Charles Robert Ashbee (1863-1942)
British architect, designer, silversmith & jeweller
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Born in London, the son of a prosperous city merchant. Articled to GF Bodley between 1883 and 1885 and lived at the pioneer University Settlement at Toynbee Hall. Here he developed a Ruskin reading class, which developed into an art and craft class, which in turn became the nucleus of the School Of Handicraft (1887) and the Guild of Handicraft (1888).
The Guild is chiefly known for the metalwork and jewellery designed by Ashbee himself, and for the furniture and metalwork made for the Grand Duke of Hesse in conjunction with the designer MH Baillie Scott. The Guild moved to Chipping Campden in the Cotswolds in 1902. However the company was finally forced into liquidation in 1907. Ashbee continued with his architectural practice, and he designed two groups of houses in Cheyne Walk, Chelsea and a number of square houses in the country.
