Glass in an Arts and Crafts Home


New exhibition begins at Emery Walker's House

Emery Walker House
The drawing room at Emery Walker House

April 13, 2023

The reopening of Emery Walker’s House after a winter break will see a new display of glassware in the Arts and Crafts home.

The exhibition includes some of the most noteworthy examples of glass in the historic house on Hammersmith Terrace including historic pieces by leading Victorian designers and manufacturers, such as Philip Webb and Whitefriars.

The small drawing room of this exceptionally well-preserved Arts and Crafts home will showcase pieces from the house’s collection, normally tucked away in corner cupboards, and inaccessible to guided tours. These claret glasses, for instance, (shown below) were designed by Philip Webb for William and Jane Morris to use at Red House and were made by Powell & Sons of Whitefriars.

Glass has been made for over 3,500 years and the display aims to give visitors a small insight into the design, technology, history and culture of this versatile media.

Glass in an Arts and Crafts Home is included in the one hour guided tours of the entire house and riverside garden from 9 March to 30 November 2023. Visitor numbers are extremely limited, due to the fragile, historic interiors, so prebooking is essential via Emerywalker.org.uk.

Claret glasses form part of the display
Claret glasses form part of the display

The series continues on Wednesday 29 March at 6pm with an online interactive talk via Zoom by Helen Elletson entitled Women in the Arts & Crafts Movement.

The Women’s Guild of Arts was founded in 1907 as a reaction to the lack of professional art organisations open to female practitioners. Some of the key members of this pioneering group have a close relationship with Emery Walker’s House and their beautiful art work is represented in its collections, from stunning embroideries to glorious ceramics. This talk will highlight the importance and interconnections of three prominent artists of the Guild who were all Hammersmith neighbours - May Morris, Mary Annie Sloane and Phoebe Stabler.

Helen Elletson is Research Curator at Emery Walker’s House and also Curator of Research and Development at the William Morris Society.

Then on Wednesday 26 April at 6pm, there will be an online interactive talk via Zoom by Gillian McIver entitled Artist, inventor, occultist, faith healer. Who was Philip James de Loutherbourg?

Philip James De Loutherbourg (nicknamed the Mystagogue) was an artist, an alchemist and a magician and it seems like he was good at all three. A stage designer, he made special effects for theatre impresario David Garrick. He was a master painter, and acclaimed member of the Royal Academy and the French Academy, and devised his own astonishing colours. By the time he moved to 7 Hammersmith Terrace, now known as Emery Walker’s House, he was one of the most successful artists in London but gave that up to be a faith healer, treating hundreds of London’s poorest.

Emery Walker’s House at 7 Hammersmith Terrace, W6 reopens for guided tours on 9 March. Talks and tours must be prebooked via Emerywalker.org.uk.

The Emery Walker Trust is a registered charity which aims to preserve and open the House for as many people to enjoy as possible. The Trust also aims to improve knowledge of the Arts & Crafts movement and the life and work of Sir Emery Walker.

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