Artificers' Guild Design Archive

The Artificers’ Guild Ltd was founded in 1901 by the metalwork and enameller Nelson Dawson (1859-1942). It was one of the few guilds inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement to enjoy real commercial success, and remained in operation until 1938.

It was bought out in 1903 by the Birmingham entrepreneur Montague Fordham and established on a more commercial footing, producing domestic metalwork, church plate and furnishings, presentation plate and jewellery.

Fordham promoted Edward Spencer (1873-1938), previously Dawson’s principal designer, to be Director of the Guild’s workshop in Hammersmith. The Guild also had a showroom originally located just off Regent Street. Spencer died in 1938, shortly after the firm was wound up. During its existence, the Guild operated as a substantial business, employing over 40 staff at its peak, including a large number of skilled craftsmen, many of whom would have been trained in the Guild’s workshop. Although unacknowledged for much of the 20th century, the Guild is now recognised as an important producer of high quality metalwork and jewellery during this period.

The Library holds a collection of around 2000 Artificers’ Guild design drawings, many of them signed by Spencer. They demonstrate his excellent draughtsmanship, as well as the Guild’s ability to respond to changes in fashionable taste. They range from finely rendered presentation pieces for clients to full-scale wash studies for stock pieces and working drawings with annotations giving indications of price and alterations. Although most of the work is his, the Guild did employ designers other than Spencer, and the collection also includes a significant number of designs by the architect and designer John Houghton Maurice Bonnor (1875-1917).

How do I search this?

The collection was fully catalogued by Muriel Wilson and Anne Shannon during the late 1990s and early 2000s. A paper catalogue and card index is available to search in the Library. The designs are divided into portfolios by object type, and the catalogue provides details of the contents of the different portfolios, describing designs individually. The card index is also arranged by object type.