Walter Gilbert, a cousin of the more famous sculptor, Alfred Gilbert, founded the Bromsgrove Guild of Craftsman (or Applied Arts), which was based in Bromsgrove, Worchestershire, England. The Guild functioned between 1898 and 1966, producing work in a wide range of materials in the Arts and Crafts style. According to Worcestershire Life,
Before the First World War the designers of The Bromsgrove Guild were sought after for their iron work, stained glass, plasterwork and garden statuary. Many of the countrys greatest works of wrought iron — the gates of Buckingham Palace, the Great Gates of Canada, the Liver birds of The Royal Liver Assurance Building in Liverpool, iron and bronze gates for The Mall — came from the Guild. Plaster ceilings in The Royal Naval College at Dartmouth are the work of the Guild, and its iron and bronze work can also be seen at the British Museum.
Searching the collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum online reveals that they include a frieze by Walter Gilbert and Joseph Hodel’s ivory comb (1906) mounted in silver and set with mother-of-pearl, sapphires, green stained chalcedony and a fire opal matrix.
Examples of the Guild’s work on this site
- Buckingham Palace gates
- Bronze doors of the Julius Beer Mausoleum, West Cemetery Highgate
- [Angel and artist], bronze plaque or medal
- Mary, the infant Jesus, and John the Baptist
- Lancaster Town Hall medal
- Bromesgrove Guild medal
- St. Hubert
- Joan of Arc
Bibliography
Watt, Q. The Bromsgrove Guild. Bromsgrove: The Bromsgrove Society, 1999.
“The Bromsgrove Guild: The history of a great Arts and Crafts movement.” Worcestershire Life. (March 2010). Web. 13 May 2015.
Morrison, Barbara J. Saga of the Guild of Decorative Art (1969). [Listed in Gere, Victorian Jewelry].
Last modified 17 November 2016