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Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE BYRDCLIFFE COLONY AND THE POLITICS OF ARTS AND CRAFTS by Lisa L. Lock A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the University of Delaware in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Early American Culture December 1992 Copyright 1992 Lisa L. Lock All Rights Reserved Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE BYRDCLIFFE COLONY AND THE POLITICS OF ARTS AND CRAFTS by Lisa L. Lock Approved: J; Ritchie Garrison, Ph.D. Professor in charge of thesis on behalf of the Advisory Committee Approved: Curtis, Ph.D. of the Winterthur Program in American Culture Approved: CaaM. 1 Carol E. Hoffee Ph.D. Associate Provo or Graduate Studies Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Many people deserve recognition for their contributions to this paper. I wish to thank Kenneth R. Trapp, Curator at The Oakland Museum, for introducing me to the Arts and Crafts and setting the standards for my professional career; Richard McKinstry at the Winterthur Library for bringing the Byrdcliffe archive to my attention and his generous assistance in gathering materials; the present owner of Byrdcliffe for his helpfulness and gracious hospitality; J. Ritchie Garrison, my advisor, for his interest, wise insights, and valuable contributions; Michael Seidl for introducing me to new and fascinating ideas and encouraging my efforts; and my family for their confidence and support. iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ..................................... V ABSTRACT ........................................... vi INTRODUCTION ....................................... 1 THE BYRDCLIFFE ARTS AND CRAFTS COLONY .............. 3 Evidence ....................................... 3 A n a l y s i s .......................... 37 FIGURES ............................ 58 BIBLIOGRAPHY .............................. 78 iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF FIGURES 1 View of Arcady ....................... 58 2 Drawing studio at Byrdcliffe ......... 59 3 Interior of the F o r g e ................. 60 4 Map of Byrdcliffe property ........... 61 5 Oak cabinet........................... 62 6 Detail of oak cabinet p a n e l ........... 63 cJ' <■- - 7 Mahogany cabinet-..................... 64 8 C h e s t .................................. 65 9 Front room at White Pines ............. 66 10 Stairhall at White P i n e s ............. 67 11 Front room at White P i n e s ............. 68 12 Library at Byrdcliffe................. 69 13 Library table ......................... 70 14 S e t t l e ................................ 71 15 Cab i n e t ............................... 72 16 Ralph Whitehead's pottery notes .... 73 17 Pots in attic of White P i n e s ......... 74 18 Pots and molds in attic of White Pines 75 19 Exterior of White P i n e s ............... 76 20 Interior of Byrdcliffe furniture shop . 77 v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT The Byrdcliffe Arts and Crafts colony was created to be the embodiment of the altruistic goals of one man— Ralph Radcliffe Whitehead. The philosophies he used in delineating the structure of the colony answered the pressing social concerns of the time, namely the perceived threat of factory production to the well-being of the worker, the need for beauty in the daily lives of common people, and the necessary restructuring of the capitalistic system that restricted the free choice of consumers. This paper presents the evolution of the colony and the circumstances of its demise but with the understanding that the social concerns stated above (or, Arts and Crafts ideals) were ideological constructions particular to a specific time. By determining the restrictions placed on Whitehead by the social, economic, and political ideologies in which he was implicated, we can more clearly comprehend his actions and contributions without judging him against the narrow definitions of Arts and Crafts employed by current scholarship. vi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. INTRODUCTION The Byrdcliffe Arts and Crafts Colony in Woodstock, New York was envisioned, financed, and built by Ralph Radcliffe Whitehead, an independently wealthy Englishman who had studied with John Ruskin at Oxford. Byrdcliffe, like other Arts and Crafts communities, was an unsuccessful attempt to create a cooperative socialist utopia in a capitalist society. Whitehead was immersed in an ideology of hierarchical control and believed that strong leadership was the only means to attain his goals. He built Byrdcliffe to his own agenda, professed Arts and Crafts ideals while living at Byrdcliffe, raised a family there, and felt that to succeed, the colony must eventually become financially self-supporting. Interpreting an individual's reform ideals and actions undertaken over a lifetime often leads to judgmental criticism when ideals and circumstances conflict. Scholars of the Arts and Crafts must recognize and analyze the range of conditions that affected the actions of Arts and Crafts proponents. This study provides an interpretation of the Byrdcliffe Arts and 1 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2 Crafts experiment in terms of Whitehead's ideals and achievements. This study also provides a model for examining other Arts and Crafts projects without resorting to modern notions of artistic canons that scholars often employ while evaluating Arts and Crafts objects or determinations of success or failure that rely on those inconsistent definitions. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE BYRDCLIFFE ARTS AND CRAFTS COLONY Evidence Ralph Radcliffe Whitehead was born in 1854 in Saddleworth, England, a town in Yorkshire. The son of a wealthy textile manufacturer, he was raised in a privileged, upper-class manner at Beech Hill, the family mansion. His formal schooling culminated in his attendance at Oxford's Balliol College in 1873 where he was captivated by the ideas of John Ruskin, the Slade Professor of Fine Art and founder of the St. George's Guild, an organization established in 1871 and dedicated to social reform.1 In 1876 Whitehead accompanied Ruskin to Venice. The culture of northern Italy became an inspiration for Whitehead, providing him with an aesthetic and intellectual model for his later endeavors. He became a scholar of the writings of Dante and eventually, in 1892, he published his own translation of Vita Nuova with comprehensive annotations and a thirty-five page scholarly introduction on Dante's works. He also adopted the 1 Alf Evers, The Catskills: From Wilderness to Woodstock (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1972), 602— 3. 3 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Florentine lily as his personal emblem and printed a stylized version of it on his publications.2 When Whitehead first appeared at Oxford, Ruskin was already involved with the St. George's Guild. The complex organization of St. George's Guild reflected a feudal social structure. Those who contributed