Henry Cole

One of the major forces in British design education in the 19th century, with a particular emphasis on its relevance for industry, Cole was also significantly involved in setting up the Great Exhibition of 1851, and the establishment of the Journal of Design. From the age of 15 he was involved with public records, eventually rising to the post of Assistant Keeper at the Public Record Office in 1838. Under the pseudonym Felix Summerly he became involved in a number of design-related activities including the publication of illustrated children's books, the first Christmas card, designed by J. C. Horsley in 1846, the year in which Cole won a Silver Medal from the Royal Society of Arts for his design of a tea service that was later put into production by Minton. In 1847 he founded Felix Summerly's Art Manufactures, commissioning a number of artists to produce a series of designs in different media. His interest in art manufactures was followed through in his organization of a series of annual exhibitions from 1847 to 1849 through the Society of Arts, which he had joined in 1846. Having worked closely with Prince Albert and other members of the Royal Commission for the Great Exhibition, Cole was also involved with the London International Exhibition of 1862 and the Paris International Exhibitions of 1855 and 1867. With the artist Richard Redgrave as its editor he also founded the Journal of Design and Manufactures (1849-52), an important campaigning voice for improvements in British design education. In 1852 Cole was made joint secretary with Lyon Playfair of the Department of Practical Art, established in the same year by the Board of Trade to administer the Government Schools of Design. He became secretary in his own right in 1858, a position he held until 1873. He was also responsible for building up a collection of design that was to form the basis of the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum. He was knighted in 1875.

English industrial designer, museum director, and art-adminis-trator of genius. He reformed the Public Record Office (1823–38), helped to introduce the Penny Post (1838–42), and commissioned (1843) John Calcott ‘Clothes’ Horsley (1817–1903) to design the first commercial Christmas card. Under the pseudonym ‘Felix Summerly’ he wrote children's books, tourist guides, pamphlets on many subjects, and articles, and in 1846 designed the Felix Summerly Tea Service, made by Herbert Minton (1793–1858) in his ceramic factory, which was such a success that Cole established (1847) Felix Summerly's Art-Manufactures with the object of improving industrial design (and the execrable taste of the general public) by commissioning work from artists. Soon Cole was to realize that the teaching in the Government Schools of Design was not up to much, and prompted a Select Committee of the House of Commons to look into the matter (1848) whilst airing the problem in the Journal of Design and Manufactures (1849–52). Through the Royal Society of Arts he met Prince Albert, and in 1850 was entrusted with the organization of the Great Exhibition of 1851: the result was a triumph, and was the first of a series of major C19 exhibitions. After this success Cole was made head of the newly-created Department of Practical Art, and he also established a museum containing various exhibits shown in 1851, to provide suitable models for students as well as raising the level of public taste. Almost immediately his department was called upon to design the funeral-car and bier for the exequies of the Duke of Wellington in 1852: with men of the calibre of Semper at his side, the result was another triumph. When Cole began his stint as General Superintendent of what in 1853 became the Department of Art and Science, there were only 36 provincial art schools, but by 1861 there were 91, and there is no question he had a huge impact on design throughout the Kingdom (and therefore throughout the Empire). So successful had the Great Exhibition been, even in terms of profit, that Cole's department was able to move to new premises in South Kensington, and in due course became that great institution, the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1899. He was adviser to the London exhibition at South Kensington of 1862, and was the proposer of a huge hall to be erected as part of the National Memorial to Prince Albert (who had died in 1861). Cole threw himself with his customary energy into realizing the scheme, and the foundation-stone of what was to become the Royal Albert Hall was laid in 1867 (the building, designed by Fowke and H. Y. D. Scott, opened in 1871). He was active in starting the National Training School for Music which opened in 1876 and formed the basis of the Royal College of Music (it was designed by his son, Henry Hardy Cole (1843–1916), and later became the Royal College of Organists: its extraordinary sgraffito decorations were by F. W. Moody (1824–86) ).

Bibliography

• Bonython & Burton (2003)
• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004)
• P&D (1973)
• Sheppard (ed.) (1975)
• Jane Turner (1996)

The full bibliography for this book is available to download as a pdf file.
Download the bibliography for A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (PDF: 1.2MB)