Electric Table Lamp No 7  c.1893.

A movable reading lamp with hammered metal reflector.

This lamp, now in the collection of the V&A museum was given by
Arthur Dixon to CR Ashbee as a wedding present.

 

Inspired by Charles Robert Ashbee's example, a second Guild of Handicraft
was set up in Birmingham in 1890, with metalworker
Arthur Stansfeld Dixon as the leading spokesman.

A friend of William Morris, Dixon designed visually simple looking metalwork,

with an emphasis on skilled hand work, only using machinery where appropriate...

'A man should not be cut off from the full effect of his work...
if art is to live and not die, mens work must be so arranged
that they may be able to keep their souls alive...
the craftsman must come before the merchant,
and the machine must be subservient to the hand of man.'

Other key figures associated with the Birmingham Guild were
AE Jones, the Gaskins and John Paul Cooper, all of whom mastered a multitude

of metalworking skills.

The guiding principle of design was simplicity of line, closely followed

by the absence of decoration, except for the occasional cabochon.

BGH No 43 Electric Table Lamp c.1895.

 

BGH No 6 Hall or Porch Lantern c.1895.

 

BGH No 59 Rise & Fall Light c.1895.

 

BGH No 8 Lamp c.1895.

 

Combination Table / Wall Light No 44  c.1898.

 

Wall Light No17 with vaseline glass shade c.1898.

 

Combination Reading Lamp No 11, hammered brass with silk shade c.1895.

BGH No 87 Special Reflector Lamp in hammered copper & brass; the shade with silvered interior

rotates to shield or reflect the light as required.

Silvered Dressing Table Lamp No 77 with rotating reflector shield and height adjustment c.1900.

Cast brass Reading Lamp with hammered reflector shade c.1900.