ABSTRACT
Stephen Webb (1849-1933) was a modeller, plaster worker, sculptor, and designer, who worked for furniture and decoration firm, Collinson and Lock, between c.1881-c.1897. He also exhibited at the Arts and Crafts Society Exhibitions from 1888 to 1906 and was a committee member of both the Art-Workers' Guild and the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society. Webb contributed three texts on furniture, wood, and carving to this volume of Arts and Crafts Essays by Members of the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society published in 1893. Webb's connection with the Arts and Crafts is clear in this article, where he sounds just like William Morris talking about craft and its relation to machinery. Modern furniture designers are far too much influenced by considerations of style, and sacrifice a good deal that is valuable in order to conform to certain rules which, though sound enough in their relation to architecture, do not really apply to furniture at all.
