An early piece of Arts and Crafts copper made by the Ickleford Industries of Applied Arts, Herts, circa 1905.

This repousse copper twin handled vase is a great example of an early piece by yet another metalworking class that came under the umbrella of the Home Arts and Industries Association. This particular design of vase was exhibited at an exhibition of the work of the class in 2017 and is part of the Witter Collection.

Established around 1900 by Walter and Marion Witter who had come to live at Freewaters Cottage in the small rural village of Ickleford. Walter was a trained artist and both were very interested in the Arts and Crafts Movement. Mr Witter started teaching metalworking skills to a handful of local boys and Mrs Witter began teaching art needlework to the young girls from the Village. The early classes were held in the living room in their cottage but soon there was such interest from the local children that they had to start a shift system during the day. Within a few years there was a need to rent some space at the bottom of their garden to build a workshop for the classes. The classes were very successful and exhibited for many years at the Home Arts and Industries Association exhibitions in London. The metalwork class eventually went on to be Olney & Newbury Ltd Art Metalworkers. Much more on this to come.

The three handled vase is very well constructed and quite a weight. The repousse “Iris” pattern was commonly used by the class on various sizes of vases.