CHARLES ROBERT ASHBEE: HISTORY & VALUATIONS

A History of Charles Robert Ashbee 

The name Charles Robert Ashbee may not be a household name per se, but the reality of British design would be very different today if it weren’t for Ashbee. Ashbee was a British architect and designer who had a profound influence on the rise of the Arts and Crafts movement in the United Kingdom, as well as involvement in social activism. 

Ashbee was born in Middlesex in 1863. He grew up and went on to study at Wellington College and later King’s College in Cambridge. At university, he developed a passion for art and adhered to the ever-growing opinion that the industrialisation of the UK had dulled creativity and fine craftsmanship. This is one of the founding principles of the Arts and Crafts movement. Manufacturers in this time could produce goods in mass quantities without caring too much about the final product. Therefore, craftsmen who had spent their lives refining their crafts were left without work. Ashbee and his peers wanted to change that. 

After university, Ashbee joined the office of G.F. Bodley, an English Gothic Revival architect. He also set up residence at Toynbee Hall – an infamous social settlement in London’s East End. The focus of this residence was social reform, encouraging the rich and poor to live more inclusively. 

Ashbee was passionate about such social reform, and whilst he was living at Toynbee in 1888, he set up the Guild and School of Handicraft. The guild became a focal point of the Arts and Crafts movement in the UK, as well as the social reform that the residents of Toynbee were striving to achieve. The pieces produced by the guild were characterised by stones in simple settings, hammered silver, and flowing wirework. Many of the famous pieces from the guild include silverworks and jewellery designed by Ashbee himself. 

Ashbee’s ventures were inspired by the socialism of William Morris – who is credited with starting the Arts and Crafts movement in the UK – and the works of John Ruskin, an art critic, social thinker, and philanthropist. In fact, during his time at Toynbee, Ashbee read and discussed Ruskin’s works with local men as part of his community work. 

By 1901 the reputations of Ashbee and his guild were well established, and he employed fifty craftsmen. In 1902, Ashbee moved the guild out of London to Chipping Camden in the Cotswolds. A number of new craftsmen joined the guild, and it flourished once more in the beautiful setting of the Cotswolds. Free time was taken up by communal activities such as sports and theatrics. By 1905 the appetite for craftsman-designed furniture diminished, and the guild was liquidated in 1907. 

In addition to his silver and design work, Ashbee was a successful architect and author. He designed buildings in London and Budapest and published a number of books within his lifetime. 

Subsequent to the closure of the guild, Ashbee wrote and published a record of his achievements, named Modern English Silverwork, in 1909. During the WWI, Ashbee worked in Cairo, lecturing English Literature. afterwards, he lived in Jerusalem due to his appointment as British Mandate of Palestine. He was tasked with protecting and curating historical buildings within the city.  In 1922 he and his family returned to his wife’s family home in Kent. 

Ashbee died in 1942. His buildings, silverwork, books, and papers (which reside at King’s College London) are revered and treasured. Charles Robert Ashbee is regarded as one of the driving forces of the Arts and Crafts movement. The landscape of British architecture and silverwork would be very different today if it weren’t for his influence. 

It is proposed by some that the Arts and Crafts movement never ended. Although we rely heavily on technology in the modern-day, there is a need to know where such technology comes from, and an assurance that it is well made. We have people such as Charles Robert Ashbee to thank for this.