Haslemere's Peasant Hanging at the V&A

When I finally saw the 1896 Haslemere Peasant Industries hanging at the Victoria & Albert Museum recently I was proud to see that it is prominently on display in the Arts and Crafts section of the British Galleries.  Despite knowing of it's measurements, I was struck by the size of the hanging.

The Haslemere Peasant Industries Hanging (1896),
in the British Galleries, V &A Museum

Next to the hanging is an information stand titled "Arts and Crafts 1860-1910" which suggests that the V&A feel that the Haslemere hanging epitomises the Arts and Crafts movement.  The V&A's explanation of Arts and Crafts provides an excellent concise explanation of the movement.  The stand reads:

"In the 1860s progressive thinkers began to develop radical new ideas about design but the Arts and Crafts style was not fully recognised or named until the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society was founded in 1888.

"Central to Arts and Crafts thinking was a new appreciation of the artistic skills of the workers and a belief that makers should derive satisfaction from their craftsmanship.  Supporters opposed large, impersonal factories and set up small workshops, often in the countryside.

"Arts and Crafts designers valued the natural beauty of materials.  They simplified forms and structures.  Ornament was designed to enhance construction rather than to mask it and was based on handicraft techniques.  Later, commercial manufacturers and retailers adapted the style for production by machine."

The Haslemere Peasant Industries Hanging (1896),
in the British Galleries, V &A Museum

The Haslemere hanging is displayed with:

• a Liberty & Co washstand c.1894, "probably designed by Leonard F. Wyburd"
• an armchair 1892-1902 "designed and possibly made by Ernest W. Gimson"
• a Morton & Co. 'Omar' woven furnishing fabric (on the wall to the right) 1896-1900 "designed by Charles Harrison Townsend"

The Haslemere Peasant Industries Hanging (1896),
in the British Galleries, V &A Museum

The Arts and Crafts stand next to
The Haslemere Peasant Industries Hanging (1896),
in the British Galleries, V &A Museum