{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1821404"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1821404/"}},"images":null,"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1821404","accessionNumber":"W.10-2026","objectType":"Panel","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"After witnessing first-hand the effects of manual labour on the children of the cottagers who lived on her estate in Shropshire, Eglantyne (‘Tye’) Louisa Jebb (1845–1925) sought to address the problem (Spectator, 1 November 1919, p. 12). Taking inspiration from the work of the American artist and social activist Charles Leland (1824–1902), who founded the Public School of Industrial Art in Philadelphia in 1881, in 1884 she set up a free wood carving workshop in her own home, The Lyth, Shropshire. This was followed quickly by courses on ‘basket-making, chair-caning, carpentry, mosaic-making and painting’ (Clare Mulley, The Woman Who Saved the Children, 2010, pp. 23–24). These events quickly spread into Wiltshire, Wales and Ireland, and in 1885 the first exhibition of the ‘Home Arts and Industries Association’ (HAIA) was held in London.\r\n\r\nThe HAIA sought to revive traditional rural crafts which were threatened by the mechanisation of production and by increasing urbanisation, and became an important part of the Arts and Crafts Movement in Britain. It was largely a female-led and female-facing organisation. Although the classes were open to all, Jebb was particularly keen to encourage the younger generation out of the fields and into traditional industries. The HAIA was not a charity or a simple philanthropic enterprise intended to pull people out of poverty. Rather, it believed that ‘young boys from thirteen to sixteen years of age’ should be trained by volunteer teachers, not as ‘mere work’, but with a ‘serious pursuit of a trade’ and with ‘genuine love for the work for its own sake’ (The Magazine of Art 8, August 1885, p. xlii). \n\nThis carving is of particular interest for two reasons: because it belonged to Tye Jebb and because the panel is a rare example of a documented carving from the HAIA, of which hundreds must have been made but of which few survive. On the verso, an inscription in ink (now faded and only partially legible), reads: ‘Home Arts & Industries Assoc. / Shropshire / […] The Lyth, Ellesmere / […] / No. 6 / Higgins’, and the name ‘J. HIGGINS’ is also stamped on the lower edge. The carver is likely to be John Higgins (fl. 1884–88) who, together with David Drury and a craftsperson recorded as ‘Sharman’, possibly George Sharman (1866–1916), exhibited an oak table (untraced) at a London HAIA exhibition in 1888. ‘No. 6’ may indicate either that it was part of a set or that it too was exhibited. The association with Shropshire indicates that it is an early example of HAIA activities. Moreover, if the carver Higgins did go on to work on the much more ambitious table, the panel would witness to Jebb’s stated aim of turning amateurs into professionals.","physicalDescription":"Oak panel carved in low relief with a simple flower. ","artistMakerPerson":[],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Home Arts and Industries Association","id":"AUTH406869"},"association":{"text":"made for","id":"x30791"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"oak","id":"AAT12264"}],"techniques":[{"text":"carving","id":"AAT53149"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"","categories":[{"text":"Woodwork","id":"THES48877"},{"text":"Rural life","id":"THES277574"}],"styles":[{"text":"Arts and Crafts (movement)","id":"AAT21205"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"FWK","id":"THES48597"},"images":[],"imageResolution":"","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"001","id":"THES393052"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Panel","id":"x47676"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"shropshire","id":"x29141"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"c. 1885 - c. 1900","earliest":"1880-01-01","latest":"1904-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Helena Thomas","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"14.3","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"12.2","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"1.8","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"J. HIGGINS","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Carved on lower edge."},{"content":"Home Arts & Industries Assoc. / Shropshire / […] The Lyth, Ellesmere / […] / No. 6 / Higgins","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Inked on the verso."}],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Carved oak panel, John Higgins, c. 1884–88","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["W.10-2026"],"accessionNumberNum":"10","accessionNumberPrefix":"W","accessionYear":2026,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-09-10","recordCreationDate":"2026-05-20","availableToBook":false}}