Archibald Knox (designer)
Encyclopedia
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
designer of Scottish descent.
Knox's father, William Knox, was living in Kilbirnie
Kilbirnie
Kilbirnie is a small town of 7280 inhabitants situated in North Ayrshire on the west coast of Scotland...
when he married Ann Carmichael from Lismore Island in 1853. They had moved to the Isle Of Man in 1856 with their firstborn, Robert where William "an exceptionally ingenious cabinet and machine-maker, joined Moore’s Tromode Works, makers of high quality herring nets and sailcloth." William's sister Margaret had been the first Knox to move to Man when she married a Manx fisherman, William Callister in 1856. William Knox later started his own firm "William Knox’s Engineering Works" and was joined in his enterprise by four of his sons - Archibald pursuing his own career in art. Besides running a successful steamboat and ferry business, the Knox family were pioneers in industrial electric lighting on Man and introduced the first motor car to the island.
Archibald, the Knoxs' 5th child (and 5th son), started his schooling at St. Barnabas Elementary School, and later attended Douglas
Douglas, Isle of Man
right|thumb|250px|Douglas Promenade, which runs nearly the entire length of beachfront in Douglasright|thumb|250px|Sea terminal in DouglasDouglas is the capital and largest town of the Isle of Man, with a population of 26,218 people . It is located at the mouth of the River Douglas, and a sweeping...
Grammar School and Douglas School of Art, developing a lifelong interest in Celtic art
Celtic art
Celtic art is the art associated with the peoples known as Celts; those who spoke the Celtic languages in Europe from pre-history through to the modern period, as well as the art of ancient peoples whose language is uncertain, but have cultural and stylistic similarities with speakers of Celtic...
. His designs for Liberty
Liberty (department store)
Liberty is a long-established department store in Regent Street in Central London, England, in the West End shopping district.-Early years:...
's made him a household name, as did his watercolours, graphic designs and fonts. His design talent covered a wide range of objects, ornamental and utilitarian, and included silver and pewter tea sets, jewellery, inkwells, boxes, gravestones and even bank cheques, much for Liberty's Tudric
Tudric
Tudric is a brand name for pewterware made by Liberty & Co of London, the chief designer being Archibald Knox. The gold and silver ranges were known as Cymric . Liberty & Co began producing Tudric in 1902, and continued to the 1930s...
(pewter
Pewter
Pewter is a malleable metal alloy, traditionally 85–99% tin, with the remainder consisting of copper, antimony, bismuth and lead. Copper and antimony act as hardeners while lead is common in the lower grades of pewter, which have a bluish tint. It has a low melting point, around 170–230 °C ,...
) and Cymric (precious metals) ranges. The gravestone of Liberty's founder, Arthur Lasenby Liberty
Arthur Lasenby Liberty
Sir Arthur Lasenby Liberty was a London merchant, and the founder of Liberty & Co.Born in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England, the son of a draper, he began work at sixteen with his uncle who sold lace, and later, another uncle who sold wine...
, was designed by Knox.
In 1897 he started teaching at Redhill
Redhill, Surrey
Redhill is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead, Surrey, England and is part of the London commuter belt. Redhill and the adjacent town of Reigate form a single urban area.-History:...
School of Art where his friend A.J.Collister was principal, leaving with him for the Kingston School of Art
Kingston University
Kingston University is a public research university located in Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, United Kingdom. It was originally founded in 1899 as Kingston Technical Institute, a polytechnic, and became a university in 1992....
in 1899. In 1913 he spent a year in the USA, and on his return to Man acted as a censor of internees' letters during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. After the War he again took up teaching art at some of the Manx schools.
Knox died of heart failure in 1933 and was buried in Braddan Cemetery.