Designer: Gordon Russell (1892 – 1980)

Item: Architectural Bookends

Manufactured by: Gordon Russell Limited Broadway Worcs

Country of origin: Great Britain (England)

Year made: Circa 1930

Materials: Wood (English Walnut)

Dimensions:  6 ¾” x 4 ½” x 3 ¼”

Condition: Very good overall.   Each has a few small age related shrinkage cracks and small dings in the wood as can be seen in the photos.  The discoloration on one bookend is the natural variation in colors of the wood. It is not a defect or flaw.

Description: Here is an important high style art deco skyscraper design by Gordon Russell for his firm.  These are signed with an impressed stamped “Gordon Russell Ltd” mark on the inside base of each as shown. 

Russell was an important designer in England with a long period of sustained production.  He initially came under the influence of the Arts & Crafts movement in 1904 when his father moved to the Cotswolds to be a hotelier.  The Cotswolds was the seat of the British Arts & Crafts movement with it most important architects and designers.  At the time the leading pioneers of the Arts & Crafts Movement in England were mostly architects, but Gordon had no formal training; instead, he was entirely self-taught through reading and observation of traditional skills.  After his service in World War I he initiated his career as a furniture maker and designer.  As well as establishing a very successful company, Gordon had many individual achievements including his designs for metalwork and glasswares, alongside furniture, and designing over 1,000 documented products.  Russell was awarded a Knighthood for his design achievements. Some of his designs rival the works of the most historically important Cotswolds architects and designers.