ABSTRACT
A Select Committee was appointed in 1835 to ‘inquire into the best means of extending knowledge of the Arts and of the Principles of Design among the people of the country; also to inquire into the Constitution, Management and Effects of Institutions connected with the Arts’. The Committee published their report in 1836, which had as a main conclusion ‘that, from the highest branches of poetical design down to the lowest connexion between design and manufactures, the Arts have received little encouragement in this country’. The Committee reported on several aspects of design, including the lack of instruction (and Schools of Design); the contrast with French practices; the role of museums, galleries and academies; the issues of copyright; and the commissioning of works. Many of these considerations were to affect the artisans and mechanics of the time.
