Lunchtime Talk: Arts & Crafts to Art Deco: Women Artist-Designers and the Sheffield Silver Industry

Join Professor Steve Pudney as he highlights the women designers connected with the Sheffield metal industries. 

From 1888 through to the 1930s, there were remarkable waves of developments in the applied arts – Arts & Crafts, Art Nouveau and Art Deco. These movements came after a sustained period of public investment in art and design education which saw an astonishing growth in the number of talented and well-trained artist-designers – many of whom were women. These women who contributed to the new waves of design often received little credit during their lifetimes and are not widely known today. 

Today, Sheffield is known as “Steel City”, but at the start of the 20th century it was also “Silver City”, home to many highly respected firms producing silverware and cutlery.  

In this talk, Steve will explore the key characteristics of the Arts & Crafts, Art Nouveau and Art Deco movements, whilst highlighting many of the women designers linked to Sheffield. You’ll also find out more about the development of art schools and the growth in demand for art training that fuelled these movements. 

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