London gallery Millinery Works is celebrating its rich collection of Arts & Crafts furniture with a temporary exhibition of its most recent acquisitions.
The gallery was originally founded in 1970 by Brian Thompson and Derek Rothera as a selling outpost in Camden Passage under the name The Antique Trader. Since 1996 it has been operating from the former hat-making factory focusing on British Arts & Crafts - with parts of the collection dedicated to painting, ceramics and contemporary craftsmen's work. The Haggerston-based institution has established itself as the destination for the British 20th century movement and has even collaborated with Loewe on the Spanish brand's furniture collection (creative director Jonathan Anderson has been a customer for years).
The current exhibition, Masters of Arts & Crafts, is the gallery's 19th annual specialist display of the theme, and forms part of a programme that presents a temporary showcase a few times each year. It is a diverse showcase of furniture by the likes of Gordon Russell, Baillie Scott and George Henry Walton, and exposes the movement’s dynamic diversity. Luscious wooden furniture features alongside more decorative elements, such as George Walton’s 1900 coloured glass works or his heart-shaped cut-out on an oak chair from a few years earlier. The clean display allows visitors to both appreciate the pieces' rich craftsmanship and their elegant shapes.
A bespoke Australian walnut Cotswold table (left), by Peter Waals, c. 1930 and a mahogany barrel chair with slatted sides (right in foreground), by Liberty & Co, c. 1900
Left: A chestnut Cotswold small chest of drawers with carved bog oak handles, by Sir Gordon Russell, c. 1925. Right: a rare, green painted ash 'Sussex' armchair, designed by Philip Webb for Morris & Co, c. 1865
Sir Gordon Russell's oak fall-front bureau, over one drawer on a stand of six chamfered octagonal legs joined by chamfered stretchers. Photography: Jessica Klingelfuss
A dark oak Cotswold desk, by Arthur Romney Green
A rare pair of oak armchairs with sloped tall backs, originally designed for 'The Homestead' in Frinton-on-Sea, a house designed and furnished by CFA Voysey in 1902
An oak Cotswold circular coffee table (left), attributed to Romney Green, c. 1920, and a pair of unusually large oak Arts & Crafts reclining armchairs, made by Furniture Industries Ercol, c. 1930.
ADDRESS
The Millinery Works Gallery
87 Southgate Road
London, N1 3JS UK
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