The Wilson Art Gallery and Museum

The collection provides an insight into one of the most influential art movements in Britain through items of furniture, silver and other metalwork, jewellery, pottery, plasterwork, leatherwork, private press books, textiles and important archives. The Cotswolds became an important centre for the Movement, and the collection has a strong local base featuring work by designers such as C.R. Ashbee and Ernest Gimson. Since the 1970s the collection has been developed to give a national overview with work by William Morris, C.F.A. Voysey, M.H. Baillie Scott, Eric Gill and many others. The collection showcases the colourful designs and craft skills of the makers as well as the thought-provoking social message of the Movement with its emphasis on creative manual work. Men and women, professionals and amateurs, were encouraged to make things and to experiment with new and old techniques, which are represented in the collections. The Arts and Crafts Movement was also involved in current issues such as sustainable production
and conservation.