Drawer 123 contains 3 distinct folders, entitled 'Smaller Art Nouveau Tracing Paper Sketches', 'Art Nouveau Wallpaper Samples', and 'Morris Designs (Art Nouveau) No.s 1349-1360 (incl.)'. It also contains loose items which have been catalogued as if they were in their own distinct folder and titled 'Large Morris/Art Nouveau'.
'Arts and Crafts' was an international design philosophy that originated in England and flourished between 1860 and 1910, instigated by the artist and writer William Morris (1834–1896). It had its earliest and most complete development in the Britain, and was largely a reaction against the impoverished state of the decorative arts and the conditions by which they were produced. The philosophy was an advocacy of traditional craftsmanship using simple forms and often medieval, romantic or folk styles of decoration. It also included advocacy of economic and social reform and has been considered as essentially anti-industrial. Across Europe these ideas were developed and resulted in Art Nouveau style, which swept across the continent. 'Art Nouveau' refers generally to the style of painting, architecture, and the decorative and applied arts that flourished in Europe and the United States from about 1890 to 1910. The style is typically characterised by an emphasis on fluid, undulating, or serpentine lines or contours based on organic forms and the use of modern materials such as iron and glass. Design sketches that carry a number written in red ink, or the letters B.L. or B.G. (meaning 'bought in London' or 'bought in Glasgow') followed by a number, can potentially be cross referenced with STOD/201/1/8/1 'Templeton Register of Designs Bought - Sketches 1897-1915 (1925)'. Numbers written in red ink have been taken to be the Design Number and are catalogued as the Design Title. Most of the designs in this drawer feature letters and numbers in the form 'SK/C 234', or similar, accompanied by a coloured sticky dot, which perhaps refers to a more recently added indexing system.
This description is part of the Design Archive which is divided into the 142 sections, each with its own separate description.