Occupation

cover designer

illustrator

author

Type

Identified

Title

Aymer Vallance See all items with this value

Vallance, Aymer, 1862-1943 See all items with this value

William Howard Aymer Vallance See all items with this value

Monogram or signature used

AV See all items with this value

Temporal Coverage

1862-1943

Spatial Coverage

England See all items with this value

Description

Aymer Vallance's monogram was identified from the initials designed by him for the work he authored on William Morris, "The Art of William Morris" published by George Bell and Sons in 1897. See all items with this value

This short biography of Vallance was written by Dr. Robert Baxter and published on the Lynsted Society Website:

"William Howard Aymer Vallance was born in 1862, of a family of Sittingbourne brewers and bankers. His father, Thomas William Vallance, did not himself continue in the family tradition: he was a career soldier, serving in the 5th Lancers and rising to the rank of Captain. Captain Vallance served on Lynsted Parish Council from its inception in 1894 to1896. The family lived in Lynsted, at 'Aymers', a building named after Thomas' eldest son, and which, despite severe fire damage, was carefully restored, and survives to this day. Aymer had two younger brothers, who continued the family brewery business.

Aymer was educated at Harrow and Oriel College, Oxford, where he read classics. He was a typical aesthete of his time, with a passion for mediaeval architecture and a strong interest in contemporary design and craftsmanship. He was also an excellent cricketer. He was a devotee of the Arts and Crafts Movement and was closely associated with of William Morris. It was Vallance who 'discovered' the artist Aubrey Beardsley.

Vallance was ordained into the Anglican Church in 1885 and served as curate at the Church of the Annunciation in Brighton, which contains stained glass designed by Morris and Burne-Jones. Whilst at Oriel, however, he had been strongly influenced by the Oxford Movement, which advocated a return to Roman Catholic practice and ideals. In 1889 he was received into the Roman Catholic Church.

He moved to London, where he spent his time writing and lecturing on Gothic architecture, and producing articles for arts and archaeological journals. Several of his accounts related to the history and buildings of Lynsted. He also wrote the first appreciation of the work of William Morris, and became a respected antiquarian. He was present, for example, at the official opening of a grave in the crypt of Canterbury Cathedral in 1888, that was suspected of containing the bones of Thomas Becket.

In 1920, aged 58, he acquired Stoneacre, a mediaeval Wealden hall-house in Otham near Maidstone. He proceeded to 'restore' and extend the dilapidated building, using materials from other buildings, and sculpture and woodwork from his own collection. A wooden mantelpiece incorporated into Stoneacre originated in an (unspecified) mediaeval cottage in Lynsted. He also incorporated his own stained glass designs in some of the windows. He married Lucy Ada Hennell in 1922. The property was given by the couple to the National Trust in 1928. He died in 1943, aged 81." See all items with this value

lastName

Vallance

firstName

Aymer

Is Referenced By

Short biography of Aymer Vallance on the Lynsted with Kingsdown Society webpage See all items with this value

Creator of

"The art of William Morris" by Aymer Vallance

Designs for the backs of playing cards, published in "The Yellow Book", Volume 2, 1894