William Morris and Philip Webb, dissatisfied with…

William Morris and Philip Webb, dissatisfied with manufactured goods and vaunting the values of medieval craftsmen, had originated the Arts and Crafts movement in England, although the term "Arts and Crafts" will not be not coined until 1887, when it is first used by T. J. Cobden Sanderson.

Eglantyne Louisa Jebb, Mary Fraser Tytler and others had initiated the Home Arts and Industries Association in 1881 to promote and protect rural handicrafts.

In 1882, architect A. H. Mackmurdo had formed the Century Guild, a partnership of designers including Selwyn Image, Herbert Horne, Clement Heaton and Benjamin Creswick.

Five young architects, William Lethaby, Edward Prior, Ernest Newton, Mervyn Macartney and Gerald C. Horsley, had initiated the Art Workers Guild in 1884 with the goal of integrating design and making; its first director is George Blackall Simonds.

At the same time the Arts and Craft aesthetic is being copied by many designers of decorative products made by conventional industrial methods.

The London department store Liberty & Co., founded in 1875, is a prominent retailer of goods in the style.