Gordon Russell: One of the most important names in British design and a leading maker of arts and crafts furniture. His early furniture was hand-made in small numbers to a very high standard, adopting the Cotswold School philosophy pioneered by Ernest Gimson and the Barnsleys of usefulness and truth to materials. Always passionate about high standards of craftsmanship, many of his 1930s designs evolved to bridge the gap from the early arts and crafts movement to modern, minimalist forms while retaining the quality of materials and construction expected of the best Arts & Crafts furniture

The Cotswold School was a development of the Arts and Craft Movement started largely by Ernest Gimson and the brothers Sidney and Ernest Barnsley. The furniture is instantly recognisable with its simple lines, attention to the finest of details, and use of beautiful materials. Cotswold School designs were crafted from local materials using traditional tools and techniques and with decorative details derived largely from utilitarian elements: exposed joinery, unusual panels, interesting pulls and latches crafted either from wood or from metal using traditional smithing techniques, and close attention to form as well as to wood grain and pattern. Where decorative details were added they generally took the form of traditional embellishment of the sort; the long chamfers, chip carved edge detailsThe style was embraced and developed by other designers and craftsmen including Gordon Russell, Stanley Webb Davies in Cumbria, Sid Barnsley's son Edward and Arthur Romney Green in Hampshire and Robin Nance in St Ives and Ambrose Heal are a handful of such men out of many. The best developed their own style within the established tradition