Gimson’s designs in plaster

Gimson’s first commission for plasterwork came via his friend William Lethaby who was building a house, Avon Tyrrell, near Christchurch, Hampshire for Lord Manners. Gimson spent most of the summer of 1892 decorating the main rooms of the house with plasterwork. Some of the work consisted of simple repeating patterns of flowers on the friezes and beams; other rooms were treated more elaborately. The ceiling of the drawing room was divided into squares by raised ribs, each containing a naturalistic motif modelled on site. In his book on plasterwork Bankart subsequently described the process of working in situ as being, '...full of interest and delight, in addition to being a fairly rapid means of execution, and of quite reasonable cost.'

 

Numerous commissions followed including work for Lord Bathurst at Pinbury Park, Gloucestershire, for a house, Borden Wood, near Liphook, Devon, for the Council Chamber at Bradford, and for the house in Addison Road, Kensington, London designed by Halsey Ricardo for Sir Ernest Debenham. Both the houses in Leicester designed by Gimson include examples of his plasterwork.