Byzantium and British Heritage : Byzantine Influences on the Arts and Crafts Movement

"Byzantium was a very influential part of the development of the Arts and Crafts Movement (1880-1910) in Britain and although the influence of the Gothic Revival (1830-1880) is well known, that of the Byzantine Revival (1840-1910) is not. This volume is about the people and the movements which created the Byzantine Revival and shows how they influenced British heritage from architecture to the decorative arts during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The central pillars of the volume are the architects and scholars who created the Byzantine Research Fund (BRF) Archive, a unique collection of architectural drawings and photographs of numerous monuments across the Byzantine world, and the social and professional networks in which they circulated. The BRF members, an eclectic and little-known group, who based themselves at the newly founded British School at Athens, established the research of Byzantium in Britain and Greece. They were trained in the traditions of the Arts and Crafts Movement, which sought authenticity in design and decoration in reaction to the styles that had developed through industrialization. Their work, uniting a distinctively British design tradition with Byzantine arts and crafts, represents a highly significant and under-researched link between Britain and the Hellenic world. This volume is the first contribution to try to fill this knowledge gap. Byzantium and British Heritage will appeal to all those interested in the relation between Byzantine and British Culture and Byzantine Art"-- Provided by publisher Byzantium was a very influential part of the development of the Arts and Crafts Movement (1880–1910) in Britain, and although the influence of the Gothic Revival (1830–80) is well known, that of the Byzantine Revival (1840–1910) is not. This volume is about the people and the movements that created the Byzantine Revival and shows how they influenced British heritage from architecture to the decorative arts during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The central pillars of the volume are the architects and scholars who created the Byzantine Research Fund (BRF) Archive, a unique collection of architectural drawings and photographs of numerous monuments across the Byzantine world, and the social and professional networks in which they circulated. The BRF members, an eclectic and little-known group, who based themselves at the newly founded British School at Athens, established the research of Byzantium in Britain and Greece. They were trained in the traditions of the Arts and Crafts Movement, which sought authenticity in design and decoration in reaction to the styles that had developed through industrialisation. Their work, uniting a distinctively British design tradition with Byzantine arts and crafts, represents a highly significant and under-researched link between Britain and the Hellenic world. This volume is the first contribution to try to fill this knowledge gap. Byzantium and British Heritage will appeal to all those interested in the relation between Byzantine and British culture and Byzantine art. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Series 3 Title 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 List of Figures 10 List of Abbreviations 15 Acknowledgements 16 Preface 18 Editor’s Note on Transliteration 22 Prelude to the Byzantine Revival 24 1 The Byzantine Revival in Europe 26 2 The Discovery of Byzantium by British Visitors to Greece and What They Saw 49 3 The Restoration of Byzantine Monuments in Nineteenth-Century Greece: In Search of the Anti-Restoration Movement’s Impact 80 Pioneers and Patronage 102 4 ‘What I Want is to Locate My Dome’: The Byzantinism of the Third Marquess of Bute 104 5 ‘Byzantine Art Still Exists’; W.R. Lethaby and the Byzantine Revival 133 6 ‘A Piece of Sherlock Holmes Inference’ (sic): Byzantine Recordings in Nineteenth-Century Greece and the Art and Crafts Architects of the Byzantine Research Fund Archive of the British School at Athens 161 7 Walter S. George and the Byzantine House: Ruskin’s Greek Shadow 182 8 Schultz Revisited 212 Byzantium and Modernism: Britain and Beyond 238 9 Sidney Barnsley, Byzantium, and Furniture-Making 240 10 The Mosaic Landscape of Westminster Cathedral 263 11 The Byzantine Research and Publication Fund Architect Walter Sykes George (1881–1962): His Academic Studies and His Architecture 289 12 Scottish Byzantinists: Architects, Scholars, and Their Networks 313 Notes on Contributors 336 Index 339 Revival;,Byzantine;,Sherlock Revival,Byzantine,Sherlock