Archibald Knox has for
some time been recognised as one of the countries most influential
designers who worked predominantly for the company Liberty & Co.
The famous shop in
Regent Street would become an international focus of art, design, and
good taste. Its founder would shape art history through the wares
that he sold.
Knox helped to create
the Celtic revival.
In Italy Style Liberty
is the term generally used to describe Art Nouveau, such was its
reputation.
Though England would
help shape the worlds art through the thought process best
exemplified by John Ruskin and William Morris on the continent the
inspirational work of Viollet-le-Duc would also help give birth to a
movement that had more freedom.
The restraint that
developed in Britain steered the public away from the designs of
Charles Rennie Mackintosh, whose Glasgow School of Art was sneered at
as out of date when completed. On the continent he helped inspire a
generation of artists and designers such as Joseph Hoffman as head of
The Wiemer Werkstatte.
In Europe the freedom
to express forged a more liberated version of art Nouveau.
The term Art Nouveau,
French for new art was the name of the shop opened by Samuel Bing
that was a direct influence from the Liberty & Co store.
The Celtic style would
remain popular for a generation and the man who was to do more to
drive it forward would be Archibald Knox.
Knox was born 1864
Cronkbourne (Tromode) Isle of Man. His father was an engineer and he
was expected to follow the family tradition. He felt isolated amidst
the pressure to, like his brothers join the family firm. Robert Knox
was concerned about his sons use of the pencil complaining “Why he
doesn't even know how to hold a hammer”.
At an early age he lost
the top of his index finger and was happy to sketch and draw.
He was surrounded with
Ornament of a Celtic nature, he would be sure to be influenced by
this.
Owen Jones Grammar of
Ornament would be published in 1856 and would hold a section on
Celtic ornament.
Principles of Ornament
would be outlined by Christopher Dresser in 1876 in his volume
Studies in Design.
He attended St Barnabas
Elementary School and then Douglas Grammar School both in Douglas
becoming a pupil teacher 1878-1883.
In 1887 he passed the
examination in 'Design' with a first class result in 'Principles of
Ornament and went on to achieve a Art Masters Certificate in 1889
In 1893 he published an
article in 'The Builder' entitled 'Ancient Crosses in The Isle Of
Man'. He was possibly working in the offices of the architect and
designer M.H. Baillie Scott until 1896.
He left Isle of Man in
1897 to take up a teaching post at Redhill Surrey.
Knox contacted the firm
of Liberty possibly through his association with Baillie Scott who
had been designing fabrics for the company from as early as 1893.
He became design master
at the art School Kingston-upon-Thames in 1899 the same year as the
first Cymric patterns became available in the Liberty store.
In 1900 the same year
as he purchased a cottage at Sulby on the Isle of Man the cheaper
Tudric range was introduced in direct competition to the continental
manufacturers. Knox submitted several of piece meal designs.
He would live close to
Christopher Dresser who designed, indirectly for Liberty.
1903 sees Liberty
taking part in the Arts and Crafts Exhibition with four items by
Knox.
By 1904 he was
submitting huge amounts of designs for Silver, Pewter, carpets,
pottery, jewellery, textiles and possibly furniture to Liberty's.
While still teaching at Kingston-upon-Thames. In 1904 he was
appointed principle at Wimbledon.
In 1909 Liberty &
Co sold several designs to their competitors James Connell.
South Kensington
Examiners complain about Knox's style of teaching which he rejects
and resigns.
One of the pupils pull
out a bunch of designs in a waste-paper basket in Kingston Art School
and save them. These are now in the V&A.
Denise and Winifred
Tuckfield along with six other students leave in disgust at the
acceptance of Knox resignation.
He returned to The Isle
of Man in 1912 but on the 21st august that year left for
Philadelphia from Liverpool on a schooner named Dominion. He failed
to find suitable employment though he taught for a while in
Pennsylvania School of Industrial arts. In a letter to Denise
Tuckfield he states misgivings about the Renaissance architecture
that made up the city. A style of architecture he did not like.
'Renaissance architecture is a scholars work-Gothic is work done by a
man of sentiment and feeling'. He would say.
He had carried a letter
of introduction from Arthur Lazenby Liberty which no doubt helped him
secure work with Bromley and Co designing carpets.
He also carried with
him Liberty catalogues and his work was recognised. Though in the
letter to Ms Tuckfield he states that one firm called it the art of
the drug store.
He moved to New York.
In 1913 he returned to Isle of Man.
He taught at the Aliens
Detention camp there and served as a censor during the war.
In 1917 Arthur Lazenby
Liberty died. Knox designed his memorial stone at The Lee Church in
Buckinghamshire.
1920 sees him teaching
art at Douglas High school and he also travels to Italy to study
frescoes.
He held a one man
exhibition in Ottawa Canada of his paintings.
In 1933 he died
suddenly and was buried at the age of 69 in Braddon Cemetery Isle of
Man.
The Knox designs held
in the V&A have long thought to be the rejected designs.
Knox designs have long
held an attribution based on elements of design known to be by Knox's
own hand.
There is a formula to
the work of Knox he would take a rough sketch and rework it over and
over again and eventually the Celtic interlacing would appear as if
through a fog of smudges and marks. This a very interesting way to
work it almost feels mystical. When the work was coming to life with
smudges and all and parts of the paper rubbed out with grey lines all
over the paper, a transfer was taken by tracing the design using a
sharpened lead pencil.
Where semi precious
stones were to be placed would often be highlighted with watercolour.
The designs would be
annotated with shape size and details such as stones and enamels.
Numbers that were
intended to relate to the grouping of several pieces in sequence
maybe to be used as a unit such as a tray to be combined with a tea
service.
Knox kept a stock book
detailing which designs Liberty & Co actually purchased.
The majority of the
designs held in the V&A collection were intended for the Cymric
range of metalwork.
By 1900 the output was
catching up with design and what had been happening on the continent
with pewter was put into practice.
Lazenby Liberty had
acquired the designs for several competition winners held by The
Studio magazine. There was a rule that the purchase of the design
could not be purchased for more than the prize money won.
At this stage the
numbers are not up to 50 and the Tea Caddy design from the Studio by
Tramp (David Veazey). The design for a tankard by ' Parnassus'
Charlotte E. Elliot, 111 Chatham Street Liverpool has the number 049.
Rivet as much as you
can;
Don't countersink the
rivets;
Give them a firm head
so they may have a firm grip;
complete them that they
cannot hold dirt;
Give them desired form;
they are sin clipped:
Flattened too
obviously.
He would proclaim to
his pupils.
With the pewter range
there was no need for riveting in the moulded production and it seems
that this is intended for silver work.
The discarded drawings
were from 1911-12 when they were binned when he stormed out of his
position at Kingston.
So it is by attribution
that we put many designs as the work of Knox and Liberty was adamant
that the name Liberty & Co would be the only attribution that
would appear on the work.
Though the Cymric and
Tudric pewter wares are widely known to be by Knox.
Most of the Liberty &
Co archives were destroyed by enemy bombing during the war.
That said the Celtic
revival that Archibald Knox helped to bring to the masses leaves him
placed as one of the most influential designers of the Arts and
Crafts period.
The students who walked
out from Kingston now formed the 'Knox Guild of Craft and Design' and
set up premises at 24 Market St Kingston. He supervised and attended
several exhibitions and showed his rarely viewed watercolours.
They exhibited at the
1924 exhibition hall not only work but set up looms and other
equipment.
Denise Wren (nee
Tuckfield) continued with designs at Oxshott Pottery which is still
run today by her daughter Rosemary. Her designs of 1913 show direct
reference to the principles of design laid down by her mentor and do
look familiar in style. She also designed alphabet that look as if it
could have been made at the hand of Archibald Knox.
Liberty sold designs
attributed to Knox that were manufactured at the Watts Pottery,
Compton.
Most of his work was
attributed to Liberty under the usual format.
He seems to have been
an unassuming character who would not have minded preferring to be
part of something much bigger.
He leaves us a legacy
that helped to form the Celtic spirit and the history of its artistic
presence in these isles that now too becomes a part of its recent
history to inspire further generations in the not too distant future.