The Crafts Study Centre
The Crafts Study Centre (CSC) was established as a registered charity in 1970 by a determined group of craftmakers and educators with the aim to protect the best of 20th century British craft. In 1977 the CSC opened at the Holburne Museum of Art, in Bath.
The CSC founding trustees agreed from the outset that this new collection should not solely comprise of craft objects but also of supporting material, such as the journals, sketchbooks and papers of makers.
Through gifts, purchases and bequests of craftspeople and collectors, the CSC continues to build up an important collection of objects and archives. These include the ceramics and papers of the potter, Bernard Leach; textiles, samples and source material belonging to the weaver Ethel Mairet and block-printers Phyllis Barron and Dorothy Larcher; notes and drafts by the calligrapher and designer Edward Johnston and the work of furniture makers Ernest Gimson and Sidney Barnsley.
In 2000, the CSC relocated to the University College for the Creative Arts at Farnham (formerly The Surrey Institute of Art and Design), where a new building was designed and constructed specially to house the collection. The Centre opened in June 2004 and, with exhibition spaces and a research room/library available by appointment, access to the collections has been greatly improved.
The Crafts Study Centre is a unique resource to be used and enjoyed by students, researchers, practitioners and the general public now and in the future.
The majority of the archives described on the Hub contain material relating to practitioners of the five main craft disciplines represented in the CSC's collections; ceramics, printed and woven textiles, calligraphy and furniture. There is also material relating to craft curators and organisations.
Over 4000 digital images of items from the collection, including archive documents, can be viewed through the AHDS Visual Arts website.
Special feature: Ditchling: A Craft Community
Browse the Crafts Study Centre's descriptions
Browse the Crafts Study Centre's descriptions
Show list of Crafts Study Centre's descriptions
- Alice Hindson archive
- Barbara Hoacher archive
- Bernard Leach archive
- Dorothy Ablett archive
- Edward Johnston archive
- Elsie Davenport archive
- Eric and Macdonald Gill archive
- Esme Davis archive
- Ethel Mairet archive
- Ethel Mairet sample books
- Ethel Mairet textile archive
- Evangeline Middlemore archive
- Heather Childs archive
- Henry Hammond archive
- Hilda Breed archive
- Irene Wellington archive
- Jean Milne archive
- Katharine Pleydell-Bouverie archive
- Kitty Doncaster archive
- Lucie Rie archive
- Marianne Straub archive
- Mary Kirby archive
- Michael Cardew archive
- Molly Stobart archive
- Muriel Rose archive
- Nora Braden archive
- Oxshott Pottery archive
- Peter Collingwood archive
- Phyllis Barron and Dorothy Larcher archive
- Phyllis Barron and Dorothy Larcher textile archive
- Quantock Weavers archive
- Red Rose Guild archive
- Robin and Heather Tanner archive
- Sidney Barnsley and Ernest Gimson archive
- Susan Bosence archive
- Susan Bosence textile archive
- Theo Moorman archive
- Thomas Bamford archive
- William Simmonds archive
