Dr W. G. Grace (1848–1915) 1948
Thomas Hedley Bruce Burrough (1910–2000) and Bromsgrove Guild of Applied Arts
The Bromsgrove Guild of Applied Art [also known as Bromsgrove Guild Ltd., from 1922] was founded in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England by the sculptor Walter Henry (1871-1946) in 1898. Gilbert had recently been appointed Headmaster at Bromsgrove School of Art. His aim in establishing the Guild was to promote high quality craftsmanship particularly in the areas of art metalwork, jewellery, enamelling, woodcarving, stained glass and embroidery. To this end he recruited the best available craftsmen and women. Initially Guild members worked from individual workshops and studios in throughout the country, however, before long Gilbert organised the work from the central premises in Station Street, Bromsgrove. The Guild participated in the exhibitions of the Arts & Crafts Exhibition Society in London in 1899, 1903, 1906, 1910, 1912.
The pre-World War One years is seen as the heyday of the Guild. It had acquired a Royal Warrant and had nearly 150 employees working throughout Britain and even had branches in Canada and the USA. However, in 1918 Walter Gilbert was induced to move to a rival company, H.H. Martin of Cheltenham, and many of the Guild's best craftsmen followed him. Despite this loss, the Guild continued to survive for more than another five decades. This may largely be result of commissions they received for war memorials during the inter-war years, and because of the need for craftsmen to repair bomb damage after World War Two. The Guild eventually succumbed to financial circumstances and closed in 1966.
Among the designers and craftspeople who worked for the Guild during its history were Sidney Harold Meteyard, Celestino Pancheri, Henry Alphonse Pillan, Henry George Rushbury, Albert Edward Lemmon, Arthur Clarke, Benjamin Creswick, Bernard Sleigh, Joseph (Josef) Hodel, Georgie Evelyn Cave Gaskin, Ernest Jeffries, Loius Weingartner, Arthur Joseph Gaskin, Amy Walford, Archibald John Davies, Leopold Weisz, Joseph Sanders, William Cowper, Ernest Cowper, Frederick Osborne, Charles Bonnet, Richrd Tapp, George Percy Bankart, Henry Albert Payne, Michael Hewan Crichton, Herbert Whewell, Mary Jane Newill, Charles Arthur Llewelyn Roberts, Benjamin Warren, and Geoffrey Beachim.
Text source: Arts + Architecture Profiles from Art History Research net (AHRnet) https://www.arthistoryresearch.net/
