Red Rose Guild

The Red Rose Guild was a guild based in Manchester, with the aim to promote British arts and crafts. It was “regarded as the most influential national outlet for makers” in Britain during the first half of the twentieth century. The Guild was founded in 1921 by printmaker Margaret Pilkington, OBE, and remained active until 1985. The Guild held annual exhibitions at Houldsworth Hall, part of what is now Hulme Hall, Manchester until World War II. Prominent members of the Guild included potter Bernard Leach, silversmith Joyce Himsworth and weaver Ethel Mairet. After the war, the Guild moved its headquarters to Whitworth Hall. In 1950 the Guild joined the Craft Centre of Great Britain.

History
In 1920 an exhibition by northern craftsmen living in London was held at Houldsworth Hall. Called The Red Rose Guild of Arts and Crafts, its success led to the formation of the Red Rose Guild of Artworkers in January 1921. The Guild was inspired by the work of William Morris. Its symbol, a red rose, reflected the Guild's origins in the north west of England.



The Guild was “a central authoritative body, maintaining exacting standards for membership and providing both a vital sales outlet and a regular annual meeting place.” They made a point of excluding any exhibits which appeared either ‘commercial’ or machine-made.

The Guild played a leading role in the debate about the future of craftspeople after WWII. They campaigned for state protection and the guild's secretary, Harry Norris, successfully argued for the exemption of “key craftworkers from war service in order to ensure the survival of craft skills.” This debate resulted in craftworkers being exempt from “punitive” post-war purchase tax. Alongside this they developed a craftsman's licence scheme.

In 1950 the Guild joined the Craft Centre of Great Britain, alongside the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, the Society of Scribes & Illuminators, the Senefelder Club and the Society of Wood Engravers.

Name
The Guild's name evolved over time. Founded as the Red Rose Guild of Arts and Crafts in 1920, it changed its name to the Red Rose Guild of Artworkers in 1921. In 1940s the name was changed to the Red Rose Guild of Craftsmen and finally in the 1960s to the Red Rose Guild of Designer Craftsmen.

Exhibitions and venues
An advertisement in the Manchester Evening News for the Guild's first exhibition in October 1921 listed exhibits including “Embroideries, Lace, Weaving, Jewellery, Leather and Basket Work, Sculpture, Pottery, Stained Glass &c”. Exhibitions were held at Manchester's Houldsworth Hall every autumn until the outbreak of war in 1939.

In 1925 the exhibition had 32 stalls; by the 1950s the number was over 80. The 1926 Arts and Crafts yearbook read “a general colour scheme was introduced of cream outlined with black and gold which proved an excellent background for the exhibits.”

May 1939 saw a month-long exhibition at Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, including, for the first time, calligraphy, and bookbinding. In the same year the Guild opened a shop on St Ann Street, Manchester. In 1940 the Guild moved its headquarters to The Whitworth Hall.

The Guild held joint exhibitions with the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society at the Manchester City Art Gallery in 1940, and in London in 1941 and 1944. The 1941 catalogue had an introduction by Nikolaus Pevsner, who “predicted a bright future for the crafts after the war.”

The first exhibition in Manchester after WWII was held in November 1946.

From 1963 to 1974 the Guild had a permanent exhibition space featuring members’ products at the Crane Gallery, South King Street, Manchester. In 1971 the Guild held an exhibition at the Whitworth Art Gallery to mark its 50th anniversary. The 1984 exhibition was held in June at the Royal Northern College of Music.

Crafts the journal
The journal Crafts was edited by Harry Norris from 1940 to 1946. He used it “to advance a series of anti-industrial polemics”. The magazine featured the “last thoughts of Eric Gill” together with essays by H. J. Massingham, Percy Beales, Anthony Gardner and Michael Cardew. It was published until at least 1948.

Organisers
Early organisers of the Guild included founder, Margaret Pilkington OBE (1891–1974), who remained on the board for forty years. She was the first honorary secretary and occasionally took the chair from 1926 onwards. In the early years of the Guild, Pilkington was supported by Kathleen Smartt, Dorothy Hutton, and Margaret Fullerton Davies. Harry Norris, Pilkington's “protégé” was secretary and Mr Cadness was chair.

Later committee members included Charles F Sixsmith (chairman) in 1937, Reginald Marlow (chairman) in 1967, Marie Nordlinger (committee member) and Alex McErlain (treasurer) in 1980s.

Members
The Red Rose Guild included the following members:

Other exhibitors included The Weaving School for Crippled Girls (1936), the Manchester School of Art, Salford School of Art and Bolton School of Art.