William Simmonds (craftsman)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

William George Simmonds (1876–1968) was a 20th century draftsman, artist, craftsman, and — together with his wife Eve Simmonds, a musician and embroiderer — proprietor of a touring puppet theatre, who lived in Gloucestershire and who was part of the Arts and Crafts movement.

Life[]

Born in 1876, Simmonds studied at the Royal College of Art and went on to exhibit at the Royal Academy from 1903 onwards.[1] His wife Eve, born in 1884 in Walthamstow as Eve Peart, studied art at The Slade, and they married in 1912.[2] During World War One, William was a designer, of both tanks and (with Geoffrey de Havilland) aircraft.[1][2]

After living for a time in Fovant, and then London, they moved to Far Oakridge in 1919, where together they ran a puppet theatre.[1][2] The interest in puppets originated in Fovant, where William attending the bedside of his sick father began to carve puppets.[2] They were later, in the 1920s and 1930s, to take the theatre on tour, performing at various venues around the country including the for three weeks per year.[2]

In Oakridge, Eve became an embroiderer and William participated in a local theatre group, the Oakridge Players.[2] William also pursued his interest in carving, in both wood and ivory, which he had first taken during the war, habitually carrying around a piece of wood or ivory in his pocket to carve.[2] On tour with the puppet theatre, William was, as with the local theatre group, a playwright and set designer, whilst Eve supplied the musical accompaniment on the spinet and was the costumer (both designing and making).[2] William also carved the puppets.[2]

In the year of William's death, 1968, the Cheltenham Art Gallery held an exhibition of his work, which included carvings, sculptures, paintings, drawings, and book designs.[1] At that point, he was the oldest member of the Guild of Gloucestershire Craftsmen.[1] Eve died two years later in 1970.[2]

Works[]

Works by William Simmonds can be found in various places.

  • Shakespeare's Tragedy of Hamlet (Hodder & Stoughton, 1910) with 30 colour illustrations by W.G. Simmonds.
  • A 1907 watercolour painting and a 1937 wood-carving are in the Tate Gallery collection.[1]
  • A collection of his puppets is in the Gloucester Folk Museum.[1]
  • A collection of his carvings and sculptures is in the Gloucester City Museum.[1]
  • He carved the rood for the chancel screen in Christ Church, Chalford.[3]

Cross-reference[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h MERL.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j CT.
  3. ^ Carruthers, Greensted & Roscoe 2019, p. 312.

Sources[]

  • "William Simmonds, 1876–1968". Museum of English Rural Life. University of Reading.
  • Carruthers, Annette; Greensted, Mary; Roscoe, Barley (2019). Ernest Gimson: Arts & Crafts Designer and Architect. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300246261.
  • "William and Eve Simmonds". The Cheltenham Trust.

Further reading[]

  • Douglas-Home, Jessica (2019). William Simmonds: The silent heart of the Arts and Crafts movement. Unicorn Publishing Group. ISBN 9781911604754.
  • Douglas-Home, Jessica (2019-09-01). "Pulling the strings". The London Library Magazine. No. 45. pp. 14–17.
  • Moss, Richard (2019-10-10). "The quiet rural world of Arts and Crafts puppet maker William Simmonds". Museum Crush.
  • Greensted, Mary (1996). "William and Eve Simmonds". The Arts and Crafts Movement in the Cotswolds. Alan Sutton. ISBN 9780750911658.
  • Speight, George (1984). "William Simmonds". Theatrephile. No. 5. D.F. Cheshire and S. McCarthy. pp. 23 et seq.
  • Thomas, Zoë (2020). Women art workers and the Arts and Crafts movement. Manchester University Press. ISBN 9781526140456.

External links[]


Stub icon

This British biographical article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

  • v
  • t
Retrieved from ""