Lucy Jane Faulkner Orrinsmith (1839-1910) was a tile painter, engraver, and embroiderer during the Arts and Crafts Movement in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. She is best known for her hand-painted tiles of

fairytales A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful beings. In most cult ...

, especially of Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, and Cinderella.

Early life

Lucy Jane Faulkner was born to Benjamin and Ann Faulkner on 16 November 1839 in Birmingham, England. She had two surviving siblings,

Charles Joseph Faulkner Charles Joseph Faulkner (1833–1892) was a British mathematician and fellow of University College, Oxford and a founding partner of Morris, Marshall, Faulkner and Co. where he worked with his sisters Kate Faulkner and Lucy Faulkner Orrinsmith. ...

and Kate Faulkner. They lived in Birmingham until the death of their father, and moved to

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural, intellectual, and educational institutions. Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum, the largest mus ...

after his death. It is unknown what caused his death. Charles had become friends with

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

when they were both students at Oxford, and through that friendship, Morris was also acquainted with Lucy and Kate. She later married an engraver named Harvey Edward Orrinsmith (son of

John Orrin Smith John Orrin Smith (1799 – 15 October 1843 London) was a British wood-engraver. Life Born in Colchester, Smith went to London about 1818, and spent a short time training as an architect. Coming of age in 1821, he inherited some money, and bou ...

) and changed her surname in the middle of her artistic career.

Artistic career

Lucy's brother Charles and their friend William Morris founded the company Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co., which specialized in home and furniture decoration. At first, Charles hired her and Kate as amateurs just to help with the company, but as they continued working and growing their skills, they were eventually received as legitimate artists and were paid for their labor and compensation. Lucy also became one of the first managers for the company. While her sister Kate dabbled in nearly every aspect of home decorating (including

embroidery Embroidery is the craft of decorating fabric or other materials using a needle to apply thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as pearls, beads, quills, and sequins. In modern days, embroidery is usually seen on c ...

, tile painting,

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ...

, gesso painting, and especially wallpaper design), Lucy focused more on painting tiles by hand, which is what she became best known for in the company and as an artist. Lucy Faulkner Orrinsmith was mostly known for her tile paintings of women, particularly from fairytales and legends. Many of her tiles were themed after the ''Legende of Goode Wimmen,'' in which there are many depictions of women of

classical antiquity Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...

. Along with this, she painted stories such as ''Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella,'' and ''Beauty and the Beast,'' which were painted in sequence to be hung as mantelpieces over the fireplace. Her paintings of the story of ''Sleeping Beauty'' are the more popular of the three stories. After she married Harvey Edward Orrinsmith, however, she stopped painting tiles for Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co., and changed her surname from Faulkner to Orrinsmith. This is one of the primary reasons that she is overshadowed by her sister, Kate. For this reason, many of her works were previously mis-attributed to Kate Faulkner, until it was discovered that Lucy would sign her tiles with either LJF or simply LF. Orrinsmith was also known for writing a book about drawing room decoration entitled ''The Drawing Room: Its Decorations and Furniture'' while living in Beckenham, simply under the name “Mrs. Orrinsmith”. In the book, she emphasizes the importance of “properly” decorating the elements of

drawing room A drawing room is a room in a house where visitors may be entertained, and an alternative name for a living room. The name is derived from the 16th-century terms withdrawing room and withdrawing chamber, which remained in use through the 17th cent ...

s, including ceilings, walls, moldings, fireplaces, chimneys, skirting, and much more. She also emphasizes using colors that were popular at the time and delves a little into

color theory In the visual arts, color theory is the body of practical guidance for color mixing and the visual effects of a specific color combination. Color terminology based on the color wheel and its geometry separates colors into primary color, seconda ...

. Lucy also illustrated diagrams depicting how to properly arrange elements within the room and how to decorate everything to look visually appealing to guests. Orrinsmith received plenty of negative criticism and reviews of her book, as many thought that she was very harsh, and that the illustrations that she included as diagrams were of poor quality and did not reflect the skill level that she lectured about in the book.

Death and legacy

She died in 1910 of unknown causes. Most of her work is located at the William Morris Gallery in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, which has the largest surviving collection of her hand-painted tiles up on display.

List of works

* ''Alceste tile'', hand-painted tile, (c.1862), William Morris Gallery, London Borough of Waltham Forest. * ''Sleeping Beauty'', hand-painted tile panel, (c.1864-1865), Victoria and Albert Museum, London. * ''Beauty and the Beast'', hand-painted tile panel, (c.1863-64), William Morris Gallery, London Borough of Waltham Forest. * ''Plate'', hand-painted ceramic plate, William Morris Gallery, London Borough of Waltham Forest.

References

External links