Red Rose Guild


The Red Rose Guild was a guild based in Manchester, with the aim to promote British arts and crafts. It was “regarded as the most influential national outlet for makers” in Britain during the first half of the twentieth century. The Guild was founded in 1921 by printmaker Margaret Pilkington, OBE, and remained active until 1985. The Guild held annual exhibitions at Houldsworth Hall, part of what is now Hulme Hall, Manchester until World War II. Prominent members of the Guild included potter Bernard Leach, silversmith Joyce Himsworth and weaver Ethel Mairet. After the war, the Guild moved its headquarters to Whitworth Hall. In 1950 the Guild joined the Crafts Centre of Great Britain.

History

In 1920 an exhibition by northern craftsmen living in London was held at Houldsworth Hall. Called The Red Rose Guild of Arts and Crafts, its success led to the formation of the Red Rose Guild of Artworkers in January 1921. The Guild was inspired by the work of William Morris. Its symbol, a red rose, reflected the Guild's origins in the north west of England.
The Guild was “a central authoritative body, maintaining exacting standards for membership and providing both a vital sales outlet and a regular annual meeting place.” They made a point of excluding any exhibits which appeared either ‘commercial’ or machine-made.
The Guild played a leading role in the debate about the future of craftspeople after WWII. They campaigned for state protection and the guild's secretary, Harry Norris, successfully argued for the exemption of “key craftworkers from war service in order to ensure the survival of craft skills.” This debate resulted in craftworkers being exempt from “punitive” post-war purchase tax. Alongside this they developed a craftsman's licence scheme.
In 1950 the Guild joined the Crafts Centre of Great Britain, alongside the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, the Society of Scribes & Illuminators, the Senefelder Club and the Society of Wood Engravers.

Name

The Guild's name evolved over time. Founded as the Red Rose Guild of Arts and Crafts in 1920, it changed its name to the Red Rose Guild of Artworkers in 1921. In 1940s the name was changed to the Red Rose Guild of Craftsmen and finally in the 1960s to the Red Rose Guild of Designer Craftsmen.

Exhibitions and venues

An advertisement in the Manchester Evening News for the Guild's first exhibition in October 1921 listed exhibits including “Embroideries, Lace, Weaving, Jewellery, Leather and Basket Work, Sculpture, Pottery, Stained Glass &c”. Exhibitions were held at Manchester's Houldsworth Hall every autumn until the outbreak of war in 1939.
In 1925 the exhibition had 32 stalls; by the 1950s the number was over 80. The 1926 Arts and Crafts yearbook read “a general colour scheme was introduced of cream outlined with black and gold which proved an excellent background for the exhibits.”
May 1939 saw a month-long exhibition at Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, including, for the first time, calligraphy, and bookbinding. In the same year the Guild opened a shop on St Ann Street, Manchester. In 1940 the Guild moved its headquarters to The Whitworth Hall.
The Guild held joint exhibitions with the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society at the Manchester City Art Gallery in 1940, and in London in 1941 and 1944. The 1941 catalogue had an introduction by Nikolaus Pevsner, who “predicted a bright future for the crafts after the war.”
The first exhibition in Manchester after WWII was held in November 1946.
From 1963 to 1974 the Guild had a permanent exhibition space featuring members’ products at the Crane Gallery, South King Street, Manchester. In 1971 the Guild held an exhibition at the Whitworth Art Gallery to mark its 50th anniversary. The 1984 exhibition was held in June at the Royal Northern College of Music.

''Crafts'' the journal

The journal Crafts was edited by Harry Norris from 1940 to 1946. He used it “to advance a series of anti-industrial polemics”. The magazine featured the “last thoughts of Eric Gill” together with essays by H. J. Massingham, Percy Beales, Anthony Gardner and Michael Cardew. It was published until at least 1948.

Organisers

Early organisers of the Guild included founder, Margaret Pilkington OBE, who remained on the board for forty years. She was the first honorary secretary and occasionally took the chair from 1926 onwards. In the early years of the Guild, Pilkington was supported by Kathleen Smartt, Dorothy Hutton, and Margaret Fullerton Davies. Harry Norris, Pilkington's “protégé” was secretary and Mr Cadness was chair.
Later committee members included Charles F Sixsmith in 1937, Reginald Marlow in 1967, Marie Nordlinger and Alex McErlain in 1980s.

Members

The Red Rose Guild included the following members:
NameDatesSpecialism
Pat AtkinsonPotter
Phyllis Barron1890–1964Textiles
Howard BissellPotter
Mary BoothJeweller
Mary Bryan1918 - ?Textiles
Francis Cargeeg1893–1981Coppersmith
Mr A CarneIronworker
Molly ChallonerSilversmith
Kathleen ClarkeEmbroiderer
Derek ClarksonPotter
Margaret ClarksonSilversmith
Catherine ‘Casty’ Cockerell 1903–1995Jeweller
Sydney Cockerell1897–1962Bookbinder
Peter Collingwood, OBE1922–1997Weaver
Joanna Constantinidis1927–2000Potter
George Frederick Cook1927–2000Potter
Emmanuel Cooper1938–2012Potter
Francis Glanville Cooper1918–1983Potter
Ronald Glanville Cooper1910-?Potter
Gertrude Crawford1868–1937Turner
Helen CrosbyWeaver
Bernard CuznerJeweller
William Bower Dalton1868–1965Potter
Stanley Webb Davies1894–1978Furniture maker
Brian DewburyPotter
Alan Durst1883–1970Wood carver
Derek Emms1929–2004Potter
William Fishley Holland1889–1969Potter
Mary Farmer1940-2021Textiles
Kathleen FleetwoodJeweller
Robert Charles Privett Fournier1915–2008Potter
Joyce Mary Griffiths1912-?Weaver
Joyce HainsworthSilversmith
Mrs K HampsonWeaver
Deborah HardingPotter
Anthony Paton Hawksley1921–1991Jeweller and silversmith
Gerd Hay-Edie1909-1997Weaver
Joyce Gwendolyn HaynesPotter
Henry HammondPotter
John Henshall1913–1996Calligrapher
Miss K HeronWeaver
Joyce Himsworth1905–1989Silversmith
Ruth HurleWeaver
Dorothy Hutton1889–1984Calligrapher
Margery Kendon1902–1985Weaver
Muriel Jackson1901–1977Wood engraver
Muriel Lanchester1901–1992Potter
Rita LankuttisEmbroiderer
Dorothy Larcher1884–1952Textiles
Bernard Leach1887–1979Potter
Ethel Mairet1872–1952Weaver
John Makepeaceb.1939Furniture designer
Reginald MarlowPotter
Enid Marx1902–1998Designer
William Ongley Miller1883–1960Painter
Alice Moore1909–1980Embroiderer
Theo Moorman1907–1990Weaver
Roy MulliganFurniture maker
Gwen Mullins, OBE1904–1997Weaver
William Staite Murray1881–1962Potter
Henry George Murphy1884–1939Silversmith
Robin Nance1907–1990Furniture maker
Kenneth NevilleEnameller
Sue NewhouseEmbroiderer
Edith Norris1877-1989Stained glass and mosaics
Harry Norris1901-1968Woodworker
David PeaceGlass engraver
Marcia Pidgeon1955-?Gold and silversmith
Katherine Pleydell-Bouverie1895-1985Potter
Fiona PorteousTextile
Roger Powell1896-1990Bookbinder
Dunstan PrudenSilversmith
Elizabeth ReddishSilversmith
Archie Milne RobertsonPotter
Seonaid Mairi Robertson1921–2008Potter
Gordon Russell1892–1980Furniture maker
Dunstan Alfred Charles Pruden1907–1974Goldsmith and sculptor
Barbara Sawyer1919–1982Weaver
Arthur Simpson1857–1922Wood carver
Hubert Simpson1889-?Wood carver
Marianne Straub1909–1994Weaver
Ann Suttonb.1935Weaver
Julia M SweetLacemaker
Thomas W Swindlehurstc.1900-1965Calligrapher
James Spencer Taylor1921–2010Graphic designer
Joyce Barbara Taylor1921–2006Embroiderer
Margaret Stanley Thompson1918–2007Wood engraver
Pauline ViviennePotter
Roy Waddington1917–1981Calligrapher
James Walford1913–2001Potter
Hugh WallisSilversmith
Florence WelchWeaver
Geoffrey Whiting1919–1988Potter
Rosemary Wren1922–2013Potter

Other exhibitors included The Weaving School for Crippled Girls, the Manchester School of Art, Salford School of Art and Bolton School of Art.