 A
history of the Copper Works
The Copper Works was established in 1890 by J. D. Mackenzie
as part of the Newlyn Art Industries. The work was intended
to augment the unreliable income derived from fishing
and bolster the sense of self-determination within the
community of Newlyn. The ethos of the Arts and Crafts
movement was embraced; painting, copper work, enamelling,
jewellery, silk work and pottery brought added income
whilst raising the spirit of the community.
Mackenzie invited John Pearson to Newlyn to lead The
Copper Works as principal tutor in metal craft. Pearson
had first established his reputation with William de
Morgan producing designs for tiles and ceramics. His
skill as a metal craftsman came to the fore as a founding
member of the Guild of Handicraft with C.R. Ashbee in
East London during the late 1880s.
After leaving the Guild in 1892 his work in Newlyn
formed the foundation for what would become a rich body
of copper work. With Mackenzie designing much of the
work some of the local lads, Philip Hodder, Tom Batten,
John Payne Cotton, and Obed Nicholls to name a few,
soon became proficient in repousse work. The standard
of work was high enough for it to be shown in the first
Home Arts and Industries Association exhibition at the
Albert Hall in 1899. The work was exhibited for a further
three years by the association where it stood out alongside
copper work from Keswick, Fivemiletown and Yattendon.
After the death of Mackenzie during the First World
War The Copper Works was continued by its founder members.
John Edgar Laity, John Curnow, Joe Pengelly, Wilfred
Tonkin and George Mildren, joined the ranks and the
work continued to be made and sold in Newlyn with an
ever-increasing catalogue of pieces available. By the
end of the Second World War however, the drive and spirit
behind the Arts and Crafts movement had long since passed.
This, alongside a desire for the gloss and shine, not
to mention affordability of mass produced products,
saw the slow but steady decline of The Copper Works.
Production finally ceased in the late 1950s.
This body of work created over little more than a fifty-year
period is highly collectable today; the simple but beautiful
designs reflecting the lives and environment of the
community of Newlyn. The early copper work produced
in Newlyn ran parallel to that produced throughout the
UK during the Arts and Crafts period. |
