True Ornament? The Art and Industry of Electric Lighting in the Home, 1889-1902

At the turn of the twentieth century the arrival of domestic electric lighting posed major new challenges: safety, economy, reliability and aesthetics. For many householders, as much as for those working in the decorative arts, the last of these was a major concern. As demonstrated by two of William Morris’s key disciples, Philip Webb and W. A. S. Benson, this would be accomplished by looking back to the medieval ‘golden age’ of metal craft, when crafts were as valued as ‘art’, and concurrently promoting a skilled craft-based approach to engage with the fresh possibilities of electric lighting. Their anxiety that the ancient metal crafts should be reunited with this newest of technologies illustrates the significance of the aesthetics of electric lighting in exploring the relationship between art and industry.