w o rld o f th e E n g lish d o m e stic in terio r. H is m o tiv e s w e re
also p h ila n th ro p ic, fo r th e a rtists w e re to b e paid a liva b le
sa la ry fo r a m axim u m o f th re e and a h a lf d a ys p e r w e e k so
as n o t to d isru p t th e ir o w n w o r k . “ [O m e g a ] m ay se r v e to
o ffe r p rofitab le em p lo ym en t to artists w h o , b y th eir paintings
alone, m ay b e qu ite unable to m ake a liv e lih o o d .” 8 A ft e r rais-
in g £ 1,5 0 0 (a p p ro x im a te ly $ 150 ,0 0 0 in to d a y ’ s te rm s) fro m
in d iv id u a l su b scrip tio n s, in clu d in g a d on atio n b y th e p la y -
w r ig h t G e o rg e B e rn a rd S h a w , F r y lau n ch ed O m e g a W o r k -
shops L td in 1913. O v e r its six-year lifesp an , F r y em p lo yed
m any o f th e lead in g yo u n g artists in L o n d o n , in clu d in g H en ri
G a u d ie r-B rz e s k a , P au l N a s h , E d w a rd W a d s w o r th an d ,
b rie fly , W y n d h a m L e w is , w h o le ft to fo rm an a lte rn a tiv e
g ro u p b e fo re b e c o m in g th e se lf-a p p o in te d lea d er o f th e
V o rtic is ts , a g ro u p m o d ele d on th e Italian F u tu rists.
P ra ctica l c ra ft sk ills at O m e g a w e re lim ite d , so F r y p r o -
p o se d a m an ageab le sta rt fo c u sin g on “ th e d esig n o f w a ll
d e c o ra tio n s in te m p e ra and m o sa ic; o f p rin te d co to n a d e s;
o f silk s p a in ted in G o b e lin d y es fo r cu rta in s and d re sses;
p ain ted scre en s; p ain ted fu rn itu re .” 1
’ F u n ctio n a l ch airs, ta -
bles and screen s w e re b ro u g h t in along w ith sm aller h o u se-
h old g o o d s su ch as p o tte ry , can d le stick s and w o o d e n b o xes
fo r th e m em b ers to d e co rate w ith th eir
F au ve - and C u b ist-in sp ire d d esig n s.
T e c h n ica lly d em an d in g item s such as
p rin ted te x tile s, fu rn ish in g fab rics and
fu rn itu re w e re p ro d u c e d o ff-site b y
s k ille d cab in e tm ak e rs in L o n d o n and
8
.
P a ll M a ll G azelle,
April n, 1913.
9. Fry letter to George
Bernard Shaw,
December 11,1912.
10. Fry, Omega catalog,
1914
-
te x tile facto rie s in L yo n s. A s trict rule o f O m eg a w a s that all
w o r k w o u ld b e an on ym ou s, o n ly signed w ith th e w o rk sh o p
stam p Q , th e last le tte r o f th e G re e k alp h ab et. T h is le v e lin g
p ro cess m eant th at p ie ce s cou ld b e d esig n e d and p ro d u ced
b y d iffe re n t in d ivid u als fo r th e com m on b en e fit o f th e w o r k -
sh o p , a vo id in g issu es o f in d ivid u al ego.
O m eg a sold an ex te n siv e ran ge o f w o r k , from d resses to
toys and p aper flo w e rs, elegan t w ritin g tables w ith m arq u etry
d esig n s, p easan t w o r k b ro u g h t b ack from E u rop ean holidays
and c o lo rfu l E n g lish w o v e n te x tile s d e stin e d fo r co lo n ial
m arkets in A fr ic a . F r y b elieve d in the fre e p lay o f ex p ressive
d esign . “ T h e a rtist.
.. creates n ot o n ly fo r n eed bu t fo r jo y ,” 10
h e sta te d in an O m e g a catalo g . P re fe rr in g th e fre sh n e ss o f
p rim itive or peasan t w o r k to soulless fa c to ry p ro d u cts, F r y
re je c te d th e c o n ce p t o f “ fin ish ” as “ m ore o fte n a w o r k o f p a -
tien ce than a rt” and w a s carefu l to exp lain th a t, w h e n u sed,
in d u strial te ch n iq u e s w e r e se le cte d to p re se rv e as m uch o f
th e “ fre e d o m and sp o n ta n e ity o f th e o rigin al d ra w in g ” as
p o ssib le. H is claim th at th e a rtists’ d eligh t in th e creation o f
“ o b jects fo r com m on life ” and refu sal to sp oil th eir exp ressive
q u ality b y “ san d p ap erin g it d o w n to a shop finish ” stretch ed
th e tru th , h o w e v e r, as th e m a jo rity o f th e a rtists h ad in fact
little e x p erie n ce o f practical w o rk . T h is separation b e tw e e n
d e sig n and p ro d u c tio n iro n ic a lly fo llo w e d th e p ra ctic e o f
m an y A r ts and C r a fts d e sig n e rs, w h o , d e sp ite th e rh e to ric
su rro u n d in g th e valu e o f h a n d w o rk , o fte n relied on sk ille d
artisan s to re a lize th eir d esig n s.
P o tte r y at O m e g a p ro v e d to b e th e e x c e p tio n , fo r F r y
050 anierican craft aug/sep09
