Article: Handmade in the UK - quality and tradition
Handmade in the UK - quality and tradition
Making has been a part of British life since before history was written. Using natural materials, furnishings, textiles and pottery were designed, woven and made at home by hand. For centuries, artisans used the materials found around them: native woods such as hazel and oak, wool, clay and home-grown native plants such as reeds and willow to make practical products that were needed to make our lives easier and where possible, more comfortable.
Many of those traditional skills, which over centuries became the bedrock of this country’s towns and cities and grew to provide a livelihood for generations of makers, are today much harder to find. In a post-industrial age many of our great manufacturing traditions have been outsourced hundreds of miles away, where in a quest for standardisation and increased profits mass production and inferior materials have led to homogenised, disposable and distinctly joyless products.
But a revolution is coming, and with it a revival of interest in the handmade and craft industry here in the UK. Natural materials are once again valued and indeed sought after. The pleasure of beautifully turned wood, lovingly painted ceramics, natural dyes and beautifully finished textiles. This was our inspiration. A return to highly skilled labour, quality materials and traditional techniques resulting in carefully considered and beautifully made items, made in small scale by specialists in their crafts.
We have watched as the popularity of The King's Project at Dumfries House, Made London, Handmade Chelsea and London Craft Week have been at the forefront of a revival in century old skills and traditions that have been passed down by artists and makers for generations.
As we curated our first collection of lamps, wall and ceiling lights, lampshades and accessories, the words of William Morris – one of this country’s major contributors to the revival of traditional British textile arts and methods of production – echoed in or minds...
“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful”.
We share that ethos.
All our lampshades are made entirely by hand, here in London. The fabric shades are stitched by hand and the card shades individually shaped and assembled.
Our hand turned wooden candlesticks are made by a wood turner here in the UK. We plan to develop fully recycled and or recyclable brass lighting and other hand cast metal products. Similarly, hand blown glass.
Just as we celebrate the ceramic traditions that were born in the potteries of Stoke-on-Trent, and the wood turning traditions that date back to medieval England, alongside these British made ranges part of our initial collection celebrates the influences we have encountered in our travels.
Globalisation has enriched our own British artisanal traditions bringing us crafts and techniques from around the world and while we strive to produce items that can be made in the UK, we will enjoy bringing you unique items and century old traditions from makers in other regions of the world.
Our initial collection includes handmade wooden and papier-mâché lamps made and hand painted in Kashmir. These designs are the creation of cooperative societies in Kashmir who train new generations in the techniques of their ancestors, from intricate naqqashi and papier-mâché to gold tila embellishments. While we assemble and wire them here in the UK, we are excited to be working with Kashmiri producers who share our values and we are thrilled to be bringing their beautiful work to the attention of new and appreciative clients.
These relationships, with the cooperative women of Kashmir and with our artists, potters, and wood turners in the UK, are key to our ethos. Where mass produced imports have created a disconnect between maker and materials, product and consumer, we seek to redress the balance.
Our craftsmen and women cherish what they do and take pride in their creations. We are proud to be bringing them to you.
