treasure their formative experiences studying in the school’s library including the furniture maker David Linley, the Earl of Snowdon. Nicholas Mander, Owlpen Manor, Gloucestershire: a short history and guide (Owlpen Press, current edition, 2006) OCLC 57576417 ISBN 0-9546056-1-6