The Arts and Crafts Movement was a reaction to the brutality of working life and the sterility of industrial design in Victorian Britain. Although Arts and Crafts was initially a mediaeval revival, the movement was always about the artist craftsman and the appropriate use of materials, rather than any single design tradition. The movement was inspired and led by William Morris, whose company was founded in 1861 and produced a full range of interior furnishings, including tiles. These were designed by Morris himself, and also by leading artists and architects of the day such as Edward Burne Jones and Philip Webb. The term Arts and Crafts was formalised in the late 1880s, and many designers, artists and craftsmen joined Morris in this new movement, and leading designers including Walter Crane and C. F. A. Voysey produced distinctive and now highly collectable ceramic tiles that were used to decorate the bathrooms and the fireplaces of the wealthy and discerning. This book, with its companion on the work of William de Morgan, is the first complete introduction to British Arts and Crafts tiles from 1860 to 1920.

Rob Higgins shows how taking the aerial route gives unique insights into the history and workings of Britain’s railways. The marvels of Victorian engineering in their construction, their relationships to the canals they replaced as the main arteries of transport, and the communities and industry they spawned along their length can all be seen in detail. This book flies from the Scottish Highlands to Cornwall; from marshalling yards in the centre of the UK to lines hugging cliffs and beaches. All the viaducts on the ‘top’ section of the Settle & Carlisle line are featured, together with many other viaducts and bridges, including the swing bridges in the Norfolk Broads. Lineside industries are seen, from a huge malting complex in East Anglia to our fast-disappearing coal-powered power stations.

William De Morgan was the principal ceramic designer and maker in the Arts and Crafts Movement. Heavily influenced by the art of the Middle East, he was active for nearly thirty years from the 1870s onwards and was never content with an existing technical process if he thought it could be improved. He is famous for his vases and decorative chargers, but it is arguably his tiles - still to be found in homes and museums around Britain and the world - that have made the greatest impact. His tiles portray iconic images of animals, ships and floral designs, blending style influences to produce designs that featured new, stylized interpretations and a whimsical character. He combined a strong design style with rich glaze colours, making blue and green, and a deep orangey red into visual trademarks. There were important commissions from royalty and industry, and his ceramics were marketed to the growing middle classes by William Morris, the founder and leading light of the Arts and Crafts Movement. The tiles of the Arts and Crafts Movement are now highly collectible, and none more so than those made at William De Morgan's Chelsea, Merton Abbey and Fulham potteries. This highly illustrated book, by acknowledged experts on De Morgan, presents the first study of the tiles to be published in over thirty-five years and features an examination of De Morgan's lustre glazes using high sensitivity X-ray analysis.

William De Morgan designed and manufactured ceramics from 1870-1907, and lifelong friendships with William Morris and Edward Burne Jones placed him at the heart of the Arts and Crafts revolution. After designing stained glass for William Morris, De Morgan set up his own pottery works. His personal vision was for intense underglaze colours and shimmering lustres to show off his designs of fabulous animal, rich florals in the Morris tradition, and flowing Persian curves. Although the pottery was not a financial success, William De Morgan has left us a unique design legacy.
De Morgan was unquestionably the art and crafts movement's most important potter. Today his work is part of some of the world's major art collection, and changes hands for very high prices. This is the only book available that looks at both the man and his works, covering his life, a brief history of the Arts & Crafts Movement, his relationship with William Morris and other Pre-Raphaelite Artists and his involvement in the Arts & Crafts Society. This title also details how these ceramics were made, and includes photographs of many rare or unknown designs, along with suggestions for further reading and suggested places to visit.