Keswick School Copper and Brass Planter c1895

Description

Heading : Keswick School Copper and brass Planter – c1895
Period : Victoria
Origin : Keswick, Lake District.
Decoration : Repousse floral decoration with textured background. Copper band to base also with copper decoration.
Size :  Height 17cm. base 27cm x 15cm
Condition : Rather worn – numerous dents and dings all over, the copper band to the base is loose in places, several corrosion holes in the base. The area around the KSIA mark has been polished.
Restoration : None
Weight : 1593 grams

The Lakes were a place of significant creative output in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Of course the Lakeland poets capture the headlines – but it must be remembered that their champion was also the great champion of the Arts and Crafts movement, John Ruskin.

The Keswick School was inspired by Ruskin, and Hardwicke and Edith Rawnsley set up the school to give free evening classes. The winter months lead to widespread unemployment in the Lakes and the Rawnsleys sought to find income for the locals by providing skills that were weather-proof. The sales of the school’s produce were so good that it was nearly entirely funded by them from it’s inception to the mid 1980s.