Arts & Crafts

The Arts & Crafts movement began in the mid 19th century with William Morris and Pugin.

The ethos of the movement was of handcrafted pieces made by traditional craftsmen: there should be no unnecessary ornament and everything should be of practical use as well as pleasing to the eye. Unfortunately to make items in this way was very expensive, compared with the machine made pieces of the new industrial age, so it proved impractical. However other furniture manufacturers caught on to the simple lines of the new Arts & Crafts style and it became very popular right into the 20th century.

Art Nouveau
This was the title given to the new style adopted in France as a reaction against the heavy over-decorated furniture of earlier in the 19th century. It began about 1880 and became all the rage. The whiplash curves of its organic decorations caused a sensation and were condemned by some as being decadent. The Art Nouveau movement was known in Spain as “Modernism”, in Germany as "Jugendstil", in Italy "Stile Liberty” and in eastern Europe as “Secessionist” – although this latter style was far more rectilinear than in other countries. Except in Glasgow – where C.R.Mackintosh and his contemporaries developed a singular style based on a combination of straight lines and curves now known as “Glasgow-Style”.