Graining and marbling
The replication of marbles and fine woods using paint techniques. See also signwriting and gilding.
| Status |
Endangered |
| Historic area of significance |
Europe |
| Area currently practised |
UK |
| Origin in the UK |
16th Century
At its height mid-Georgian to Victorian |
| Current no. of professionals (main income) |
21-50 full and part-time skilled makers
(12 companies listed on Buildingconservation.com) |
Current no. of professionals (sideline to main income)
|
See above |
| Current no. of trainees |
Not known.
(Graining and marbling are covered as optional modules within NVQ Level 3 Decorative Finishing-Painting but it is unclear how many training providers will be offering this element to trainees) |
Current total no. serious amateur makers
|
There will be many people out there working on furniture and doing paint effects/distressing etc. but there are unlikely to be many with the skills of those at a commercial level. |
Current total no. of leisure makers
|
See above |
History
The origins of graining and marbling date back to Ancient Egypt and it was also used extensively by the Greeks and Romans who employed decorative painters to imitate real marble. Examples of marbling including trompe l’oeil (‘trick of the eye’) scenes can be seen in the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum.
The practice of graining and marbling in the UK arose as a cost saving measure, as timber and marbles were very expensive. The replication, or faking, of marbles and fine woods using paint techniques became popular during the Georgian, Regency and Victorian periods. Many of our finest buildings and palaces have fine examples of the art. Faux finishes became particularly popular in England during the Regency period, when tabletops were painted to resemble those brought back by Napoleon from his Italian campaigns. Painted furniture became so popular that books such as ‘The Decorative Painter and Glazier’s Guide’ were written, detailing the techniques employed to create the finishes.
Graining and marbling reached its height in the 19th century, inspired by the popularity of rare and expensive tropical woods and exotic marbles, and from the fine examples of graining and marbling shown at the Great Exhibitions of London in 1851 & Paris in 1855.
Examples of graining and marbling:
- Bolton Museum holds examples of work by Thomas Kershaw and Lesley Priestley.
- Ham House, Wiltshire
- V&A – holds work by John Taylor
Techniques
Graining is a decorative paint effect that imitates an exotic wood grain on a non-wood surface, or an inexpensive wood surface. Marbling is a similar decorative paint effect that imitates marble or stone.
The painting is carried out in thin multiple layers of transparency, the first layer being a base. A second layer of tempera or thinned paint is applied over the dry base, by means of a sponge or large brush.
Graining and marbling can be achieved using a range of specialised tools. A thick brush or ‘mottler’, fan brushes, floggers, softening brushes and texture combs are used to create various effects.
Graining – a skilled grainer would be able to recreate all the joinery joints: mitres, tenons, bolection mouldings, gunstock tenons etc. Grainers also have to study the types of grain exhibited by different species of wood; in addition the grain pattern changes depending how the wood is sawn.
Marbling – a skilled marbler would have an understanding of how different marbles are formed in nature and how the real thing would be applied. Imitation of stone work needs to follow all the joints that a master mason would use: keystones, quoins, voussoirs, mason’s mitres etc. Trompe l’oeil techniques are used for shading mouldings and carvings.
Sub-crafts
- Graining
- Marbling
- Trompe l’oeil
- Decorative paint effects – rag rolling, dragging, mark making etc.
Related crafts:
- Gilding
- Signwriting
- Film/theatre set design
Issues affecting the viability of the craft
- Skills issues – Standards in the craft have fallen due to a lack of continuous training and as the numbers of highly skilled practitioners diminish. There is generally less of a focus on the higher level skills of painters and decorators.
- Lack of training opportunities – there are no formal courses or apprenticeships in graining and marbling alone, although it is included as an optional module within Level 3 painting and decorating NVQs.
- Lack of funding for training – it is difficult to source financial support to take on apprentices or trainees.
- Ageing workforce – Many craftspeople are now in their 80s with no one to pass their skills on to.
Support organisations
- Painter-Stainers’ Company
- Painting & Decorating Association
- Association of Painting Craft Teachers
- AS Handover – supplier of materials
- Wrights of Lymm – Supplier
- SPAB, Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings
- Salon: Annual Gathering of International Decorative Painters
Craftspeople currently known
Buildingconservation.com holds a list of companies who offer graining and marbling.
- Philip Waite, Bristol
- Paul Bailey, Portsmouth
- Stuart Kelly, Essex
- Ricky MacPherson, Kent
- Gordon McGowan, Southend
- Jeremy Tailor, Scotland
- Stuart McDonald, Scotland
- Mark Nevin, Scotland
- David Lane, Scotland
- John Townley
- Mick Jones
- Steven Oxley, School of Decorative Art
- Simon Nobs, South Coast Studios
- Robert Woodland
- Tim Salandin
- Cait Whitson
- Joanne Poulton, Jo Poulton Studio
- Theresa Meisl, Black Barn Studios
- Michael Brady FFD, Scotland
- Walter Riley – retired
- Jeff Chapel – retired
- Gary Clemence – semi-retired
Companies employing two or more makers:
International makers:
- Michel Nadai – France
- Pierre Finkelstein – US
- Jeff Pollastro – US
William Holdgate (deceased): http://www.painting-effects.co.uk/bill/index.htm
University courses
City & Guilds of London Art School: BA (Hons) in Conservation: Stone, Wood & Decorative Surfaces
Apprenticeships
Level 3 Apprenticeship in Painting and Decorating
Vocational training and apprenticeships
The NVQ Level 3 Diploma is an advanced qualification in painting and decoration that includes optional modules in graining and marbling. This is available at a number of colleges and training providers but it is unclear how many offer graining and marbling.
- NVQ Level 3 Diploma in decorative finishing-painting and decorating
Specialist short courses
- Cait Whitson runs classes in graining and marbling
- Paint school runs short courses in decorative paint effects including graining and marbling
- South Coast Studios Paint Effect Courses – offers online and workshop based classes
References
- Mindy Drucker & Pierre Finkelstein, Recipes for Surfaces
- Ina Brosseau Marx, Allen Marx and Robert Marx, Professional Painted Finishes
- The Project Gutenberg EBook of Graining and Marbling, by Frederick Maire: Downloadable as an e-book at https://www.gutenberg.org/files/43500/43500-h/43500-h.htm
- Wikipedia: Graining https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graining
- Winters, Wendi. “America’s most beautiful door is undergoing a Revolutionary change”. capitalgazette.com. Retrieved 2017-07-11.
- Oestreicher, Lisa, ‘Imitation Timber Graining in the 18th and 19th Centuries’, The Building Conservation Directory 2014
- DVD by Walter Riley, Oak Graining: quartered and oak over-graining
Marbling
The application of an aqueous surface design onto paper or other items, which can produce patterns similar to smooth marble or other kinds of stone. This entry refers to the making of extremely complex repeatable patterns which require very high levels of skill.
| Status |
Endangered |
| Craft category |
|
| Historic area of significance |
|
| Area currently practised |
UK |
| Origin in the UK |
17th century |
| Current no. of professionals (main income) |
11-20 |
Current no. of professionals (sideline to main income)
|
6-10 |
| Current no. of trainees |
1 |
Current total no. serious amateur makers
|
21-50 |
Current total no. of leisure makers
|
51-100 |
| Minimum no. of craftspeople required |
|
History
Marbling consists of floating ink or paint on a surface to create a pattern. The colour may be simply dropped on to create random blobs or the ink/paint may be blown or swirled using an implement to create a pattern. A sheet of treated paper is then carefully placed on the paint and the pattern transfers to the paper. The process was thought to be first developed in China and Japan, before travelling to Central Asia, India, Iran and Turkey, before reaching Europe in the seventeenth century. Now there is evidence to suggest it actually developed independently in Persia and didn’t necessarily come through from Japan.
In Europe, marbled paper was used both for book covers as well as for the endpapers. The patterned paper ensured that slight damage due to constant or rough handling wasn’t so obvious than if the cover had been plain.
Marbling became popular as a handicraft in the nineteenth century after the publication of the The Art of Marbling by Charles Woolnough in 1853. A second book in 1893 by Josef Halfer was also popular and included a section on marbling book edges, a practice that was used a great deal on ledgers. The idea was that if a section of the ledger was removed or pages added or altered, the marbling would be interrupted or damaged, thus showing visually the evidence of tampering.
Techniques
Each sheet of paper produced by marbling is unique and workshops developed a number of different patterns.
The tools and materials used for paper marbling are relatively simple. A watertight tray is filled with a substance that will hold the ink on the surface. Water will do this, but to control the marbling effectively, something more viscous is better. Irish carrageen moss produces a gel which is ideal. One or more colours of paint is then dropped on to the surface and allowed to spread for a random pattern, or combed or twirled to produce more controlled patterns. Paper which has usually been treated with alum is gently laid on the surface and the pattern on the gel transfers to the paper. The paper is then carefully lifted and washed to remove excess colour (Lovett, 2015). See here for an explanation of the process by Jemma Lewis for the Folio Society.
The paint type chosen for marbling can have a big effect on technique and the finished product. Water-based marbling can look quite different to oil based marbling, and some effects cannot be achieved with some paint or ink types. The most common are water-colour/gouache, acrylic, or oil paint.
Sub-crafts
- Marbling of book edges – Commonly seen on large format ledgers which were handmade in 18-19th centuries. They are still made but not with hand-marbled edges but transfer printed. Some of the older, time served apprentice bookbinders are teaching these specialist marbling techniques.
Issues affecting the viability of the craft
- Rise of digital printing
- Fewer traditional bookbinders
- No big marbling houses left to train apprentices
- Costs of raw materials, specifically the Carragheen moss
- Marbling from developing countries (India, Malaysia etc) entering UK market at lower prices (fairly recent development)
- Interest has been/is still increasing due to social media (visual nature of craft helps here) and publicity (Red List), but ultimately if marbling can’t find a more sustainable niche than book-related arts, it may wane again. Especially as digital printed reproductions and cheaper alternatives enter the market in response to interest.
- Perceived value, or lack of education (around the craft at the higher levels, i.e. the time and skills it takes to produce certain patterns, those practitioners such as myself creating their own paints and pigments in traditional ways instead of buying ready-made inks, etc. It is still seen as something that is done at primary school, often with oil based inks on water, which does not resemble ‘traditional’ marbling at all.
- Lower quality and/or other arts promoted as ‘marbling’ when it is in fact not, eg. acrylic paint pouring.
- Brexit – I this has now become much harder due to customs and shipping fees.
Support organisations
Craftspeople currently known
Individual makers:
Chris Rowlatt has retired in the past three years.
Businesses employing two or more makers:
- Marshall and Fuller
- Paperwilds
Cockerell and Son were well-known for their marbled papers, but their studio closed in 2012.
There now seem to be more workshops available on marbling than in the 1980s. In those days practitioners were very secretive about their methods so you had to teach yourself. There is not one set recipe for marbling so different practitioners will use different methods.
References
- Nevins, Iris, (1985) Traditional Marbling (Alembic Press), practical guide
- Maurer, Diane Vogel, and Maurer, Paul, (1991) Marbling (J B Fairfax), practical guide
- Schleicher, Patty, and Schleicher, Mimi, (1993) Marbled Designs (Lark Books), practical guide
- Medeiros, Wendy Addison, (1994) Marbling Techniques (Watson Guptill), practical guide
- Schmoller, Tanya, (2008) The Schmoller Collection of Decorated Papers (MMU), descriptive with some history
- Wolfe, Richard J, (1973) Marbled Paper (University of Pennsylvania Press), as above
- Loring, Rosamund B, (1973) Decorated Book Papers (The Harvard College Library), as above
- Wolfe, Richard J, (2009) The Mysterious Marbler (Oak Knoll Books), historical
- Haptmann, Joseph, The Art of Marbling (Atelier de Distelkamp), historical
- Easton, Phoebe Jane, Marbling a History and a bibliography (Los Angeles: Dawson’s Book Shop), encyclopaedic
- Loring, Rosamund, (2007) Marbled and Paste Papers, Rosamund Loring’s Recipe Book (Harvard College Library), historical
- Chambers, Anne, (1991) Suminagashi, The Japanese Art of Marbling (Thames and Hudson, practical guide
- Chambers, Anne, (1986) Marbling Paper, the Practical Guide (Thames and Hudson), practical guide
- Miura, Einen, (1989) The Art of Marbled Paper (Zahensdorf Ltd), practical guide
- Patricia Lovett (2015) Marbling paper
- Bedfordshire County Council, The Art of the Marbler (film)
- The Folio Society, The Art of Marbling (film)
- Scott, Freya (2020) Marbling: Practical Modern Techniques (Schiffer Publishing)
- McGrath, Lucy (2019) Contemporary Paper Marbling: Design and Technique (Pavilion Books)
- Kate Brett (2021) Traditional Marbled Papers (Crowood Press)
Where: Mill Marsh Park, Bovey Tracey, Devon, TQ13 9AL
When: 9 to 11 June 2023, 10am to 5pm
Join us at Craft Festival in Bovey Tracey this June for a celebration of the practitioners of endangered crafts featured on the Red List of Endangered Crafts 2023 edition. Craft Festival is one of the most prestigious and much loved craft events in the UK. Over 200 of the UK’s finest makers will be exhibiting and this year’s programme is brimming with workshops for all ages, demonstrations, children’s activities and entertainment, street theatre, festival food and live music.
Our ‘Yurt of Endangered Crafts’ in 2019 was a huge success and we are back bigger and better than before with a ‘Marquee of Endangered Crafts’ to mark the recent launch of the 2023 edition. Come and meet our demonstrators and chat to them about how they are keeping their respective crafts alive!
- Anna Rennie, maille making
- Catherine Ade, lithography
- Coates Willow, basketwork furniture making
- Danni Bradford, reverse glass
- Dave French and Sarah Ready, withy pot making
- Hugh Dunford Wood, wallpaper making
- Katie B Morgan, fairground art
- Paula Carnell, bee skeps
- Rachel O’Connell, marbling
- Robert Ely, ribbon making
- Two Rivers, paper making
Buy your tickets here
Heritage Crafts members receive a 10% discount on tickets – contact us for the discount code
New research by Heritage Crafts has unearthed more traditional craft skills on the verge of extinction in the UK, in the latest major update of its pioneering project, the Red List of Endangered Crafts.
Oliver Hymans marionette maker
The research, which has been funded by The Pilgrim Trust with additional sponsorship from The Royal Mint, has found that the energy crisis and inflation has only exacerbated the issues faced by our most at-risk skills, building on the cumulative effect of COVID-19, continuing uncertainties around Brexit and structural issues relating to the funding for skills transmission.
Five new crafts have been added to the ‘critically endangered’ category of the Red List, meaning that they are at serious risk of dying out in the next generation, including straw hat making and encaustic tile making. They join the list of 146 at-risk crafts, including six that have been reclassified as being in greater danger than when the research was last updated in 2021, such as violin bow making and hat block making.
Critically endangered crafts include those with very few practitioners, few (if any) trainees and a lack of viable training routes by which the skills can be passed on. Often they serve very niche markets, and craftspeople cannot afford to step away from production to train their successors for fear those markets will disappear. New crafts in the ‘endangered’ category include Cornish hedging, marionette making and pigment making.
English Antique Glass Ltd
One craft has become extinct in the UK since the publication of the last edition. Mouth-blown flat glass was produced by English Antique Glass in Birmingham until 2022, at which point they were forced to stop production as a result of pressures to reduce their workshop space. This is one of the reasons that the making and restoration of historic stained glass windows has also been added to the Red List, demonstrating the knock-on effect losing one craft can have on others.
It’s not all bad news, however, as some crafts, such as brilliant cutting and shinty stick making, have seen an upturn in their fortunes and moved out of the ‘critically endangered’ category. In many cases this has been as a result of a new-found appreciation of the handmade and the need to support small businesses during the pandemic. In others it has been due to direct support from Heritage Crafts, which since the publication of the last edition of the Red List has distributed 57 grants of up to £2,000 each as part of its Endangered Crafts Fund.
Mary Lewis, who led the research on behalf of Heritage Crafts, said:
“The effect of the energy crisis, inflation, COVID-19 and Brexit have been tough on everyone, not least the craftspeople who possess our most fundamental craft skills. We know that heritage craft skills operate like an ecosystem; if we lose one part it can have devastating consequences on other parts of the system. If we allow endangered crafts to disappear then we seriously diminish the opportunities for future generations to create their own sustainable and fulfilling livelihoods and deal with the challenges of the future.”
Whilst the UK has been a world-leader in the preservation of tangible heritage (museum collections, buildings and monuments), it has fallen behind the rest of the world when it comes to the safeguarding of intangible heritage (knowledge, skills and practices). Of 193 UNESCO members, the UK is one of just 12 that have not yet ratified the 2003 Convention on the Safeguarding of Intangible Heritage, and government responsibility for heritage crafts falls in the gap between agencies set up to support arts and heritage.
Jay Blades MBE, Heritage Crafts Co-Chair said:
“When craft skills are in danger of dying out it’s important that we know exactly where to focus our efforts. Over recent years the Red List of Endangered Crafts has made us realise exactly what we are at risk of losing, and has given our team at Heritage Crafts the information we need to direct our support most effectively. As Co-Chair I’m delighted to endorse this 2023 edition as the next step in turning the tide of craft decline.”
Sue Bowers, Director of the Pilgrim Trust, said:
“We are delighted to support the continuing development of the Red List which is so important in tracking the state of heritage crafts in the UK and creating the platform for discussions about how we can bring about positive change in the future.”
Paul Morgan, The King’s Assay Master at The Royal Mint said:
“The Royal Mint is proud to celebrate, protect and champion British craftsmanship, and we see supporting Heritage Crafts and the Red List of Endangered Crafts as an essential part in this. With precious metals crafts, such as hand engraving and coppersmithing, featuring on this years endangered list, we feel passionately that these skills cannot die out, so by supporting Heritage Crafts and their Red List, alongside recently awarding five bursaries to those working in the fields, we can not only help to preserve these skills in order to ensure the longevity of these crafts for the future, but to really celebrate the talented craftsmen and women behind them.”
The Red List of Endangered Crafts 2023 edition is available to view online. There is also an accompanying print publication sponsored by The Royal Mint.
About the Red List of Endangered Crafts
The 2023 edition of the Red List of Endangered Crafts was led by Mary Lewis, Heritage Crafts’ Endangered Crafts Manager, supported by the Pilgrim Trust. The project runs alongside Mary’s work in identifying and developing interventions to improve the prospects of such crafts, funded by Swire Charitable Trust and others.
For the 2023 edition, 259 crafts have been assessed to identify those which are at greatest risk of disappearing. Of the 146 crafts featured on the Red List, 62 have been classified as critically endangered and 84 as endangered. The remaining 112 are classed as currently viable.
For the purposes of this research, a heritage craft is defined as “a practice which employs manual dexterity and skill at the point of production, an understanding of traditional materials, design and techniques, and which has been practised for two or more successive generations.” The research focuses on craft practices which are taking place in the UK today, including crafts which have originated elsewhere.
Drawing on information such as the current number of craftspeople and trainees, the average age of practitioners, opportunities to learn, and other issues affecting the future of the crafts, including the impact of the energy crisis, the research assesses how likely it is that the craft skills will be passed on to the next generation. From armour making and arrowsmithing to wig making and woodturning, each has been assigned to one of four categories: extinct, critically endangered, endangered or currently viable.
One craft (mouth blown flat glass making) is known to have become extinct in the UK since the publication of the 2021 edition, adding to four more in the last fifteen years (cricket ball making, gold beating, lacrosse stick making, and paper mould and deckle making), with one more (sieve and riddle making) brought back from extinction. At the other end of the spectrum, viable crafts are defined as those for which there are sufficient craftspeople to pass on the craft skills to the next generation, though crafts in the currently viable category face real challenges and require continued monitoring.
The original 2017 Red List, funded by The Radcliffe Trust and led by Greta Bertram, was the first to rank traditional crafts by the likelihood they would survive the next generation, bringing the plight of these skills to national attention.
New crafts for 2023
New critically endangered crafts
Crafts classified as ‘critically endangered’ are those at serious risk of no longer being practised in the UK. They may include crafts with a shrinking base of craftspeople, crafts with limited training opportunities, crafts with low financial viability, or crafts where there is no mechanism to pass on the skills and knowledge.
- Arrowsmithing (reclassified from 2021)
- Bow making (musical, reclassified from 2021)
- Chain making
- Coppersmithing (reclassified from 2021)
- Encaustic tile making
- Hat block making (reclassified from 2021)
- Plume making
- Silk ribbon making
- Straw hat making
- Sussex trug making (reclassified from 2021)
- Whip making (reclassified from 2021)
New endangered crafts
Crafts classified as ‘endangered’ are those which currently have sufficient craftspeople to transmit the craft skills to the next generation, but for which there are serious concerns about their ongoing viability. This may include crafts with a shrinking market share, an ageing demographic or crafts with a declining number of practitioners.
- Bicycle frame making (reclassified from 2021)
- Boat building (traditional wooden boats, reclassified from 2021)
- Canal art and barge painting
- Composition picture frame making
- Cornish hedging
- Fairground art
- Gauged brickwork
- Graining and marbling
- Hand engraving (reclassified from 2021)
- Hand hewing
- Lacquerwork
- Marionette making
- Mechanical organ making
- Pigment making
- Sgian dubh making
- Silk weaving
- Spar making
- Stained glass window making (historic)
- Vardo art and living waggon crafts
About the Endangered Crafts Fund
Heritage Crafts’ Endangered Crafts Fund was set up in 2019 to ensure that the most at-risk heritage crafts within the UK are given the support they need to thrive. The Fund is used to support makers and trainees who wish to develop or share their skills in the crafts that have been identified as being most at risk.
To date, 57 projects have been funded with support from the Pilgrim Trust, the Radcliffe Trust, the Dulverton Trust, Swire Charitable Trust, Sussex Heritage Trust, Allchurches Trust and Garfield Weston Foundation. Anyone wishing to donate to the fund may do so securely online via the web link below. Alternatively, please send a cheque made payable to ‘The Heritage Crafts Association’ with an accompanying note specifying ‘Endangered Crafts Fund’ to: Heritage Crafts, 27 South Road, Oundle, Peterborough PE8 4BU.
About Heritage Crafts
Founded in 2009, Heritage Crafts is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) registered as the ‘Heritage Crafts Association’, the advocacy body for traditional heritage crafts. Working in partnership with government and key agencies, it provides a focus for craftspeople, groups, societies and guilds, as well as individuals who care about the loss of traditional crafts skills, and works towards a healthy and sustainable framework for the future. Its aim is to support and promote heritage crafts as a fundamental part of our living heritage.
About the Pilgrim Trust
The Pilgrim Trust is an independent grantmaking trust that supports the urgent and future needs of the UK. It gives approximately £3 million in grants per year to charities and other public bodies that either focus on preserving the UK’s heritage or catalysing social change. Its preservation and scholarship fund aims to preserve the fabric of historically important buildings and to conserve significant collections and artefacts. It wants present and future generations to enjoy the rich and diverse heritage found throughout the UK.
About The Royal Mint
The Royal Mint’s expertise in precious metals spans over a thousand years. Known as the home of precious metals in the UK, The Royal Mint offer products including gold, silver and platinum commemorative coins, bars for investment, and a digital gold saving option, backed by metal held in their vault. Last year they announced plans to build a factory to recover precious metals from electronic waste, currently active at lab level. Recovered metal is being used to create beautiful jewellery pieces in their latest business venture, 886 by The Royal Mint.
by Helen Chislett
This autumn, David Linley (the Earl of Snowdon) and I are delighted that our book, Craft Britain: Why Making Matters will be published. We began talking about this idea pre-COVID, but the pandemic and its consequences inspired us to bang the drum for making and makers across all aspects of craft from heritage to cutting edge.
Of course our past defines us as a nation, as we stress in the chapter dedicated to History & Heritage, “Our cities, towns and villages are crammed with portals to the past in the shape of cathedrals, castles, palaces and monuments. We are blessed to live in a place where we are never more than a few miles from a piece of our human history, from the stateliest of country houses to the humblest of country churches. We have around twenty thousand scheduled monuments; upwards of sixteen hundred registered parks and gardens; over thirty World Heritage sites, and almost half a million listed buildings. These add up to a built heritage of cultural, religious, archaeological and industrial significance, dating from circa 4000BC to the twentieth century. The fact is we are awash with history to the point we barely register it.”
Researching and writing such a wide-ranging book meant reaching across all the different organisations that represent makers and making in Britain, some concentrated on traditional and heritage – others on collectible and contemporary – plus everything in between. Naturally, Heritage Crafts was an important body for us to talk to, most particularly because we wished to highlight the importance of the Red List of Endangered Crafts. The Red List may have begun as a grim recording of declining craft professions, but it has now ignited a conversation nationally about what can be done to support a sector that we are in danger of losing skill by skill.
In 2021, the Red List included 244 crafts. Of these four are now officially extinct: cricket ball making, lacrosse stick making, paper mould and deckle making (a deckle being the wooden frame used in manual papermaking) and gold beating. The critically endangered list – those with a shrinking base of makers, little financial liability, limited training opportunities or no mechanism to pass on skills and knowledge – include twenty newcomers. These range from barometer makers and sporran makers to horsehair weavers and pointe shoe makers (as worn by ballerinas). The endangered category – those with sufficient craft skills to transmit to the next generation of makers, but with an ageing demographic and shrinking market share – also included some ‘new to 2021’ categories. For the first time hat makers and kilt makers are listed, as are type founders and lithographers.
Throughout the book, we have tried to highlight the status of the crafts mentioned where applicable. Craft Britain is themed across twelve subjects, including a chapter dedicated to Rare & Endangered. Within this, we have spotlighted the work of two makers: oak swill maker Owen Jones and diamond cutter Ilana Belsky – two crafts on the critically endangered list. However, there are many others we have included in other sections of the book from neon bending, professional paper marbling and parchment making to wheelwrighting, shoe last making and bell founding.
However, it is important to stress that our book is not a directory and we have been anxious not to imply that it is in any sense definitive. As we say in our acknowledgements, “We would like to thank the many craftspeople who have helped us put together the content of this book. We would also like to acknowledge those who may have been disappointed not to be included. We hope by raising the subject of craft so widely, everyone involved will ultimately benefit.”
Our heartfelt thanks to Heritage Crafts and everything this unique organisation does to highlight the plight of imperilled crafts.
Craft Britain: Why Making Matters by Helen Chislett and David Linley (OH Editions)
