How To Decorate A Victorian Era Home | Victorian House | Absolute History

this channel is part of the history hits network stick around to find out more [Music] welcome to the late 1800s the arts and crafts movement is at the height of its fame and a group of men and women are busy rewriting the rulebooks of design and architecture [Music] they wanted to make everyday objects beautiful and they left an impact on british design we still feel today but make no mistake this was about so much more than pretty wallpaper and embroidered cushions these artists architects and political thinkers were starting a revolution inspired by art critic john ruskin and socialist designer william morris they hated the drudgery and ugliness of the industrial age they wanted to turn the clock back to an age where a craft workers skills were valued these were principles not just for design but for life bring joy to work share knowledge and make beauty accessible to all from the 1880s to the 1920s they spread their radical message across britain art could help to end social inequality which is a great idea if you can make it work [Music] to find out what we can learn from the arts and crafts movement six 21st century craftspeople are heading back to the world of the 19th [Music] the crafters are going back to basics they won't find computer-aided design or power tools here in real life we wouldn't be worried about it just put the machine real good now they're spending a month together in a victorian artist's commune we're going to be up early we're going to be in late yeah okay they'll be living the arts and crafts dream simplicity fellowship and taking joy in work as they remake this stunning house room by room without tears or tantrums you start off all being very nicey nicey as the pressure builds up it's really hard to hide the real you can they recreate the beautiful objects and high ideals of the arts and crafts movements by hand and we'll recapturing the spirits of the past bring fresh creativity to the crafts of the present [Music] for the last three weeks the crafters have been living the life of artisans from the 1890s [Music] last time around rod hughes most impressed the judges with his dining room fire dogs [Applause] in doing the construction i really had to show bits of artistry that the blacksmiths employed at the time i really felt a responsibility to do it well so yeah i'm very pleased with them and yeah love them to death it's now the last week of the crafters month-long tour of duty as artists and residents we're going to find out if the arts and crafts ideals of humanity beauty and simplicity have struck a chord and if so has it changed them back in time with our six crafters will be the internationally known potter keith breimer jones and arts and crafts expert patch rogers [Music] this week and for the first time all the crafters will be working in pairs in a final push to restore this lovely old house but they don't know yet who they'll be paired up with [Music] it's an arts and crafts mystery tour [Music] hey royce hello everybody the faces we know and love so well so for our first pairing it's rod with stevens come on please boys put us out of our misery what have you got right so the first object for this week for you two boys is this wonderful mirror circa 1920s now this mirror was actually made by edward barnsley who was the son of sydney barnsley basically used to produce work in a very architectural way but the simple side of it don't let that fool you because actually there needs to be a level of quality there [Music] sydney and his brother ernest were inspired by william morris and his radical design ideas they moved from london to the cotswolds to set up workshops to make furniture in the arts and crafts spirit this meant respect for materials they favored exposed tenons and dovetails and solid planks of timber decoration was above all to be simple nothing should be superfluous sydney sun edward continued the tradition of craftsmanship that still survives at the barnsley workshop today history hit is like netflix just for history fans with exclusive history documentaries covering some of the most famous people and events in history just for you whether you're looking to dive into life and crime in victorian london the lessons that can be learnt from the middle ages or the forgotten history that deserves to be heard history hit has a documentary for you just a click away not only that but we have a huge podcast network releasing new episodes every day so you'll always have something to listen to sign up now for a 14-day free trial and absolute history fans get 50 off their first three months just be sure to use the code absolute history at checkout all right the next pairing is abdullah and me did you think that one [Music] [Laughter] what delight do you have for them both so the second item of this week is not so much making but publishing we want you to create an arts and crafts magazine i mean this is the studio magazine which started in 1893 i mean this was the internet of its day this sort of magazine was giving people ideas in argentina in australia in america i mean it's it's a hugely important magazine for the arts and crafts movement how much do we have to put in it 500 pages [Music] the arts and crafts movement's very own in-house magazine began in 1893. the studio was founded by businessman charles holm he had a passion for all things arts and crafts and went on to buy william morris's red house in bexley heath features included techniques and guides on the aesthetics of home improvement it promoted arts and crafts designers like charles renee mackintosh and c.r ashby so that leaves you two our girl gang so keith what do you have for bryony and elsa so the third and final task for this week is this wonderful cfa voicey weathervane he was an absolute perfectionist i mean he left nothing to chance everything is in the detail i mean you know you've got a real task ahead of you if you ordered a voicey house every object within that house would be made by boise he would absolutely slavishly deal with everything from door handles through to weather veins to bells on the front so you know he's a real complete designer in that sense i've been wanting to make a weather rain for absolutely years but i've just never had the chance to it will go next to the summer house and as well as design it you're going to have to figure out how to attach it safely no problem architect designer charles francis ansley voicey famously said never look at an ugly thing twice born in 1857 boise designed everything from houses and furniture to fabric and wallpaper he was a true believer in the importance of a unifying artistic idea [Music] this week our crafters will be attempting new skills so the library is the place to begin [Music] study was key to the arts and crafts movements its tradition of passing skills down the generations would inspire progressive new art schools and technical colleges in london glasgow and birmingham and there's one more task for the group there is something i'd like you to make something for the outside of the house a joint project something that maybe uses all your different skills maybe some materials that you've got lying around and really kind of tells us how you feel about the experience that you've had in the past four weeks of this home i'd like you to make a pergola pergolas were a great favorite of arts and crafts designers there was a connection to nature and they lent themselves to a simple honest style managing that i think is going to be the hardest thing because none of us actually know where we're going at the moment with these ideas and so how do we know all the components that we're going to need for the whole process and who's going to be able to help where and what time that will take around other things is a huge job so to the barnsley mirror i think it's going to be a big ask i'm really worried about stephen and rod i think there could be some interesting dynamics going on there they need to really collaborate on this and stephen more than anyone really needs to put his positive input into this task it's apparent to rod and stephen straight away that on this one they're going to have to ask for a little more help from their friends so we cut the bone file it down to the shape we want and call that it we then use that as a stencil yeah makes sense so that's kind of where we are we need we desperately need abby now to do his joints for us because that's the idea is to feature them rod and steven have decided to up their game and go for a more ornate mirror favored by sydney barnsley they've chosen a complicated marquetry inlay and veneers around that's really ambitious in the time available we hope to include some really lovely marquetry uh including wood uh copper and bone uh in the top of the mirror so basically we're racing through the main construction in order to have that pallet of the top of the mirror in order to be able to do the inlay rod is a seasoned crafter steven has less experience under his belt and is struggling in the design we've put room for a little hand washing bowl and a jug so you can wash your hands under the mirror hey whether or not i actually have anything done in time is another question while stephen is still formulating his thoughts [Music] neve has the bit between her teeth in the busy editor's office things seem to be on a more even keel the studio magazine told the world what emerging arts and crafts designers were creating and thinking [Music] the magazine put together by neither abbey is aiming to do exactly the same only for a smaller readership their fellow crafters they'll be using authentic 19th century production methods which means hand typing hand-drawn illustrations and the important historic printing process lithography hello how are you doing good how are you i'm very well this really suits you thanks where are you at it's going quite well i've nearly finished the first article way yeah wow i have written the introduction to the magazine i thought it'd be nice to have an introduction can i read it yeah do you want me to read it out to you please do okay what a strange thing to put six strangers in a house with strange tools and strange materials and hope that they thrive through rain and sun we've come together in such unexpected ways and have together created beautiful works of art i hope that you dear reader will find this publication not only useful in a practical sense but also in a way to understand how artists brains work how they think what drives them to create i hope that some of their passion inspires you to seek out a more creative life so that's gonna go at the start wow wow this was amazing style thanks you're a naturally born writer so good abby supports neve's editorial line but at heart he's a woodworker not a journalist i was ready for large cabinets with some voicey style hinges on top of it it's a challenge it's something new and i was already grateful i'm going to learn something absolutely different we've decided that abby is going to be doing the art side of things so he's designing the cover that came about for a couple of reasons one of them i didn't want to design the cover well that's a pretty good reason in the days of word processing and desktop publishing these victorian techniques will be a shock to the system i think the magazine is a real curveball yeah i think it's a really interesting i mean we haven't really got anyone there that's kind of worked within that medium before you know it's publishing and it really gave everyone an insight into what was going on in the world of artists and craftsmen the weathervane is a closer fit with briony and elsa's core skills metalwork and product design the arts and crafts pioneers were inspired by nature and they are too wow [Music] and nature offers some practical design clues quite often in weather veins they have an arrow which points in the direction that the wind's coming from so if we could get an arrow possibly involved as well it's so hard all these ideas and still trying to keep it simple simple simple but i love the idea of this being the eagle's nest viewpoint and having the eagle and the sawing and the there's so much we can do with that my first reaction was like i can't believe i've been allowed to do a weathervane really excited my second thought was the last time i actually did any blacksmithing was about 20 years ago there's a lot involved in the functionality and the structure there might be limited scope for creativity and a lot of blood sweat and tears it's a very complex object working moving parts you know they're dealing with voicing the master of arts and crafts there needs to be simplicity it needs to have quality and it needs to function and work i've got total faith in them i am more excited than i have been to see what they come up with and time is of the essence because the sun is setting and so they'll have six days left to coin a well-known arts and crafts phrase time and tide wait for no man yeah indeed [Music] it's another day it's another set of challenges but good ones good morning how are you very good this does remind me of the wharton's you've never seen the wharton's have you no no i'll tell you about it one day time and tide wait for no man and neither does breakfast now this is swiss eggs and i think the only reason they're called swiss eggs is because it's gruyere cheese in it but please be careful because the dish is incredibly hot this morning editorial policy is on the agenda and so is gender politics i think your idea need to build in how-to guides because a lot of it was about middle-class women educating themselves in arts and crafts and the magazine would be the perfect format it's not a bit patronizing in what way well sort of teaching middle class women welcoming themselves that's what happened shouldn't we just teach the craft yeah and then that men always exactly exactly i was just about to say but i think they'd be loving to have a couple of leading articles highlighting sort of women at the time who are amazing our sons [Music] in what was a bold step for the day the arts and crafts movement positively welcomed women margaret mcdonald macintosh was one of the first women to attend day classes at glasgow school of art she became a significant artist by the turn of the century by now the spirit of the british arts and crafts movements had traveled across europe margaret exhibited internationally and her stunning gesso panels had a big influence on the great austrian artist gustav klimt [Music] briony and ilsa are about to venture into what a century ago was a strictly male preserve their design's complete they're now ready to start making their weather vein at the local forge blacksmith ross smith will be their guide far bryony and i have been talking about um our mums that's where we started we both lost our mums recently and some of the things that we discussed was things such as she's been finding lots of feathers around in her metal shed and we start to talk about beds and i talked about a song that meant something to me and my mum it was called an eagle when she flies and then we started to think about what an eagle meant and the eagle itself is about clarity and vision and power and strength the difference in this project is that it's not just my project it's ilsa and my project and in a way that's even more fun because i was saying she was like oh i don't do michael work nothing all the joy is i haven't done this kind of blacksmithing for years so let's both go and learn how to do the blacksmithing the local smithy was a key partner in arts and crafts at the forge raw tyrone could be made functional and attractive and for charles voisy even the very smallest detail had to be beautiful he believed a cast iron fireplace was the heart of the room and made this clear with his famous love heart designs first briony and elsa need to set about creating the wrought iron structure it's all yours we've gone one complete one complete turn [Music] twisting the heated iron requires strength and precision [Music] while the metal is hot other elements need to be bent around shaped formers [Music] brilliant wheel the other one right let me chop this in half we can get the holes sorted here with it and done at home i'll do the card thing to middle you do the ear goal then tomorrow it's only the cuffs and the assembly of diamonds yeah hello ladies are you impressed i am it looks it looks really good looks really promising excellent we've made really good progress i think we started to get excited about the same things our minds went in slightly different directions but then somehow we found a way in again yeah yeah but i think the aim is by the end of tomorrow to finish all this part and then go back to the metal sheds at the house and really start concentrating on the eagle and the arrow which will be the spinning part on the top what made you think of an eagle we started talking about our mum's energy that we have got from them and it's something that also brought ilson and i together because my mum died very recently and we both feel that our mums have been very supportive in what we do and giving us energy in and so it's just really lovely to actually bring that out in the final project you're connecting the fact that it's that that it's in the local area with the with the eagle and for for want of not trying to cry you're also connecting it with your mothers which is great fantastic yeah i love it [Laughter] what do we like anyway i'll leave you to it because it's you've got a lot of work still to do and um and i can't wait to see it bryony and ilsa they seem to be working really really well together they've never done that before they've never done this process they're really understanding the material it's inspirational it's great [Music] abby's been inspired too by the whole experience of working with his fellow crafters last night i came up with an idea said how about we're going to be having interviewed uh with all the artists here what if we just put the portraits of them next to it so be more interactive and more fun to look at and she liked it gave me thumbs up and i must say all night last night i was full of joy and just drawing till morning and it was it was fascinating thinking about how she's been energized and stimulated by being with the group neves decided to write an article for the magazine on why artists create right finishing this design i am here to interview you i'm getting around everyone i have to interview you i'm sorry you did not call my secretary before hey not only do neve and abby have to generate the written content they'll have to be graphic designers and publishers too but neve is philosophical [Music] i think the magazine is going to come off fine and similar to the curtains last week because i have no idea of the processes there's no panic because there's no point in panicking that's certainly one way of looking at it [Music] all is also calm in the woodshed rod is working on his own to make the mirror frame inspired by one of patch's favorite designers i love barnsley's work on the basis that it was as good as it could get within the furniture making barnsley workshops make the most exquisite furniture it embodies craftsmanship i mean it allows the craftsman to excel to its absolute limits and i think that that's what i love about the barnsley furniture you know it's beautifully made it's a challenge that rod seems to be taking in his stride i can work in metal wood most things steve works in ceramics steve is a ceramicist people were very keen for us to get a ceramic element into a wooden and glass mirror really really difficult so we decided to let steve have free reign but for steven free reign isn't quite as liberating as it sounds i'm probably trying to throw too big i get myself a knot and i just get frustrated with it and by the end of it i'm just flinging any old block of clay on just to try and make a thing with it which is quite frustrating but um yeah probably should just pack in go and do something that's actually a you know gonna work [Music] well no one said making beautiful objects would be easy [Music] abby isn't taking things easy either he's ahead with his work on the magazine so he's taking the lead on the group's pergola project i'm designing the perglar right now and i can see one or two ways to do that to to fit in with the structure of the entrance i'm actually excited to share it with everyone and see what other other people think so if if it goes forward everybody gives thumbs up i'll make it and whoever wants to come and join will come and join [Music] the next morning having worked on his design on paper abby now needs to see if his ideas will work in practice so this is one third of the whole structure of the pergola this is going to be all going together and interlocked within each other without glue i think in time management we are still a little bit lacking from my personal point of view which is part of it you know it can be the spice of it you know the spice is needed the entrance needs to be bigger so um that's why i designed this coming forward that way quite angular and that is going to be supporting the design from the um from the crown of the door so hopefully it will complement it while abby puzzles over the pergola neve is busy with the content of the magazine and it's from the heart i am writing an article about craft and chronic illness which is something that i have quite a lot of experience with i have arthritis in pretty much every major joint in my body and it's starting to get into my hands and my fingers which is obviously slightly worrying so the article is firstly about my history um but then about how essentially craft gives people with chronic illnesses freedom the arts and crafts founders shared nev's beliefs that the exercise of creativity could have a therapeutic effect on disability artist guilds often supported and taught a trade to the victorian ill and poor [Music] one was founded by the duchess of sutherland in 1900 to help disabled children and teach them metal working skills abby hasn't just been designing the pergola he's been redesigning the other crafters [Music] is this everyone in the house it's everybody in the house um so so this is stephen is that rod that's right in his sunday outfit oh my god that's so briony that's amazing i know and i like them yeah i love them thank you so much and i'm going to put those in the typewriter and type up the interviews around their pictures this is so probably my best collaboration yeah i'm really enjoying this thank you you're so chill to work with that's the first time anyone has ever called me chilled to work with [Music] one of the barnsley mirrors decorative features will be carved in bone and shaped as a flower much loved by victorians an iris just cutting lines basically all these leaves are just wood so that gives us a chance to practice on that before we get to the really tricky not even tricky bits but the bits that we have to really put some real effort in so that's where your uh little cabochons will go and it's right in the middle of the bones okay you've got anything out of your own stuff yet oh no no nothing i'm happy to come and spend it no not coming there's not a there's not a lot we can relive it events are proving overwhelming for stephen [Music] to create the eagle that will perch on top of the boise weather vane bryony is using a technique called rapuse forming a pattern in relief or 3d by hammering away from the reverse side this is the central structure which is a tube that will fit on the steel part of the top of the weather vane and there's going to be a ball bearing hidden in there so the top of the steel basically just hits that so that is able to spin and then i've been sawing out the arrow which elsa has designed based on a welsh love spoon so there will be in the direction that means that shows you the direction that the wind's going so i'm going to have a huge wing on the back which will provide that area for the wind to hit but the main thing about it with the vein this spinning bit it has to be balanced on here so to counteract the weight of this large wing i need to have i need to double up basically my copper on here so i'm adding things like the legs which will cover up the tube and there'll be one on that side as well and the head which is going to be made in two parts so it looks 3d so here is the beginnings of my head i've chased the outlines of the eyes for the beak and then what i'll do is i'll flip it over and really puff out the beak so that it's much more three-dimensional so he'll have quite a good looking head but we wanted it the eagle to look like it's taking off so i've really wanted it to be sitting on this perch but about to leap off someone who'd have approved of bryony's painstaking attention to detail is voicey himself everything that voicey produced had beautiful craftsmanship he sought out the best crafts people to make to make his work and he understood the process of making which is an important part of the designer's ability to be able to design great things is that they understand the process he typifies for me what the arts and crafts movement wanted to convey and what that was was a sense of proportion a sense of well-made functioning furniture or design stevens moved on to the marquetry for the mirror surround the intricate inlay of different woods the victorians couldn't get enough of this technique they used it on all sorts of decorative items from tables to clocks we are channeling along with the project the project is hard because the the piece is actually quite small but the attention to detail and the quality has to be absolutely superb i think a with rod he wants to make his standard on everything up to very very high quality actually looking at it now like it's it just needs glued in and they stuck together and it's just as good as anyone could ask [Music] it's halfway through the week but while there's still a lot of work to do i say anyone for a spot of croquet [Music] no okay now that was contact i've been dying to do this personally i'm slightly heartbroken that we're going home next week everybody else is like yeah we get to leave we get to see our fans like you know like yeah that's yeah i'm obviously looking forward to seeing friends and family but i don't want to leave here not at all neve and abby are ready to take their front cover to the printers to begin the highly complex process of lithography i am very nervous i'm very nervous it's it's like walking into a dark room i got no understanding about the next process that i'm going to be going to be doing developed in the late 18th century lithography made it possible to produce a huge edition of prints from a single image [Music] pete williams will help me van abbey through the process thank you hey dana hi i'm nice to meet you so i understand you want to do some drawings on our stones let the whole thing the absorbency of limestone makes it perfect for this technique first it's cleaned and saturated with water see it changes color and you pick up the elevator place it in the middle okay and then you spin the stone this prepares the limestone for an image to be drawn on in waxy crayon before printing the stone is cleaned again with water but the ink will remain in the waxy areas i was not expecting this at all [Music] good that you've done it backwards okay so you need to transfer that drawing onto that stone [Music] i am applying liquid touch onto the stone and it's a quite breathtaking process because one mistake i have ruined the magazine [Music] [Music] keith has heard that stephen's difficulties making the mirror wash basin are getting him down worried he'll lose all enthusiasm for their shared craft keith puts on an impromptu master class that slight curve in the base will now determine how i flare out the outside of it that cross section then is completely regular you're self-taught right and the way you approach the clay honestly it's amazing really that's incredibly controlled really well you're losing it now a bit but that's all right [Music] think of what it's for though now you've got to get the water out at some point so i use the sponge as a tool as well so give us your hand go like that i'll i'll apply that much pressure with the sponge so the sponge isn't just getting the water out it's actually reshaping the clay [Music] at the printers abby's finished etching his front cover on the limestone block but after almost five hours of effort will it actually work [Music] to the edges i think this experience has taught me to be less scared less worried to be more calm and not stressed when things go wrong so this eat grease i'm hoping we'll just go with the images it's amazing love it so we're going to place our printing paper over the top and setting up the press pressure grab the handle and turn it probably don't stop now all the way through stop there and we lift the bar up pressure comes off now for the moment of truth [Music] wait amazing that is amazing [Music] it's a funny week this week no we've all kind of cross pollinated cross-pollinated yeah we wanted very much to put ceramics into the design so i've been leaving students been leaving us in space to to get that to get that done well look i'll leave you to it and i'll see you later okay the only thing that's clear with the mirror is that it's a long way from being finished off this is the bone that's going to go on top of the mirror and we've got it all mapped out into sections bone's only so big so we kind of have to make it up out of a pieces of bone cunningly stephen and rod have managed to snaffle the bone that was used to make the calf's foot jelly [Music] all the crafters are outside their comfort zone including abby and neve you predominantly work with fabric and you work with wood what's it like working on something like this this is completely different really isn't it yeah it is fairly different i just really enjoy writing and i write in my spare time so it's it's all right well it is a creative process after all isn't it you're making sure that it starts and cross how are you approaching that i mean i think the design for the front cover is of the style of the arts and crafts movement and i've gone a little bit political in some of the articles so that's a that's a bit arts and craftsy you're working with neve on this obviously absolutely but you are you also you're working on this pergola are you well i'm all over the place a little bit but this is my priority so whenever i'm not needed here i try to help other places okay it's actually working quite well because obviously there is there's only one typewriter yeah no yeah and abby's you know been providing me with the illustrations in the morning and then i've just been typing over them how are you going to bind them together uh so i've been researching i think i'm going to do a saddle stitch i haven't tested it yet but it seems to be the easiest well that'd be nice because it's a connection to your discipline anyway yeah which would be yeah quite nice so you've done a drawing of everyone have you there you go that's you nice i'm wondering what this bit is that kind of well with friends like these [Music] the pergola is a group project everyone's involved ilsa is looking after the finer detailing the leaves have been made by different people in the house those that had time made a few extra so that we could use some on the pergola ilse is heating the copper leaves with borax a mineral that gives a sparkling shine and the effect of an autumn leaf [Music] things are progressing well in the eagle's nest stephen and rod are both fully committed to the ethos of hand crafting of course but it's a slow process and they're behind luckily for them help is at hand rod and steven asked me if i can do a dovetail joinery in their project so i spoke to ni and she's doing the typing right now i have given all the illustrations to her and a couple of articles so i know that if i finish this by lunch time i am good with my project which is the magazine and i have helped friends everything that neve asked me is ready for her so she created a list and well we created the list in a way and i have ticked all of the responsibilities that she asked me to so i'm leaving her to what she's doing and now help is needed on project pergola too that's fallen behind so elsa has drafted in another willing worker keith is that it on the floor yeah right okay so this part this is where the door is yeah this is the roughly the the design of the finished piece okay thank you thanks pleasure thank you for help i have not used this technique before but abby showed me yesterday how he wants it to be done yeah so he said that if we just go along the marked line yeah and just give it a thumbs up score it yeah and then he says if you do it again here like halfway yeah then he said one side should fall out the other side shall fall out and the middle will also do the same and then it's a case of working backwards give it a good bash okay so we're nearly we're nearly at the end of this whole challenge do you think you've learned much from it i think i've learned that it's important to be connected with materials to design more effectively um i think i am definitely going to be more hands-on with the things that i produce yeah and go back to using a range of materials which is what i used to do um darling i think there is this needs to overlap more that's nice so the construction of the pergola i mean they haven't got long to go i can't see how they're going to get it done i really i really can't it's still on the floor it's not up yet [Music] it's getting late in the day and i'm still making the frame for rod and steven so they can do their pretty parts with time and relaxation hopefully yeah otherwise it wouldn't have happened we all have to give each other a hand to to get the deadline right it's got a lot of detail on ours um so we've got a bit of time to go yet um we're also having to wait for things to glue processes and things like that so it's not over to the lady sings it was a fat lady yeah that's right we're coming up on the rails [Music] once again but now for the final time our crafters are rushing to get their creations finished [Music] that's really nice that's really nice i've never done saddle stitching before so that's a new thing that i've learned the framework we sort of finished and and is good abby's done his magic on the joints and this is the marker tree so the marquetry is lots of pieces of thin veneer this has to line up with the top before i cut the veneer i just really want to check that that's going to wrap around nicely pretty amazing pretty good steven's been working again most of the night on the bone is a jigsaw puzzle so all you'll see is the clean white surface on the top and these little hearts are the center of the iris so um i'm just really thinking hard about it making sure i've made any mistakes making sure there's nothing i can get wrong because i want this fit of the veneer and the surround to be absolutely perfect the gold goes on really well it's nice coverage and it means that we only have to do one coat which is not going to clog up where we've got ours and our mother's initials can you still really see them yeah they're really prominent yeah that works really well they'd be chuffed to bits with us [Music] the arts and crafts movement was a revolutionary moment in social history striving for joy and work and beauty that could be enjoyed by all in the objects they've made in their final week have the crafters been able to match up to these ambitious still radical ideals let's see what patching keith think thank you wow oh good they finally finished it i was really worried about this i must say here we are oh wow the book can i just the mirror the weather pain can i touch it wow in one week ilsa and bryony have created the voicey style weather vane the delicate repuce work of the eagle crowning the structure a design they both agreed on was created by briony isn't it great this is a thing of mag this is isn't it fantastic oh my goodness i know and look mjb yeah they put their um their initials all and they put their mother's initials on it as well oh wow beautiful look at these beautiful uh north south east and west that look how smooth they are it's lovely they've been well finished haven't you haven't they guessed it it's been yeah i mean they've given themselves enough time and the most important thing they have finished it and they finished it to a high degree it's not kind of substandard in any way all of the elements are there and all the details [Music] rod and stephen decided on a decorative interpretation of a barnsley mirror they incorporated marquetry bone inlay and veneer is it arts and crafts yes i think it is i mean there's obviously the dovetails i think that's a very awesome craft trait to show the construction uh the inlay they've used bone they've used another timber i think it's mahogany within there and they've used the ceramic little details which i think is really lovely it definitely mirrors no pun intended the work of sydney barnsley and i think that they've they've captured that but for me they just lost a little bit of the detail in the top that's a shame yeah steven produced a bowl and two cups to accompany the mirror um he's obviously had some issues um it's a you know what it's actually a really lovely shape i just wish he'd finished it off properly there's loads of technical problems with it one being that it's cracked that's the obvious one i mean i don't mind the colour at all i quite like the form of that i think it's simple it's simple yeah neva naby created an arts and crafts magazine she being in charge of the copy he the graphic design oh look it's the house of arts and crafts it's embroidered that's beautiful look at that this is amazing so clever and beautifully beautifully stylized i mean that's a real lovely that's lovely in itself isn't it how have they done this have they printed that i'll just start getting emotional now but that's been lithographed that's been hand carved out in stone and printed on stone no it's it's just incredible really that's amazing it's an amazing process i just can't get over the beautiful embroidered flowers and leaves that's so beautiful all these illustrations are all done by um abdullah they're beautiful neve did all the typing beautiful illustrations pen lovely so i think i'm torn you know the thing for me is i kind of knew and was really excited about the weathervane because i just wanted to see briony and elsa working together i just knew it was going to be magnificent so although i had high expectations and they have been met i'm completely surprised and blown away by that magazine yeah i think it surprised us but i think we're quite enjoying the element of surprise and i think we're all pretty aligned in our decision [Applause] [Applause] and how appropriate that you walked out of your purgla that you all had something to do with so who's going to talk us through it yeah it was a team build mostly abby's design something put from bryony about how it funnels people into the house through the door everybody made the copper shim leaves that you see in the corners and then also on the front and then there's conkers and hopscotch for later great fantastic i mean it's really symbolic of the arts and crafts movement i love it yeah i love the shape of it i like the way it funnels you it invites you into the house yeah it's just a really amazing thing well done well done all right we should start with the magazine neve abby it's a beautiful magazine i think you've done yourselves proud you haven't just produced a magazine the content's brilliant it's absolutely wonderful you know it just it does make you just want to turn the pages it's fantastic it has all the sentiment of the arts and crafts period i think it's i think it sums it up and you've got a hand embroidered cover you know it's it's it's it's fantastic and when it talks about all the elements within it really embraces the whole four weeks for me it's a real triumph i think it's fantastic well done [Music] do you know what i actually like the shape of that bowl i think is actually quite a victorian shape and and it's and it's really in the style of of something that you would find in a house like this let's talk about your collaboration with rot the mirror i'm really surprised nicely surprised that you've actually got it here because when i saw it during the week it was in pieces there wasn't any bone cut there wasn't any of the ceramic pieces that you've inlaid in there there there really wasn't anything you've really pulled it together the one bit for me is that top i just can't get over its kind of wibbly wobbly shape it's not really working for me but the inlay is fantastic i love it i love the little cabochons the ceramic cabochons little hearts little center of the iris i think that's beautiful and you know the dovetails fantastic i think it's i think i think you've achieved a great thing really i mean it's you know it's here it's done it's finished well done onto the final pairing elsa and bryony tell us about this piece of work at the end the whole design of the actual blacksmithing was to try and create the idea of wind and turbulence around the world head hand heart it's there you've got you've absolutely nailed it i mean the simplicity of the letters the eagle is in flight i think it's absolutely stunning and the making of the object is also beautifully done and it's finished and it's finished well it's a great it's a great piece really fantastic that story and that connection with the finished article is so important in the arts and crafts movement as patch has said you've hit the nail on the head or the rivet on the head because you've really managed to to breathe life into that eagle it's standing there it's looking proud it's absolutely fantastic so to the object of the week it was a really tough decision but a decision has been made and it's unanimous we all agree that the object of the week is the weather vane well done girls it's amazing thank you [Music] weathervane is judged to uphold the true legacy of arts and crafts with honest beautiful and functional design and here's to that for a month the crafters have lived the life of a victorian arts and crafts commune living and working together following the ideals of ruskin and morris as they created beautiful objects so has their time together struck a chord with our 21st century artisans what have they learned from the arts and crafts pioneers and has their relationship with their own creativity and craft changed the thing that i will take back is about the whole ethos of work and companionship and who you work with that i think will be ringing in my i ears honored to travel back in victorian time i wish that i actually did leave and be william morris's and his and his fellows lifestyle because that really it has a really big impact on me [Music] i think what i've learned is i don't need to be so reliant on technology and computers i've got all the skills there it's just always been the easy option and actually there's a real pleasure in knowing that you've hand-drawn things [Music] in hindsight i may spend a little bit more time looking a bit more at the spirits and and the joy of the thing rather than just the nuts and bolts i think what i'm going to take away from it is like stick to like learning and getting good at things but if you ever get the opportunity to speak to somebody else from another discipline you know spend a good amount of time talking them and learning from them because you know you'll always find that there's parallels in between everything [Music] [Applause] it's been a real privilege to be here to make things and to do things [Music] yeah it's um yeah once in a lifetime and i feel just so lucky i really hope people get out there stop just using these and use all the digits and make something wonderful and if it's not wonderful just enjoy the process that's what it's really all about so the arts and crafts movement is 150 years ago and here we are today reliving that and it's a it's a fantastic thing to see i think the crafters here over the last four weeks have done an amazing job and that's the legacy of the arts and crafts movement and i think they've really embodied that [Music] it has been an incredible four weeks not only have they made some truly beautiful objects they have tapped into the spirit of the arts and crafts movement and maybe we should all remember the words of william morris have nothing in your homes you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful [Music]

Channel: Absolute History

Views: 85,233

Keywords: Absolute History, DIY crafting, DIY home decor, Victorian era craftsman, Victorian era craftsmanship, Victorian fashion, Victorian house restoration, antique furniture restoration, antique home decor ideas, art and crafts movement, arts and crafts style, charming historical decor, decorative arts, handmade crafts, heritage crafts, historical DIY projects, historical design, historical reenactment crafts, traditional craftsmanship, vintage aesthetics, vintage home decor

Id: qvYp4kS04q8

Length: 59min 13sec (3553 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 12 2022