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Vardo art and living waggon crafts

The Radcliffe Red List of Endangered Crafts

 

Vardo art and living waggon crafts

 

See also wheelwrighting, fairground art, canal art and barge painting.

 

Status Endangered
Group or community to which this craft is culturally important e.g. geographical, religious community, cultural identity, cultural practice, traditional industry or occupation Traveller peoples identifying as GRT (Gypsy, Roma, Traveller), Romanichal; British Romani, Romany Gypsy, Irish Travellers, Traveller peoples. Showmen also favoured certain styles of living waggons. Practiced across the UK.
Group or community where this craft is currently practised Traveller peoples identifying as GRT, Romanichal; British Romani, Romany Gypsy, Irish Travellers and Showmen. Family lineages of vardo and living waggon builders, restorers and decorators practice these traditional cultural crafts.
Origin in the UK 19th Century; the period c.1860-1920 is considered the golden era of iconic vardo and waggon building in the traditional style we are familiar with today. The older generations who were born and raised traditionally horse-drawn between c.1940s- 1960s call this era ‘the waggon time’, and is still held within living memory.
Current number of makers and/or people who hold the knowledge of this craft within the community Between 10-18 makers and knowledge keepers who are considered all round quality craftspeople with reputation and experience; including those who are currently being mentored or who are working in the traditional way up to a high standard.
Current number of trainees and/or people who are learning the craft Not known; informal mentorship, apprenticeship and training is being given by the older generation to the younger generations, numbering around 7 people within the Travelling communities currently being informally trained.
Other makers Not known; vardo and living waggons tends to stay within family lines, are traded within the Travelling communities, or are gifted to museums, therefore vardo building, painting and restoration proudly remains within the GRT and Showman communities for the most part.

 

History

The mid-Victorian era c. 1860s up until the 1920s is the period that created the most iconic and recognisable forms of vardo, van and living waggons of the style, painting and ornamentation we imagine when we think of a traditional Romani ‘Gypsy Caravan’ or Showman’s Waggon. Prior to the 1860s, Romani and Traveller people would construct bender tents as their shelter.

The post-war era saw a wide assimilation of GRT families ‘into brick’ social housing, and so between the 1940s-2020s, there has been a steep decline of traditional horse-drawn vardo living, in favour of more modern trailers or static chalets on private sites, and with the implementation of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill of 2022 (PCSCB), living roadside has effectively now been outlawed in the UK.

The five shapes of vardo are named regionally, including the Reading Waggon, Burton Waggon (favoured by Showmen), and some names pertain to their framework structure or purpose such as Ledge (or Cottage), Bow-Top, Brush (or Fen); Open-Lot and other working-cart styles, like Peddler’s Carts were (and still are) part of Romani and Traveller life as traders.

In the 1970s, restoration of older vardos was popular, and contemporary names of that era such as Tom Clarke, Joe Barras, Peter Ingram, Jimmy Berry, John Pockett, and Tommie Gaskin, are mentioned in the book ‘The English Gypsy Caravan’ by C.H. Ward-Jackson and Denis E. Harvey (1973). This book also gives excellent examples and references from the 1910s and 1920s, of vardos and waggons made by Tong Herons and Tom Tong.

 

Cultural significance

As culturally nomadic people, Travellers and British Romani people are traditionally seasonal workers and itinerate traders, with needs that pertain to all aspects of life that embrace living and working on a traditional regional ‘circuit’, based on family Atchin Tans (Stopping Places), agricultural labour and attending national horse fairs (Epsom, Appleby and Stow, for example). Although many families now have more static accommodation, the historic family circuits and connections to places remain strong in the living cultural memory.

Stylised scrolls and line work also developed in tandem with Showmen’s Guilds and traditional fairground arts of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, featuring stylistic and popular Victorian motifs of flourishing scrolls and brilliant glass painting popular at the time. As belonging to traditionally oral Traveller cultures, the Romani vardo specifically uses decorative symbols and motifs that invoke good luck, abundance, wealth and favoured animals such as horses and birds. Horseshoes, fruit and birds-in-flight are often found alongside scrolls and tendrils, rendered in bright and rich colours, accented with gold. The vardo in its entirety is a work of art; etched glass windows, fittings, furnishings and internal paintwork add beauty to every surface, with all aspects considered in the design and making.

Famous and well-known names in the heritage lineage of vardo crafts and waggon painting include, Bill Wright, Tom Dunton, Tom Stephenson, Roy Peters, Lol Thompson, George Nixon, Big Roy Morris, Bill Birch, Ryalla Duffy and Yorkie Greenwood.

 

Techniques

Wheelwrighting, frame, shaft and unders-building, wood carving and spindle-turning , mouldings, glass etching, mirroring, decorative paintwork, gilding, and various forms of metal-smithing.

 

Local forms

Regional origins of certain styles include Burton, Reading and Bristol.

 

Sub-crafts

Related crafts:

  • Gilding
  • Reverse glass signpainting
  • Showmen’s waggon building
  • Signwriting
  • Wheelwrighting
  • Wood turning
  • Wood carving
  • Metal-smithing (tin, copper, blacksmithing)

 

Issues affecting the viability of the craft

  • Awareness of the craft in a cultural context: As an archetypal image, the vardo might be misunderstood as a thing of the past, and there are complex sets of social, economic and political reasons around the vardo as a heritage symbol of GRT cultures, and this requires deeper understanding as an ICH intersect within marginalised communities.
  • Lack of skilled practitioners: There are currently 18 identified skilled crafts practitioners in the UK (March 2023) actively working in traditional vardo and heritage waggon building, restoration and painting, to an intra-community recognisable standard of quality and recommendation. The GRTSB Crafts Makers Survey will remain open until July 2023 to allow for further conversations, research and updates into the future, and this approach is actively building relationships and support for GRT self-representation.
  • Lack of training opportunities: Short courses, informal apprenticeship and mentorship are offered by word-of-mouth in most cases.
  • Loss of skills: The older generation who hold the post-war skills from the earlier era of vardo building are getting fewer, and with their loss we are at risk of losing inter-generational skill sharing and wisdom.
  • Changing tastes and changes to the law: Contemporary generations are favouring trailers or static chalets over horse-drawn living waggons. The PCSCB also greatly affects roadside living and traditional cultural living methods.
  • Emulations: The recent association with garden rooms (and stylised shepherds’ huts) that can appropriate vardo visuals, without appreciating the cultural or political issues faced by Travelling peoples and GRT cultures. ‘Air BnB’ accommodation trends have also led to ‘Gypsy Wagons’ being offered as glamping options, often without cultural context or community association.
  • Poor restorations: Some crafts people I spoke to mentioned the need to review and amend historic repairs that were either low quality or not authentic in style to the period of the waggon.
  • Availability of materials: Wood, specifically ash, used for bow-ribs has become expensive and hard to find.

 

Support organisations

  • Travellers’ Times
  • Romani Cultural & Arts Company

 

Craftspeople currently known

  • Jane O’Connor and Steve Lowe (apprentice of Tom Clarke)
  • Mark Goldsworthy
  • John Leveridge
  • Joshua Gibson (apprentice to Mark Prior)
  • Phil Jowett
  • John Pockett
  • Joe + Donna Davidson
  • Sarah Harvey
  • Andrew Daly
  • Katie Morgan
  • Terry Freshwater
  • Patrick Gill
  • JB Burnside
  • Pete Delaney
  • Chris Charlton

 

Training providers

Short courses

  • Jane O’Connor offers short courses in vardo and waggon decorative painting styles, including shafts and unders-painting.
  • Sarah Harvey offers short courses in vardo and waggon painting styles.

 

Other information

Consultants for this entry onto The Red List: Jane O’Connor, Ella Mae Sueref, Joshua Gibson, Mark Goldsworthy, Richard O’Neill. Many thanks for your generous time and willingness to speak on your crafts. Thanks to all the participants of The GRTSB Crafts Makers Survey.

 

References

  • The English Gypsy Caravan, C.H. Ward-Jackson and Denis E. Harvey (1973)
  • Romani culture and Gypsy Identity, ed. Thomas Acton and Gary Mundy (1997)
  • Gypsy Memories, A Third Selection of Photographs, compiled by Barrie Law (2000)
  • The Stopping Places, Damian Le Bas (2019)
  • The Eco Gypsy, YouTube channel, Reuben Leveridge
  • The GRTSB Crafts Makers Survey, conducted by Imogen Bright Moon (2023); bit.ly/grtcraft
  • Ryalla Duffy articles;
    • https://www.travellerstimes.org.uk/features/paint-your-waggon
    • https://www.romaniarts.co.uk/ryalla-duffy-writer-poet-film-maker-photographer/
  • Pete Delaney article; https://theecologist.org/2011/jun/22/how-one-man-could-inspire-new-generation-horse-drawn-travellers

Cornish hedging

The Radcliffe Red List of Endangered Crafts

 

Cornish hedging

 

Synopsys.

 

Status Critically endangered
Historic area of significance Cornwall
Area currently practised Cornwall
Origin in the UK Bronze Age
Current no. of professionals (main income) 11-20 (estimate)

The Guild of Cornish Hedgers has 13 full-time members.

See ‘other information’

Current no. of professionals (sideline to main income)
21-50

The Guild of Cornish Hedgers has 7 part-time members

See ‘other information’

Current no. of trainees 6 (4 with the Guild, 2 with Kerdroya)
Current total no. serious amateur makers
Not known
Current total no. of leisure makers
21-50 – mainly volunteers working with Cornwall Wildlife Trust and the Penwith Landscape Partnership

 

History

Cornish hedging is a practice that goes back around 4000 years and is typical to Cornwall.

Cornish hedges create the distinctive character and framework of the Cornish landscape. Placed end to end, they would stretch for about 30,000 miles, and they preserve field patterns that in some places are thousands of years old. They were first used to enclose land for cereal crops and over time informed Cornwall’s traditional and distinctive landscape. They provide vital habitats, wildlife corridors, shelter, shade and sustenance and can help alleviate water and soil run-off.

It is said that a good hedge can last for a hundred years without the need for any repairs. New developments are encouraged to retain existing hedges and create new ones. New road schemes are almost always accompanied by a new Cornish Hedge. Cornish planning authorities have frequently made it a condition of approval of new developments that the site is bounded by newly made Cornish hedges. This positive promotion of these vital landscape, ecological and historical assets requires a workforce that can deliver on the construction and repair of hedges. Cornish Hedging is recognised as a traditional skill that takes time and dedication to learn.

For an extensive archive of resources please visit Cornish Hedges.

 

Techniques

Please refer to the Guild’s Code of Good Practice.

 

Local forms

There are slight area variations to hedges across Cornwall which often relate to the purpose of the hedge as either a retaining or free-standing hedge.

 

Sub-crafts

  • Killas (slate) hedges
  • Granite hedges

 

Issues affecting the viability of the craft

  • Training and recruitment issues: The Guild currently only has 2 trainers and assessors able to deliver the Lantra accredited training courses. One of these trainers is a highly skilled hedger but now in his late seventies. The cost of the 10-day Lantra Intermediate training course which forms the beginning of the craftsperson’s route equates at £1048.  This is prohibitive to many young people.  There is a lack of training sites across Cornwall for people to train in hedging.
  • Market issues: The demand for hedging work is high. The new roadworks projects on the A30 and the link road in St Austell total 25km of hedging alone. Supply of raw materials, allied materials and tools: There is often a lack of local stone, particular to each area, to ensure new build and hedge repairs are kept in keeping with the local character of the landscape.
  • Small business issues: There is a lack of awareness in the quality and skill involved in the craft of a Cornish Hedger.  A traditionally built hedge takes time, knowledge and money to construct, something developers are often not prepared to add to the cost of construction. This can result in poorly built hedges that do not reflect local character and sometimes last as little as days before they collapse. The Guild has only recently created a directory of working craftsmen/women enabling craftsmen to link together for work, knowing that a common high-quality standard is adhered to. Volunteer time to support the Guild had waned in recent years, but is now supported by a new team of craftsmen/women working together. The data base of Cornish hedgers in the community requires updating and there is a lack of funding to cover this important outreach work.
  • Ageing workforce: There is a small collective of young new-comer Guild Craftsmen/women but the historic tradition of handing the skill down through the generations has waned.
  • Legislative issues: The Hedgerow Regulations Act 1997 does not protect Cornish Hedges as they are not classed as hedgerows.

 

Support organisations

  • Guild of Cornish Hedgers: This was established in 2002 in response to critical decline in the ancient craft of Cornish hedging. Most of the remaining traditional hedgers were coming toward the end of their active life and were deeply concerned about the poor standard of workmanship in hedging today. The frequent collapse of recently-built hedges, sometimes within weeks of completion, was giving Cornish hedges a bad name and leading to hedge removal and lack of demand for new hedges.
  • CREST (Cornwall Rural Education and Skills Trust) is an independent sister organisation working in partnership with the Guild of Cornish Hedgers to deliver Guild Lantra training courses, a Cornish Hedging education programme and conduct Cornish Hedging development work in partnership with other organisations.
  • Cornwall Council Hedge Group: The Hedge Group are a group of key personnel from Cornwall Council, AONB, CREST and The National Trust who meet regularly to coordinate supportive work to promote the recognition of hedges in their historic, functional and environmental context.

 

Craftspeople currently known

Training providers

The Guild of Cornish Hedgers are working towards developing a NVQ Lantra Level 2 in Cornish Hedging Certificate, recognised by CITB (Construction Industry Training Board) and leading to a CSCS card to work on construction sites and for insurance purposes.

 

Other information

Surveys of Cornish Hedgers

A 2009 survey of hedgers identified 134 people working in Cornish Hedging. It is unclear how many of these are still practising and how many are full/part-time. CREST are hoping to carry out more work to follow up these respondents to update these figures.

A survey carried out in 2023 by Cornwall Council had 51 respondents. 15% said that they were working as full-time hedgers, 33% were doing it as part of a wider role and 25% doing it as a hobby or in their own time.

Estimating numbers of makers:

Using the data collected in 2013 we have made some assumptions about the numbers of practitioners hedging today. N.B. These are estimates and further work to update the Guild directory of hedgers is due to be carried out by the Guild of Cornish Hedgers. Of 134 Hedgers identified in 2009, 20% are now likely to be retired or deceased. Of the remaining 108:

  • 15% are estimated to be full time (approx. 16)
  • 33% are estimated to be hedging as part of a wider role (approx. 35)
  • 25% are estimated to be doing it as a hobby or in their spare time (approx. 27)

 

References

  • https://www.cornishhedgers.org.uk/cornish-hedging/
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornish_hedge
  • http://www.cornishhedges.co.uk/
  • AONB Cornish Hedges Education Pack http://www.cornishhedges.co.uk/aonb.htm

Chain making

The Radcliffe Red List of Endangered Crafts

 

Chain making (handmade welded)

 

The making of handmade fire welded chain.

 

Status Critically endangered
Historic area of significance Cradley Heath, Black Country
Area currently practised Black Country
Origin in the UK Chain making was at its height in the 19th Century
Current no. of professionals (main income) 0
Current no. of professionals (sideline to main income)
11-20

4 volunteers at Mushroom Green Chain Shop

The Black Country Museum has a pool of around 14 trained staff who demonstrate chain making

Current no. of trainees 0
Current total no. serious amateur makers
0
Current total no. of leisure makers
0

 

History

Cradley Heath in the Black Country was the centre of the 19th Century chain making industry. During the industrial revolution there was a high demand for chain for a wide variety of uses from anchor chain to dog chain.

Women’s chain

Heavy and medium chains were made by men in factories but lighter chains were made by women and children, often in extremely poor conditions. This lighter chain was known as ‘hand-hammered chain’ or ‘country-work chain’ and had a wide range of uses in agriculture, mining and industry.

The women would have worked on a piece rate for middlemen known as ‘foggers’ who would supply manufacturers and take a hefty percentage of the pay. The women chainmakers’ work was a prime example of ‘sweated labour’ – long hours of toil for poverty wages carried out in unsanitary, often dangerous conditions.

In 1910 the Women Chainmakers of Cradley Heath laid down their tools to strike for a living wage. Led by the charismatic union organiser and campaigner Mary Macarthur, the women’s struggle hit the national and international headlines. They were the first in the world to enforce a national minimum wage for a trade and should be seen as part of the wider movement toward gender pay equality.

In 2012 a statue honouring the Women Chainmakers was erected in Cradley Heath. The statue was made by Luke Perry, a local artist and metalworker from a family of chainmakers.

Slavery and chain making

Despite a lack of written records, it is now certain that production of chains and collars for the slave trade would have been a notable part of production in the Black Country.

 

Techniques

  • Working with hand held and foot hammer
  • Manipulating metal into shapes
  • Fire welding

Hand forged chain can be tested and approved for use as functional chain. The only chain maker who is still doing this is Liam Eglington-Parkes.

Local forms

 

 

Sub-crafts

  • Women’s chain
  • Ship’s chain – not done for around 50 years
  • Twisted chain – not done for 20 years
  • Open link fire welded chain
  • Stud chain
  • Leaf chain making

 

Issues affecting the viability of the craft

  • Market issues: chain is now electrically welded and mostly imported to the UK
  • Cost of raw materials and energy: the volunteers at the Mushroom Green Chain shop have reported that the costs of producing chain continue to rise, thus making it increasingly more difficult to continue.

 

Support organisations

  • Black Country Museum
  • Mushroom Green Chain Shop
  • Friends of the Women Chainmakers

 

Craftspeople currently known

  • Luke Perry – as a volunteer at Mushroom Green Chain Shop, open 6 times a year
  • Natalie Perry – as a volunteer at Mushroom Green Chain Shop
  • Liam Eglington-Parkes – as a volunteer at Mushroom Green Chain Shop

 

Training providers

 

 

Other information

Mushroom Green Chain shop is open 6 times a year as a social activity. https://www.ihsartworks.com/mushroom-green

Avoncroft Museum has a 19th chain shop that is open to the public but it is not currently producing chain.

References

  • Book on chain making by Geoff Marshall soon to be published
  • National Education Union teaching resource pack: Mary Macarthur and the Cradley Heath Women Chainmakers’ Strike of 1910
  • http://chain.org.uk/history-of-chains/
  • https://www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/dancing-story-chain-making-industry-and-its-links-slavery-and-emancipation
  • TUC, Women Chainmakers: https://www.tuc.org.uk/news/women-chainmakers
  • Slavery and the black country: collars and chains: https://simonbriercliffe.com/2017/09/03/slavery-and-the-black-country-collars-and-chains/#
  • BBC, 2021, Statue honours women chainmakers of Cradley Heath https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-18367505

Composition picture frame making

 

The Radcliffe Red List of Endangered Crafts

 

Composition (compo) picture and mirror frame making

 

The making of composition (compo) ornament picture and mirror frames using traditional techniques.

 

Status Endangered
Historic area of significance Composition ornament frames were mostly produced in the UK, North America and Australia. During the first half of the nineteenth century they were favoured by prominent artists such as Lawrence, Turner and Constable and were made for elite markets.
Area currently practised UK wide
Origin in the UK Composition ornament frames started being made in the late eighteenth century and became increasingly widespread during the nineteenth. 
Current no. of professionals (main income) Makers: 20-25
Conservators/Restorers using compo: 35-40
Current no. of professionals (sideline to main income)
Makers: 4
Conservators/Restorers using compo: 5-10
Lecturers: 2
Current no. of trainees Makers: 2
Conservators/Restorers using compo: 2
Current total no. serious amateur makers
1-5
Current total no. of leisure makers
Unknown

 

History

In the late eighteenth century composition was used to ornament elite interiors and frames in the neoclassical style. In the early nineteenth century composition frames were favoured by many important British artists such as Sir Thomas Lawrence, JMW Turner, and John Constable.

Frames heavily enriched with composition ornament became increasingly fashionable and available during the Victorian era. Their popularity steadily declined towards the end of the nineteenth and throughout most of the twentieth centuries.

Although interest in them increased again toward the end of the twentieth century, the skill base has been eroded and few people can now make them to their original standard and complexity. Skilful restoration typically costs considerably more than the frame’s monetary value.

 

Techniques

Composition is based on a mixture of animal glue, linseed oil, conifer resin and powdered chalk that , whilst warm, is screw-pressed into intaglio moulds to make pliable ornament that hardens upon drying. Composition, also known as ‘compo’, differs from cast ornament containing plaster of Paris made from gypsum, or ornament containing fibre, i.e., papier mâché or carton pierre etc. Press moulds were traditionally hand carved in hardwoods, commonly boxwood (a separate craft now extinct in the UK).

  • Machining timber profile mouldings.
  • Whitening up timber mouldings using powdered chalk in warm animal skin glue – now mostly known by the Italian term gesso.
  • Cross hatching whitened mouldings.
  • Cutting and joining mouldings.
  • Mould making.
  • Making, pressing, and mounting composition ornament – including the use of wire armatures, associated particularly with mirror frames.
  • Oil and water gilding, burnishing, and matting.
  • Glazing, fitting, and backing frames.

 

Local forms

 

 

Sub-crafts

  • Hand carving intaglio moulds in hardwood for pressing composition ornament – is now extinct in the UK.
  • Making and selling fresh composition for customers to press into ornament – is now being made and sold by one person in the UK.
  • Selling composition ornament for customers to mount onto objects – is now being done by one firm in the UK.
  • Manufacturing lengths of whitened and composition ornamented mouldings – is provided, to the trade, by one firm in the UK.
  • Gold beating – is now extinct in the UK.
  • Manufacturing coloured bole – is now extinct in the UK.
  • Manufacturing oil gilding mordants – is done by at least two firms in the UK.
  • Silvering, cutting and bevelling mirror plates – bevelling by hand is now rare in the UK.
  • Manufacturing associated fittings – i.e., mirror plates, plate hooks, s-hooks, chains, hanging rings, and rails etc – has generally declined in choice and quality in the UK.
  • Frames conservation/restoration – is viable but difficult to earn a living from.

 

Issues affecting the viability of the craft

  • Market – long term declining demand has led to the lowering of financial viability and quality. An ongoing reduction in the number and size of workshops is resulting in a shrinking base of craftspeople. There is competition from poor-quality simulations made overseas. Some workshops carve replicas of composition ornament frames rather than using the same materials. Some conservators/restorers make composition ornament frames for specific projects, but this is not a substitute for a dedicated trade of specialist makers.
  • Training – there are not many places teaching the craft. Most of the available educational opportunities are focussed on conservation/restoration rather than making. Firms making picture and mirror frames train their own staff in-house as there are few formal training routes.
  • Short courses – It is difficult to run comprehensive courses in framemaking as there are many stages that require drying times, as well as the necessary workspace and specialist equipment.
  • Lack of training in conservation/restoration – A specialist conservator/restorer needs to have a detailed working knowledge of the craft skills required to make, ornament and decorate a frame. There is little specialist training available in either making or treating frames.
  • Sourcing of materials – Most makers and conservator/restorers prepare their own composition from increasingly expensive materials. Readymade fresh composition for customers to press into ornament is sold by only one maker in the UK. Pressed composition ornament sold for customers to mount onto objects is retailed by only one firm in the UK – the trade used to rely upon framemakers sourcing different ornaments from each other (see Coibion).
  • Tools and equipment – The availability of original hand carved press-moulds is declining, and much depleted compared with the nineteenth century, as new ones are no longer being made. Antique moulds are often now sold as treen to collectors, rather than being kept together and in use as tools by the trade – pairs and sets of moulds tend to be split into separate lots at auction, thereby the means of production are becoming disassociated and dispersed. Instead, makers and conservators/restorers rely upon modern mould-making materials and technologies, if financially viable.

 

Support organisations

  • City & Guilds of London Art School.
  • Gilding and Decorative Surfaces Group of the Institute for Conservation (Icon).
  • The Frame Blog
  • National Galleries of Scotland
  • National Portrait Gallery
  • Royal Oak Foundation Conservation Studio, National Trust
  • Tate
  • University of Lincoln
  • Victoria and Albert Museum

 

Craftspeople currently known

  • Frinton Frames Ltd – supply the trade with composition frames in the white or finished, and lengths of composition mouldings in the white.
  • Joseph McCarthy (incorporating the Bloomsbury Frame Works collection of carved moulds) – make finished mirror and picture frames to order.
  • Sudbury Picture Frames – make finished composition frames to order.
  • Tate – frame conservators make finished replica composition frames for the Gallery.
  • Victoria Fine Art – make finished composition frames to order.
  • Kingswood Frames and Mirrors – make finished composition frames to order

Over forty specialist frames conservators/restorers throughout the UK make and/or use composition, and some occasionally make finished composition frames.

Specialist suppliers:

  • George Jackson Ltd (trading since 1780 and holding a large collection of carved moulds) – make pressed composition ornament for architectural interiors, and for customers to use on their objects.
  • Ruth Tappin – restorer who also sells fresh composition for customers to press into ornament.

 

Training providers

There are no specific training courses or apprenticeships available in composition picture frame making.

Degree and postgraduate study conservation courses:

  • City & Guilds of London Art School BA Conservation: Stone, Wood & Decorative Surfaces and MA Conservation
  • University of Lincoln BA Conservation of Cultural Heritage and MA Conservation of Cultural Heritage

 

Other information

 

 

References

  • Coibion, Victoria, ‘From “real composition” to “higher matters of taste”: exploring the value shift from materials to design in early British composition ornament’, in Thirteenth International Symposium on Wood and Furniture Conservation. Stichting Ebeniste, 2016, pp. 74-87.
  • Directory of British Picture Framemakers, 1600-1930 British picture framemakers, 1600-1950 – National Portrait Gallery (npg.org.uk)
  • The Frame Blog – online magazine devoted to the study of antique picture frames https://theframeblog.com/
  • Miller, William, Plastering, Plain and Decorative (‘Compositions’, chapter XIV, pp. 393-406). Routledge, 2010 (originally published by Batsford, 1897).
  • Payne, John, Framing the Nineteenth Century: picture frames 1837-1935. The Images Publishing Group, 2007.
  • Pinto, Edward, ‘Moulds for the Decorator’, in Country Life, January 1968, pp. 37-38.
  • Simon, Jacob, The Art of the Picture Frame. National Portrait Gallery, 1996.
  • Wetherall, Judith, ‘The History and Techniques of Composition’, in Gilding and Surface Decoration. The United Kingdom Institute for Conservation, 1991, pp. 26-29.

Canal art and boat painting

The Radcliffe Red List of Endangered Crafts

 

Canal art and boat painting

 

See also fairground art, vardo crafts.

 

Status Endangered
Group or community to which this craft is culturally important e.g. geographical, religious community, cultural identity, cultural practice, traditional industry or occupation Canal boaters, bargemen, watermen and waterway traders.
Group or community where this craft is currently practised Canal boaters and other people associated with inland waterways (they may have been taught by boat painters or be enthusiasts and boat preservationists). Travellers living roadside may also practice painting and trading bargeware items.
Origin in the UK 19th Century; possibly earlier undocumented forms.
Current number of makers and/or people who hold the knowledge of this craft within the community 11-21 (16 identified in the GRTSB Makers survey)

Based on consultation, these are craftspeople who can do new work in recognised traditional styles, restore heritage objects in historic styles, and are working to a professional standard. These craftspeople also have experience with working and historic boats and historic and hold the skills to work on a variety of boats and associated items.

Current number of trainees and/or people who are learning the craft Not currently known
Other makers 20+

This figure would include artists and craftspeople who enjoy canal art as a personal practice and hobby for their own enjoyment. 

 

History

Canal arts and boat painting, as we identify them today, grew with the historic waterway trading and coal delivery networks during the 19th century industrial revolution. Canal infrastructure hubs included Birmingham and Dudley in the Black Country, along the route of the Grand Union Canal, which connected London waterways to the Midlands and the North. The Old Main Line Birmingham and Wolverhampton Canal (known regionally as ‘the cut’), connects with the Shropshire Union Canal, joining up with waterways into Wales and up to Liverpool and Manchester. Boaters and bargemen worked in the same way as today’s long distance lorry driver, with set routes, regular employment and steady wages. However, their isolating profession led to the people of the canals forming their own communities in the same way of the miners. This developed and solidified into a recognisable class of people as the social and economic status of the canals changed towards the later Victorian period.

The art of canal boat painting began with a need for the boat owners to advertise their services and have their vessels identifiable by authorities. The colours and styles were dictated by both the financial status of the boat owner and the fashions of the time. The decoration of  cabin interior and ‘running gear’ were driven more by the aesthetic tastes of the boaters themselves, and are believed to be a slightly later development, but regularly in use by the 1830s.

Folk art historian and canal painter Tony Lewery describes the practice of canal art as ‘the result of a balanced relationship between the artists who did, the group it was done for and the underlying reasons for its existence’ (Lewery 1996, p7); the painters often being boatbuilders who did the work as part of their trade and the boatmen themselves, and the group being the population of canal boaters.

Lewery goes on to explain that the reasons behind the art itself are complex and difficult to encapsulate:

‘An outward display of domestic neatness was important, and advertising in a general sense, proclaiming one’s taste and prosperity within the boating society; but perhaps above all it was a statement of self-esteem, and a mark of membership of an exclusive trade elite’. (Lewery, 1996 p7)

Canal art shares many common themes with fairground arts and vardo painting, such as scroll work and floral motifs, as well as popular symbols and flourishes found within Victorian arts and crafts. The stylistic influences between traveller communities, those who built and painted waggons and the people who painted on the canals are evident, as are the influences of the fashions of the day. However, each of the communities retained their own distinct communities and cultural practices.

Canal art is famous for the ‘Roses & Castles’ imagery, plus bold patterns such as harlequin diamonds, hearts, crescent moons and brightly coloured sun-circle. These are expertly placed to enhance the cabin, hull, and the many objects found on working and living boats.

Lewery writes that part of the enduring appeal of the distinctive ‘Roses & Castles’ motifs are their mysterious origins:

‘Nobody really knows where it came from…It may be a leftover Victorian commercial art nurtured by the anachronistic culture of the canals to survive as an exotic species in the modern world, but it could equally possibly be a foreign implant. There are vaguely similar styles of folk art in Scandinavia and Germany, and surprisingly similar styles in Turkey and Bangladesh. In the eighteenth century the apparently related Hinderloopen paintwork of the Dutch was only a sailing barge journey away from the Thames, whilst many people recognise a connection with the Gypsies’ culture and their elaborate caravans. It is still a mystery. Whatever the origins this most delightful of British folk arts is surviving quite well, and still giving pleasure.’

Lewery, https://www.canaljunction.com/heritage/art/roses_castles.htm

Canal art was significantly more flamboyant prior to the first world war when many painters were lost and the canals themselves started to decline.

Canal artists of note who are no longer practising today include: Ron Hough, Frank Nurser, George Crowshaw, Percy Frost, George Baxter, Bill Hodgson and Alf Fennimore.

 

Cultural significance

Although historically boaters and bargemen were separate from the Roma and Gyspy communities, in 2023, the collective term GRTSB is used to describe the communities of Gypsy, Roma, Traveller, Showmen and Boaters, as those with distinct ethnic heritages and cultural traditions, as seen in the arts and crafts associated with their cultures. Regardless of the extent to which these communities actually interacted throughout history, they were all marginalised from mainstream society and many today find collaborating beneficial.

Based on consultation for this edition of The Red List (2023), there are approximately 11-21 (16 identified in the survey) craftspeople who can make new work in recognised traditional styles, restore bargeware objects in historic styles, and are working to a professional standard. These craftspeople also have experience with working and historic boats and hold the skills to work on a variety of boats and associated items. The heritage canal art styles today are also painted by other artists and enthusiasts. There is an informal teaching structure and short course model that has been sharing the authentic canal art style for around the past 20 years (via Phil Speight, Julie Tonkin and others), and the well-known practical books by AJ Lewery.

An important cross-community use of traditionally recognised canal art techniques can be found in horse-drawn Traveller communities of the post-war period, up until today. Traveller craftswoman Ella Mae Sueref learnt canal art techniques for bargeware and horseshoe painting whilst living horse-drawn, and was inspired by the Traveller people in her convoy and extended family to take up the craft.  This cultural cross-over correlates with the loss of horse-drawn narrowboats and barges in the UK (c. 1950-1960), and the trading of former tow-horses into the roadside travelling communities of the era, along with their items of harness, tack and kit, and bargeware items like watercans and enamelled kettles. This shows another fascinating correlation with industrialisation and post-war economies, and the re-positioning of Traveller crafts intra-culturally.

Canal arts form a part of the intangible cultural heritage (ICH) of boater communities, folk and outsider arts, and, combined with the new Red List entries for vardo crafts and fairground arts, link three distinct travelling communities in the UK over almost 200 years, between the Victorian industrial revolution and today.

 

Techniques

  • Hand-painted objects attached to the running of a working boat, such as water cans, dippers, handbowls, mops etc
  • Hand-painted boat hulls
  • Hand-painted signwriting
  • Blending, swirls, scrolls, borders
  • Lettering that is responsive to the space
  • Creating floral and pictorial scenes (Roses & Castles)
  • Boat-name signage and insignia
  • Horse kit such as decorative wooden harness beads, painted nose-bowls and horseshoes
  • Graining or “scumbling” cabin interiors and external decoration

 

Local forms and possible origins

Regional historic styles from certain boat yards companies, and types of boat are identifiable by their logos, stylistic type of floral and pictorial imagery, and other details such as sign-writing typography. Contemporary makers are also improvising and creating new forms and combinations of these traditional styles.

Roses & Castles

Roses and Castles art is an umbrella description of the usual decoration of narrowboats, and the art, roses in particular, can be further divided down into three more categories: Braunston, Knobstick and Uxbridge.

On the lineage of the British canal rose, artist Kerri Williams says: ‘Down here in the Black Country we have Braunston, whereas up North you’d get knobstick and different styles. One of the main haulage companies in this area was Thomas Clayton, and their roses are known as ‘Clayton’s Cabbages’; they look nothing like a rose, they are very charming, they are very naïve, and you can tell them a mile off they’re a Clayton’s Cabbage.’

Braunston roses are the most common style and feature confident brush strokes to create a stylistic rose. Each boatyard had its own variation and could be recognised by the style.

Knobstick roses originated from the brush of Bill Hodgson, painter for the Anderton Canal Company (which was for some obscure reason known by the boaters as Knobsticks.) His roses were executed in a hyper-realistic fashion and highly prized among boaters. When boatmen painters took up their own brushes, they mimicked Hodgson’s work to the best of their ability but inadvertently regulated the brushstrokes into a much more formal style that is still replicated today.

Uxbridge roses are characteristically abstract roses, with the “claytons cabbage” being the extreme end of the scale. The Claytons Cabbage was the work of Fred Winnet, painter of Thomas Clayton, and some boaters were so fearful that he would paint his roses in their cabins that they would remove the cupboard doors before putting the boats in dock.

The style of roses and castles developed from artistic culture of the 1820s, when jappaning and decoupage were popular, and there are clear parallels between painted clock faces and roses and castles.

Brightwork

Another style of canal art is that of brightwork, a form of art exclusive to the boats on the Leeds and Liverpool canal in the North, and demonstrated to a much lesser extent by those on other canals of the area. It’s characterised by elaborate scrollwork and use of lining, with a fairly standardised colour range of yellow, green, red, blue and white.

Brightwork art is almost totally lost, with little to no use on the canals of today. These boats are true barges, or in some cases “Short Boats” and they are almost entirely extinct. The artwork is simultaneously more complex and more simplistic then that of the narrow canals and, much like the day boats, evolved in response to the space it was put on to.

Brightwork can be further split into 3 styles:

  • Yorkshire – more use of lining, graining/varnishing plain timber
  • East Lancashire – Scrollwork is typically less flamboyant and the decoration as a whole is ‘heavier’
  • West Lancashire – Decoration is more flamboyant as a whole, with more use of fine lining

Day Boat Art

Day Boat art is from the short haul “day boats” that worked predominantly around Birmingham and developed in its style in response to the limited space and short usage of the boats. Day boats did not have large cabins, if they had a cabin at all, and artwork was correspondingly small and acted primarily as a means of identification.

It’s characterised by stylistic flower patterns and geometric patterns, with a colour range usually of red and green, or shades of grey.

It survives largely in the paint repertoire for customers looking for traditional art but without wanting the flamboyance of roses and castles.

Sub-crafts

Allied crafts:

  • Signwrighting
  • Coach painting
  • Graining
  • Vardo and Living Waggon crafts
  • Cabin lace
  • Rope and fender making

 

Issues affecting the viability of the craft

  • Awareness of the craft: As people become interested in the ‘tiny home’ eco-focus and alternative methods of living off-grid, narrowboats are becoming popular for people seeking affordable accommodation, either in an inner-city mooring (as with many London boaters) or as working spaces and arts studios, as with contemporary sculptor Kate MccGwire. There may not be the historical awareness or context for Boaters as a historic cultural group of Travellers – with a distinct style of art that has connections to the past – beyond the 200-year documented history of boat painting in the UK.
  • Lack of skilled practitioners: There is a distinction between the professional craftspeople who can competently paint a whole historic boat and associated fittings to a standard that ensures traditional knowledge, skills and styles are represented, and the artists and craftspeople who enjoy canal art as a personal practice and hobby for their own enjoyment. The GRTSB Crafts Makers Survey will remain open until July 2023 to allow for further conversations, research and updates into the future, and this approach is actively building relationships and support for GRTSB self-representation.
  • Lack of training opportunities: Informal training in the form of apprenticeship and mentorship is occasionally offered. Short courses in canal art and sign writing are helping to reach a next generation of craftspeople with transferable skills and interests in the visual styles associated with canal arts.
  • Loss of skills: Due to the waterways becoming mainly living and leisure spaces, the industrial association with the heritage economy and travelling-trading forms (coal for example), mean that historic working boats requiring re-painting c.1900 are rare, and are often museum pieces or in need of extensive repair. As the older boats fall out of use, the restoration and decorative skills are not seen or shared, as they were in the past. This means the focus shifts from painting historic boats, to painting items of bargeware, which have transferable settings and uses.
  • Emulation of canal art: Many people have taken courses in canal arts in the past 20 years, and this forms a different skill set and standard to those required by professional canal artists to paint and restore a historic boat, for example.
  • Availability of materials and conservation: Old boats are becoming more-rare, and opportunities to paint early models c.1900 are now very limited. There is great concern from the Boater crafts community as to the current conservation practices of museums holding heritage canal art objects and historic boats, and this concern is for the correct and urgent repair and storage of significant items of Boater heritage crafts, which are at risk of actively being lost due to neglect. Paints used in canal arts historically contained toxic lead and therefore there might be issues sourcing older paints for restoration, and associated health implications of working with old paints.

 

Support organisations

  • Waterways Craft Guild
  • Norbury Wharf
  • Black Country Living Museum
  • Canal & River Trust
  • Delph Locks & Stables
  • Heatherfield Heritage

Craftspeople currently known

A list of canal artists, who practice bargeware object painting and canal crafts (including cabin lace and rope work): https://www.canaljunction.com/canal/crafts.htm

Boat painters and signwriters:

  • Darren Williams: speciality high quality hand-painted signwriting and artworks.
  • Norbury Wharf Ltd: professional boat and narrowboat painting, signwriting, traditional canal arts.

 

Training providers

There are no formal training opportunities or apprenticeship available in canal art and boat painting.

Short courses:

  • Kerri Williams (apprentice to Julie Tonkin) runs short courses in canal arts: https://www.theheritagecrafter.co.uk/courses
  • Phil Speight, the renowned sign writer and painter runs courses showing the traditional art of painting Roses and Castles
  • Terence Edgar, master decorative painter in the traditional Roses & Castles style

 

Other information

Consultants for this entry onto The Red List:

  • Kerri Williams, Ella Mae Sueref, Phil Speight and Kerry Dainty; many thanks for your generous time and willingness to speak on your crafts.

Thanks to all the participants of The GRTSB Crafts Makers Survey.

 

References

  • Narrow Boat Painting, A.J. Lewery (1974)
  • The Art of the Narrow Boat Painters, A.J. Lewery (2005)
  • Flowers Afloat, J. Lewery (1996)
  • Canal Arts and Crafts, Avril Lansdell (2004)
  • A Canal People: The Photographs of Robert Longden, S Rolt (1997)
  • Roses & Castles; A Practical Introduction to Narrow Boat Decoration, Jane Marshall (2017)
  • Inland Waterways Association, https://waterways.org.uk/
  • Canal & River Trust, https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/about-us
  • ‘Roses & Castles’ article, https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/enjoy-the-waterways/canal-history/history-features-and-articles/roses-and-castles-canal-folk-art
  • Roving Canal Traders Association, https://www.rcta.org.uk
  • Canal Junction resource, https://www.canaljunction.com
  • Tony Lewery, https://www.canaljunction.com/narrowboat/art.htm
  • Tony Lewery, https://www.canaljunction.com/narrowboat/signwriting.htm
  • Narrowboat Skills Centre, https://nbsc.org.uk
  • Delph Locks, https://industrialtour.co.uk/delph-locks/
  • Black Country Living Museum, https://bclm.com
  • Mike Clarke, canal historian, http://www.mikeclarke.myzen.co.uk/
  • The GRTSB Crafts Makers Survey, conducted by Imogen Bright Moon (2023), bit.ly/grtcraft

Encaustic tile making

The Radcliffe Red List of Endangered Crafts

 

Encaustic ceramic tile making

 

Manufacture of encaustic tiles from unglazed plastic ceramic (this doesn’t include cement, dust pressed or surface decorated ‘encaustic effect’ tiles).

 

Status Critically endangered
Historic area of significance UK
Area currently practised Shropshire, Kent, Sussex
Origin in the UK First used in the 13th and 14th Centuries However, they were at their height of popularity in the 19th Century as part of the Gothic revival.
Current no. of professionals (main income) 1-5

4 skilled makers at Craven Dunnill Jackfield Ltd. who can carry out all processes

Current no. of professionals (sideline to main income)
1-5 artisan makers
Current no. of trainees 1 apprentice at Craven Dunnill Jackfield Ltd.
Current total no. serious amateur makers
1-5
Current total no. of leisure makers
Not known

 

History

The earliest encaustic tiles in Britain date to the mid 13th century and were a progression from earlier “mosaic” floor tiles, and were mainly confined to monastic and royal buildings. The technique is likely to have come from France where there was a thriving encaustic tile industry from about 1200 AD.

By the 1450s the industry was beginning to decline and with the dissolution of the monasteries, the art became completely defunct. Changes in taste also speeded the decline and the technique was to remain virtually unused until the Gothic Revival of the 1830s and ‘40s. In 1835 Samuel Wright filed a patent for the manufacture of inlaid tiles for which he sold the rights to Chamberlain of Worcester and Minton and Co. Chamberlain went straight ahead with production and by 1836/7 were producing encaustic tiles for churches and stately homes. Herbert Minton held back and decided to perfect the technique before selling his first commercial floor to the Temple Church in London in 1842. He also made gifts of a number of major floors to large landowners and wealthy churches which brought him much success in this product.

During the Victorian era, many other makers started making encaustic tiles and in 1868 a further patent was filed for the manufacture of encaustic tiles by the dust-pressing technique which continued as late as the 1930s and a few were even made post World War II. By the early 1950s, the technique had again died out and was only redeveloped as the need to replace many of the early Gothic Revival floors occurred during the 1960s and ‘70s. This was spearheaded by H & R Johnson who after much experimentation supplied replacement tiles to The Palace of Westminster and the Capitol Building, USA.

A few smaller studio makers started to re-create medieval and Victorian tiles in the 1970s and ‘80s including Chris Cox and Diana Hall. Chris Cox went on to head the encaustic tile department at Craven Dunnill Jackfield, who are now the leading manufacturers of these tiles in the world.

(Chris Blanchett, 30/04/2023)

 

Techniques

The encaustic tiles made at Craven Dunnill Jackfield Ltd. are pressed from plastic clay onto a hand-carved plaster mould which sits inside a mould box. The pressing is either by hand or under a power press. Once pressed the mould and tile are ejected from the box and left for 5-10 minutes for the plaster to begin to dry the clay. The mould and clay tile are turned over onto a board and the mould lifted away. The tile is then filled with a liquid slip(s) of contrasting colour either in one go to create a two-colour tile, or in stages to create a polychromatic tile. The whole tile is then dried for approximately one week after which the surplus clay is milled and hand scraped from the surface to reveal the inlaid pattern(s). The tile is then fired in a gas kiln before final cutting to size is carried out on a wet-cut diamond saw.

Reproduction medieval encaustic tiles production techniques

Original medieval encaustic tiles were manufactured by impressing a carved wooden stamp into the surface of an unfired red clay tile and filling the depressions with white slip (pipe) clay, allowing the tile to dry to the leather hard stage and then scraping back the surface to a reasonably flat, level finish. Lead oxide (often with impurities, accidental or deliberate) was then sprinkled over the surface and the tile single-fired in a wood burning kiln to c1000˚C.

Wear and tear on the wooden stamps, and impurities and inclusions in the clay and the glaze gave a very variable finish to the fired tile and it is these characteristics that modern reproduction methods attempt to emulate. This is achieved by adding various crushed, fired clay or other impurities to the clay body and metal oxides added to the glaze, particularly copper and iron, which give green or brown translucent colouration. The technique is very hands-on, much as the original manufacture would have been although gas or electric firing is now the general rule.

 

Local forms

 

 

Sub-crafts

  • Plaster mould carving – this is done by hand and is also considered a critically endangered craft see Industrial Pottery

 

 

Issues affecting the viability of the craft

  • Training and recruitment issues – there are currently no apprenticeships in ceramics although there is a Level 3 Craft Assistant (Ceramics) Apprenticeship currently under development (see Training Providers below).
  • Training and recruitment issues – There is often a gap between expectation and reality in tile making. This form of tile making is a very ‘hands on’ skill that uses almost no technological input. However, most new potential entrants come with design degrees and want to be able to use their IT and design skills. This makes it challenging to recruit the right people for the job.
  • Market issues – Whilst there is a continuing demand for encaustic tiles, there are often issues around funding and procurement for heritage and restoration projects.
  • Supply of raw materials– Some clay ingredients, such as lead and barium are getting difficult to source. This can be due to safety concerns and/or a lack of demand from the ceramics industry to make them commercially viable.
  • Supply of tools and equipment – specialist equipment is getting difficult to source as they are no longer manufactured and much of the used/vintage machinery is shipped to overseas companies.
  • Legislative issues – there are some Health & Safety restrictions around materials handling.
  • Brexit – this has led to difficulties in sourcing materials and markets, and has led to rising costs.

 

Support organisations

  • Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST)
  • Worshipful Company of Tylers and Bricklayers
  • Prince’s Foundation

 

Craftspeople currently known

  • Diana Hall (retired) – makes medieval reproduction inlaid tiles
  • Karen Slade, Company of Artisans
  • Aldershaw Tiles
  • Priory Tiles
  • Chris Cox, Craven Dunnill Jackfield Ltd

 

Training providers

Apprenticeships

There are currently no apprenticeships in ceramics or tile making although there is a Level 3 Craft Assistant (Ceramics) Apprenticeship currently under development.

On the job training 

On the job training and apprenticeships take place at Craven Dunnill Jackfield Ltd, Shropshire.

Degrees and postgraduate study 

There are a number of degrees that include an element of ceramics. These are often design based degrees in Ceramics & Glass. These include:

  • University of Creative Arts Farnham https://www.uca.ac.uk/study/courses/ba-ceramics-glass/
  • Phrifysgol Metropolitan Caerdydd (Cardiff Metropolitan University) https://www.cardiffmet.ac.uk/artanddesign/courses/Pages/baceramics.aspx

Some universities offer an MA in Ceramics or Ceramics & Glass. These include:

  • Staffordshire University https://www.staffs.ac.uk/course/ceramics-ma
  • Royal College of Art https://www.rca.ac.uk/study/programme-finder/ceramics-glass-ma/

 

Other information

 

 

References

  • Chris Blanchett, ’20th Century Decorative British Tiles’ (Schiffer Publishing 2006)