Utility furniture

Utility furniture

Utility furniture refers to furniture produced in the United Kingdom during and just after during World War II, under a Government scheme which was designed to cope with shortages of raw materials and rationing of consumption. Introduced in 1942, the Utility Furniture Scheme continued into post-war austerity and lasted until 1952.

History

By 1941 it had become apparent that the combination of a severe lack of timber suitable for furniture making (in which Britain was not self-sufficient) and the increased demand for new furniture due to the losses of housing caused by bombing and to the continuing establishment of new households after marriage, had created a severe furniture shortage.

The Utility Furniture Committee was set up in 1942, drawing on considerable expertise, principally Gordon Russell and Ernest Clench, also Herman Lebus and John Gloag, in order to assure that the scarce available resources were used in a sensible way. New furniture was rationed and was restricted to newly-weds and people who had been bombed out, under the "Domestic Furniture (Control of Manufacture and Supply (No 2)) Order 1942" operative from 1 November 1942. The Committee produced a number of approved designs, published in the Utility Furniture Catalogue of 1943. The aim was to ensure the production of strong well-designed furniture making the most efficient use of the scarce timber. The designs were largely in the tradition of the Arts and Crafts movement, and were severe in their simplicity and lack of ornamentation, entirely contrary to popular taste of the immediate pre-war period. Furniture based on these designs was constructed by about 700 firms around the country. Given the huge number of individual manufacturers involved, it is perhaps not surprising that quality varied enormously.

The Committee were genuine believers in the aesthetic qualities of their designs. Popular hankering for superfluous ornament however manifested itself immediately, and instances were apparently reported of black market utility furniture with added carvings and decoration. The Committee were reconstituted as the Design Panel in 1943; and in 1946, in conjunction with the important exhibition of post-war design, "Britain Can Make It", unveiled three new furniture ranges (Cotswold, Chiltern and Cockaigne) intended to carry forward the best of their design ethos into the postwar period. Despite their best efforts to steer public taste, as soon as the war ended the general public reacted against its austerities and the mass market swung towards colourful and extravagant designs. Although the "Diversified" range was announced in 1948, drawing on contemporary Scandinavian designs, the tide of public taste was against it and the Panel was wound down; the Scheme was officially closed in 1952.

The logo of utility furniture was taken from that developed earlier for the Utility clothing scheme: two capital letters C's and the figure 41, for "Civilian Clothing 1941" (which soon became known as "The Cheeses").

Further reading

*Richard Sword - "Utility furniture and fashion, 1941–1951" (1974) ISBN 0716806282

External links

* [http://www.makingthemodernworld.org.uk/stories/the_rise_of_consumerism/01.ST.05/?scene=4 Making the Modern World (Science Museum)]
* [http://vads.ahds.ac.uk/learning/designingbritain/html/crd_desref.html Designing Britain 1945-1975: the visual experience of post-war society] hosted by the [http://www.vads.ahds.ac.uk/index.php Visual Arts Data Service (VADS)]
* [http://jcgi.pathfinder.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,777983,00.html TIME Magazine, 2 Aug 1943]
* [http://www.geocities.com/paulbellamy1944/Utility_Furniture_Page.html Private collector's page, with illustrations]
* [http://www.hud.ac.uk/schools/library/hip/design/lecture/utility.html Huddersfield Univ Design Dept lecture]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • utility — /yooh til i tee/, n., pl. utilities, adj. n. 1. the state or quality of being useful; usefulness: This chemical has no utility as an agricultural fertilizer. 2. something useful; a useful thing. 3. a public service, as a telephone or electric… …   Universalium

  • utility — u•til•i•ty [[t]yuˈtɪl ɪ ti[/t]] n. pl. ties, adj. 1) the state or quality of being useful; usefulness 2) something useful; a useful thing 3) a public service, as the providing of electricity, gas, water, a telephone system, or bus and railroad… …   From formal English to slang

  • utility — n. (pl. ies) 1 the condition of being useful or profitable. 2 a useful thing. 3 = public utility. 4 (attrib.) a severely practical and standardized (utility furniture). b made or serving for utility. Phrases and idioms: utility room a room… …   Useful english dictionary

  • furniture — furnitureless, adj. /ferr ni cheuhr/, n. 1. the movable articles, as tables, chairs, desks or cabinets, required for use or ornament in a house, office, or the like. 2. fittings, apparatus, or necessary accessories for something. 3. equipment for …   Universalium

  • Furniture — For the UK band, see Furniture (band). A dining table for two Furniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work… …   Wikipedia

  • Antique furniture — is the term for collectible interior furnishings of considerable age; often its age, rarity, condition, utility, or other unique features makes the furniture desirable.Antique furniture may support the human body (such as seating or beds),… …   Wikipedia

  • Modern furniture — Three versions of Marcel Breuer s Wassily Chair Modern furniture refers to furniture produced from the late 19th century through the present that is influenced by modernism. It was a tremendous departure from all furniture design that had gone… …   Wikipedia

  • Casimir (furniture designer) — Casimir, full name Casimir Reynders (born in Koersel, Belgium in 1966) is an international well known Belgian furniture designer.He studied industrial design at the SHIVKV in Genk (now Media Design Academy) and since then he s been an independent …   Wikipedia

  • Sydney Gordon Russell — Sir (Sydney) Gordon Russell (20 May 1892 – 7 October 1980) was an English designer, craftsman and educationist.He came under the influence of the Arts and Crafts movement from 1904 after his father had moved to Broadway in the Cotswolds to be… …   Wikipedia

  • Arts and Crafts Movement — The Arts and Crafts Movement was a British, Canadian, and American aesthetic movement occurring in the last years of the 19th century and the early years of the 20th century. Inspired by the writings of John Ruskin and a romantic idealization of… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”