Utility Design Panel dressing table Heal & Son 1947

Sir (Sydney) Gordon Russell, (20 May 1892 – 7 October 1980) was an English designer, craftsman and educationist.

Biography

Gordon Russell was born in Cricklewood, London to Sydney Bolton Russell and Elizabeth Russell (née Shefford). His father was a clerk in a bank but was later offered a job by George Allsopp in Burton-on-Trent, the brewers. The family moved to live in Repton. When Gordon was twelve years old his father bought the Lygon Arms Inn in Broadway Worcestershire and the family moved again to live in the hotel. Gordon went to the

Grammar School A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

at the nearby town of Chipping Campden (or just Campden as it was known then). In 1921 Russell married Toni Denning. In 1925 he bought a -acre plot on Kingcombe Lane near Dover's Hill overlooking Chipping Campden where they built their home, which they called Kingcombe. They lived at Kingcombe for the rest of their lives, extending it several times over the years, and raised their four children there.

Career

He came under the influence of the Arts and Crafts movement from 1904 after his father had moved to

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

in the

Cotswolds The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of Jur ...

to be hotelier at the Lygon Arms, through the Guild of Handicraft, the community of metalworkers, enamellers, wood carvers, furniture makers, and printers brought in 1902 by

C. R. Ashbee Charles Robert Ashbee (17 May 1863 – 23 May 1942) was an English architect and designer who was a prime mover of the Arts and Crafts movement, which took its craft ethic from the works of John Ruskin and its co-operative structure from the soci ...

from east London to

Chipping Campden Chipping Campden is a market town in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England. It is notable for its terraced High Street, dating from the 14th century to the 17th century. ("Chipping" is from Old English ''cēping'', 'market', 'market- ...

. Following service as an officer in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, for which he was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

in 1918, he became a furniture maker and designer. In 1925 Russell won a gold medal at the

Paris Exhibition Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

with a cabinet, with internal drawers lined with

boxwood ''Buxus'' is a genus of about seventy species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood. The boxes are native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, northernmost South ...

ebony Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus ''Diospyros'', which also contains the persimmons. Unlike most woods, ebony is dense enough to sink in water. It is finely textured and has a mirror finish when pol ...

and

laburnum ''Laburnum'', sometimes called golden chain or golden rain, is a genus of two species of small trees in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae. The species are '' Laburnum anagyroides''—common laburnum and '' Laburnum alpinum''— ...

, and valued in 2013 at £50,000 to £60,000. He designed the "Stow" range of furniture in the mid 1920s. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he was instrumental in developing

utility furniture Utility furniture was furniture produced in the United Kingdom during and directly after World War II. The furniture was produced under a government scheme which was designed to cope with raw material shortages and Rationing in the United Kingdom, ...

as chairman of the government's Utility Furniture Design Panel. In 1943 he became chairman of the Utility Design Panel. In 1947 Russell became director of the Council of Industrial Design (COID) (later renamed the

Design Council The Design Council, formerly the Council of Industrial Design, is a United Kingdom charity incorporated by Royal Charter. Its stated mission is "to champion great design that improves lives and makes things better". It was instrumental in the prom ...

). He became the first chairman of the

Crafts Council The Crafts Council is the national development agency for contemporary craft in the United Kingdom, and is funded by Arts Council England. History The Crafts Advisory Committee was formed in 1971 to advise the Minister for the Arts, David Eccles ...

. He was awarded a

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

in 1955 for services to design. Russell was elected to the

Art Workers' Guild The Art Workers' Guild is an organisation established in 1884 by a group of British painters, sculptors, architects, and designers associated with the ideas of William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement. The guild promoted the 'unity of a ...

in 1927, and was elected as Master in 1962. He wrote a number of books on furniture, including ''Furniture'' (1947), ''How to Buy Furniture'' (1947), ''The Story of Furniture'' (1947, with Jacques Groag, later published as ''Looking at Furniture'' (1953, 1964)). In 1968 he published his autobiography, ''Designer's Trade''.

Portrait bust of Sir Gordon Russell

Gordon Russell sat for sculptor

Alan Thornhill Alan Thornhill (1921 – March 4, 2020) was a British artist and sculptor whose long association with clay developed from pottery into sculpture. His output includes pottery, small and large scale sculptures, portrait heads, paintings and dr ...

for a portrait in clay. The correspondence file relating to the Russell portrait bust is held in the archive of the

Henry Moore Foundation The Henry Moore Foundation is a registered charity in England, established for education and promotion of the fine arts — in particular, to advance understanding of the works of Henry Moore. The charity was set up with a gift from the arti ...

Henry Moore Institute Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) *Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

and the terracotta remains in the collection of the artist. A Bronze is in the collection of the Gordon Russell Design Museum in

Broadway, Worcestershire Broadway is a large village and civil parish in the Cotswolds, England, with a population of 2,540 at the 2011 census. It is in the far southeast of Worcestershire, close to the Gloucestershire border, midway between Evesham and Moreton-in-Marsh ...

. The museum is located in Russell's former drawing office and workshop; it was opened by

Sir Terence Conran Sir Terence Orby Conran (4 October 1931 – 12 September 2020) was an English designer, restaurateur, retailer and writer. He founded the Design Museum in Shad Thames, London in 1989 The British designer Thomas Heatherwick said that Conran ...

in 2008.

References and sources

;References ;Sources *Fiona MacCarthy, "Russell, Sir (Sydney) Gordon (1892–1980)", ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'', Oxford University Press, September 2004; online edn, May 200
accessed 9 December 2006

External links

The Gordon Russell Museum, Broadway, WorcestershireGordon Russell LimitedGordon Russell portrait at the National Portrait GalleryGordon Russell at John Nootts Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Gordon 1892 births 1980 deaths English designers Worcestershire Regiment officers Recipients of the Military Cross Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Knights Bachelor Masters of the Art Worker's Guild