Jewellery, Watches and Objects of Vertu

A silver toast rack by Archibald Knox for Liberty & Co., 1905, the six section rack of angular form with Celtic knot accents, on four bun feet, Birmingham hallmark, bearing retailer’s mark ‘L&Co’ and signed ‘Cymric’, dimensions 112 x 65 x 132mm. £800-£1,200

Archibald Knox (1864-1933), born and trained on the Isle of Man, came to London in the late 1890s, and was to become the principal silver and pewter designer for Liberty & Co from 1899-1912. Steeped in the Celtic tradition of design from his Manx upbringing, he refined and purified the Celtic style to portray a personal version of Celtic ornament which was to become idiosyncratic with his style. His Cymric and Tudric designs became market leaders for Liberty’s. The Liberty company policy of enforced anonymity of its designers may have been a welcome rule to Knox, being a shy man, of ‘personal modesty’, who, during the height of the craze for Liberty’s Celtic Revival Style, left London, preferring to work from his studio on the Isle of Man between the years 1900-1904, and sending his designs, drawn on paper, to London by post to be translated into metal by craftsmen in Birmingham. This long distance arrangement appeared to have suited all concerned parties, probably because of Knox’s solid and reliable record and Arthur Lasenby Liberty’s trust in his work.

By 1908-9, the demand for Liberty’s Celtic Revival style began to subside, and by 1910, the movement in England was essentially over. After 1912, Knox ceased to work for Liberty’s, moving overseas to Philadephia.

Literature:

Tilbrook, A. J., The Designs of Archibald Knox for Liberty & Co., Ornament Press, 1976.

Martin, Stephen A., Archibald Knox, ArtMedia Press, 2001.