Description

A Bechstein upright pano with an Arts and Crafts oak case. Case features inlaid panels of "Glasgow style" stylised flowers in pewter and fruit woods. Ornate silver hinges on keyboard lid.

J. S. Henry

Casework by J. S. Henry. J.S. Henry were wholesale manufacturers in Old Street, London, of ornamental furniture from about 1880, and Art Nouveau pieces of mahogany and satinwood with decorative inlays in the 1890s. Their beautiful pieces were retailed through a Paris agent at the 1900 Centennial Exhibition, where they won two silver medals. At the Arts & Crafts Exhibition Society in 1903 the company showed designs by George Walton and W.A.S. Benson. G.M. Ellwood (1875 – c.1960) was their most prolific designer, and although they used designs by C.F.A. Voysey, E.G. Punnett and W.J. Neatby, few designers were named.

Arts and Crafts

The Arts and Crafts Movement was an international design movement that flourished between 1880 and 1910. The movement stood for traditional craftsmanship using simple forms and often applied medieval, romantic or folk styles of decoration. It advocated economic and social reform and has been said to be essentially anti-industrial. It sought to reassert the importance of design and craftsmanship in all the arts in the face of increasing industrialization, which they felt was sacrificing quality in the pursuit of quantity. Arts and Crafts objects were simple in form, without superfluous or excessive decoration, and how they were constructed was often still visible. They tended to emphasize the qualities of the materials used. The movement was successful in raising the status of the craftsman and promoting respect for native materials and traditions.

Piano Photos Click to enlarge images below