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William Arthur Smith Benson

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William Arthur Smith Benson
A half-length black and white photograph of a man in profile. He is clean-shaven, with medium-length wavy hair. He wears a dark, velvety suit jacket.
W.A.S. Benson by Frederick Hollyer, c. 1900.
Born(1854-10-17)17 October 1854
Died5 July 1924(1924-07-05) (aged 69)
NationalityBritish
OccupationDesigner
Spouse(s)Venetia Benson, née Hunt
RelativesAlfred William Hunt (father-in-law)
Margaret Raine Hunt (mother-in-law)
Violet Hunt (sister-in-law)

William Arthur Smith Benson (also known as W.A.S. Benson) (17 October 1854 – 5 July 1924) was a British designer active in the Arts and Crafts Movement and an early exponent of electrical lighting design.[1] He is regarded as the greatest British arts and craft lighting designer.[2] Benson was a founding member of the Art Workers' Guild in 1884, and the Design and Industries Association in 1915.

Early life

Benson was born on 17 October 1854 at 6 Sussex Square, Paddington, and was educated at Winchester College, before attending New College, Oxford between 1874 and 1877 studying classics and philosophy.[3][4][5] As a child he had been taught how to practice metal work on a lathe, but upon leaving Oxford, he was articled to the London architect Basil Champneys.[3][5] While working for Champney, he met Edward Burne-Jones at a rehearsal of Wagner, and was used by Burnes-Jones as his model for the King in King Cophetua and the Beggar Queen, who would introduce Benson to William Morris.[5]

Career

By 1880 he had decided not to make a career in architecture, and opened a small workshop in North End Road, Fulham making furniture for Morris & Co.[3][5] A year later the company employed John Lovegrove, a skilled brass and copper-worker, and Benson moved into the design of metal work including fire screens and fenders, tableware, kettles, urns and light fittings.[3] The success of the company saw them move to a new factory at Eyot Works, St Peter's Square, Hammersmith, a foundry in Chiswick and opening a showroom at Camden Hill Square in Kensington during 1883.[3][6][4]

The company would move their showroom to 82 Bond Street, London in 1887, and in their 1899-1900 catalogue the business offered over 800 items that could be ordered. The business also offered commissioned designs, including equipping solicitor J.S. Beal house called Standen with electric lighting, one of the first houses to be fully electrified in Britain.[3] A big commission for Benson was the design and installation of the electric lighting at St. Paul's Cathedral between 1899 and 1900.[3][7] Benson would also start to design furniture for both Morris & Co and J.S. Henry & Co, and upon William Morris death in 1896 he was appointed as the director for furniture at Morris & Co.[3][8] Benson would also collaborate with John Henry Dearle on the company's wallpaper designs.[9] The W.A.S. Benson Company became a registered limited company in 1900, while during World War I the company switched production to shells for the Ministry of Munitions, and equipment for the launching of torpedoes for the Admiralty.[3] In 1920, Benson sold the business and retired to to Castle Corner, a house in Manorbier, Wales with his wife and died four years later on 5 July.[3]

Influences

Benson was one of the eleven founding members of the Art Workers' Guild in 1884.[10] He was influential in the creation of the Home Arts and Industries Association, and in 1888, he helped to establish the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society. During 1915, Benson was a founding member of the Design and Industries Association.[3]

Works

Benson designs have been included in the collections of museums around the world including The Art Institute of Chicago[11] and the V&A.[12] In 1900, German critic, Hermann Muthesius in his publication Das Englische Haus, a study of avant garde lighting devoted pages to Benson's designs.[1] Muthesius wrote Benson was the first to develop his designs directly out of the purpose and character of the metal as material... he was the leading spirit in electrical appliances in England.[5]

Coffee pot, designed by William Arthur Smith Benson, before 1900
Fire Screen, 1900. Art Institute of Chicago
Kettle with heater, designed by William Arthur Smith Benson, made by W.A.S. Benson & Co., London, c. 1885, at Bröhan Museum, Berlin
Sweetpea pattern wallpaper designed by Benson for Morris & Co, at the Brooklyn Museum

References

  1. ^ a b Catherine McDermott (2007). Design: The Key Concepts. Taylor & Francis. p. 152. ISBN 9781134361809.
  2. ^ Charlotte Fiell, Peter Fiell (2005). 1000 Lights: 1878-1959. Taschen. p. 61.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Benson, William Arthur Smith (W.A.S.) 1854-1924". Art History Research. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  4. ^ a b "William Arthur Smith Benson". Mapping of Sculpture - University of Glasgow. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d e "WA. S. Benson: Arts and Crafts". The Journal if William Morris Studies: 132-136. Summer and Winter 2005. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ "William Arthur Smith Benson". The British Museum. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  7. ^ "W.A.S Benson and Arts & Crafts". Country Life. 26 October 2011.
  8. ^ "William Arthur Smith Benson". Oscar Graf Decorative Arts. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  9. ^ "William Arthur Smith Benson". The Victorian Web. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  10. ^ Harriet Bridgeman, Elizabeth Drury (1975). The Encyclopedia of the Victorian. Country Life. p. 188. ISBN 9780600331230.
  11. ^ "William Arthur Smith Benson". Art Institute of Chicago. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  12. ^ "William Arthur Smith Benson". V&A. Retrieved 2 September 2024.

Further reading

  • Ian Hamerton (Ed.): W.A.S. Benson: Arts & Crafts Luminary and Pioneer of Modern Design. Antique Collectors' Club, 2005, ISBN 978-1-8514-9476-7.
  • Caroline Dakers: The Holland Park Circle: Artists and Victorian Society. Yale University Press, 1999, ISBN 978-0-3000-8164-0.
  • Charlotte Fiell, Peter Fiell (Hrsg.): 1000 Lights: 1878-1959, Band 1. Taschen Verlag, 2005, ISBN 978-3-8228-1606-6.
  • Benson, William: Arthur Smith (1854-1924), metalwork designer. Page 60, John D. Culme in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Suppl. 11. Missing persons from the beginning to 1985. Publisher: Oxford University Press 1993 (Online in the Internet archive)
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