A unique collection of Liberty Furniture A unique collection of antique Arts & Crafts originals by Liberty & Co, Heal's and the Cotswold School available on our ANTIQUES page
The Arts & Crafts Home has assembled a unique collection of Liberty and Company, Heal's of London and Cotswold School furniture now for sale on our website.
Arthur Lasenby Liberty (1843-1917) established his firm as an Oriental Warehouse, and soon built it into a household word for artistic decoration and furnishing. Much of the early furniture stock was imported or locally made 'Anglo-Oriental' bamboo furniture. From 1883 the Furnishing and Decoration studio was run by Leonard Wyburd. After the failure of the Art Furnishers' Alliance, of which he was a shareholder, Liberty took out patents for the two versions of the 'Thebes' stool, which was to become one of the most popular products of the furniture studio. Furniture was supplied by wholesale companies such as William Birch and J.S. Henry, who made designs by George Walton, and the firm also stocked chairs designed by the German Richard Riemerschmid (1868-1857). The dress department was under the direction of E.W. Godwin. From 1898 Liberty's began to import German pewter by J.P. Kayser und Sohn among others, and in the following year they began their own metalworking venture using designers such as Archibald Knox, Oliver Baker and John Pearson, who had worked with C.R. Ashbee, 1888-1892. These along with wallpapers and fabrics by C.F.A. Voysey, Walter Crane, L.F. Day and the Silver Studio put the firm into the mainstream of Art Nouveau. Textiles were supplied by Thomas Wardle, who had made Morris's early prints, and by G.P. & J. Baker and Morton & Co. Liberty's stocked Donegal carpets by Voysey; enamels by C.J. Heaton; art pottery by Brannam, Doulton, Moorcroft, Linthorpe, Compton and other European potteries such as Max Lauger, which made designs especially for Liberty; as well as amateur work by the Home Arts & Industries Association; and Clutha glass by Christopher Dresser and Walton. Many other 'Art manufacturers' were represented and their products are illustrated in the gift and furniture catalogues for the 1890s.
