Morris & Co Case Study
In 2007 Professor Stevens completed her research for her doctor technoligiae: Fine Art at Tshwane University of Technology. The title of her research is Morris & co. as a theoretical model for contemporary South African craft enterprises. This study focused on five select craft enterprise activities and actions to determine their success. Out of this, the Morris & co. model was created and it was used to determine a similar craft company’s success (Stevens, 2007:348). To develop this model Professor Stevens researched the literature of Morris & co. the Victorian craft business. The model that was developed would then in detail investigate the design process, business and labor of craft enterprise to determine their success. Professor Stevens
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After 1994 South Africa has undergone socio-political changes, trying to create a new identity using vernacular aesthetic approaches. The South African government has been encouraging craft projects but without the proper guidelines craft projects cannot be sustainable. Halsted realized that she could not run a social outreach program or even commission work if she did not develop n viable business (Scott, 1998:25). Professor Stevens suggests that William Morris could provide guidelines to create a sustainable craft enterprise (Stevens, 2007:347) because crafts can provide a bridge between formal and informal employment if it is managed correctly. Morris understood that to be successful the project or company needed to pay attention to detail. The details would be design, materials, and the quality for the product, the target market, finance, enthusiastic employees and marketing. All of this data Professor Stevens narrated in her research, summarized and accordingly created a table that could be used to compare a South African craft enterprise to Morris & co. (Stevens, 2007:458-462). Victorian Morris & co. can in certain ways not be fully compared to South African enterprises because they are from two different historical eras, although recommendations can still be …show more content…
model on several craft based enterprises in South Africa however I am only going to focus on one namely Ardmore potteries. Ardmore was started in 1985 by Fée Halsted Berning in KwaZulu-Natal on her husband’s farm in the Midlands. Halsted was introduced to a young lady named Bonnie Ntshalintshali who could not work in the fields on the farm because of a deformity in her foot due to polio (Halsted, 2012:28). Her mother brought her to Halsted to teach her ceramics “Ntshalintshali, although illiterate and uneducated in terms of Western schooling, proved to be exceptionally talented and knowledgeable about Zulu customs and practices” according to Halsted-Berning (in Stevens & Munro, 2009:14). Her work was vibrant, capturing Catholic beliefs, South African fauna and flora and everyday life as a Zulu girl (Ambrogi & Thijs, 2008:16). Her distinct style influenced the other artists working at Ardmore and soon became their signature as seen in FIGURE
After 1994 South Africa has undergone socio-political changes, trying to create a new identity using vernacular aesthetic approaches. The South African government has been encouraging craft projects but without the proper guidelines craft projects cannot be sustainable. Halsted realized that she could not run a social outreach program or even commission work if she did not develop n viable business (Scott, 1998:25). Professor Stevens suggests that William Morris could provide guidelines to create a sustainable craft enterprise (Stevens, 2007:347) because crafts can provide a bridge between formal and informal employment if it is managed correctly. Morris understood that to be successful the project or company needed to pay attention to detail. The details would be design, materials, and the quality for the product, the target market, finance, enthusiastic employees and marketing. All of this data Professor Stevens narrated in her research, summarized and accordingly created a table that could be used to compare a South African craft enterprise to Morris & co. (Stevens, 2007:458-462). Victorian Morris & co. can in certain ways not be fully compared to South African enterprises because they are from two different historical eras, although recommendations can still be …show more content…
model on several craft based enterprises in South Africa however I am only going to focus on one namely Ardmore potteries. Ardmore was started in 1985 by Fée Halsted Berning in KwaZulu-Natal on her husband’s farm in the Midlands. Halsted was introduced to a young lady named Bonnie Ntshalintshali who could not work in the fields on the farm because of a deformity in her foot due to polio (Halsted, 2012:28). Her mother brought her to Halsted to teach her ceramics “Ntshalintshali, although illiterate and uneducated in terms of Western schooling, proved to be exceptionally talented and knowledgeable about Zulu customs and practices” according to Halsted-Berning (in Stevens & Munro, 2009:14). Her work was vibrant, capturing Catholic beliefs, South African fauna and flora and everyday life as a Zulu girl (Ambrogi & Thijs, 2008:16). Her distinct style influenced the other artists working at Ardmore and soon became their signature as seen in FIGURE