In 1895 Elbert Hubbard founded the artistic community of Roycroft in the upper New York state village of East Aurora. Mr. Hubbard established a print shop in East Aurora after a visit to William Morris and the Kelmscott Press. The success of the print shop and its publications, which defined a burgeoning interest in what is known as the Arts and Crafts Movement, led to the establishment of shops – a bindery, leather shop, metal working shop and furniture shop. Click this link for an excellent summary, The Roycroft Community, by Hilary Davis on The Arts & Crafts Society website.
Roycroft became a collection of workshops dedicated to producing household items according to the principles of the budding Arts and Crafts Movement. Accordingly, bookends were designed and fashioned by artists working by hand. Most of the bookends were made in an L shape from sheet copper, and these are the design of Roycroft and other metal workshop bookends from that era that we generally see today.
Most of these early bookends were decorated in low relief, or not decorated at all, but relied on their exposed construction for decorative appeal. The bookends shown here exhibit curled corners, hammered surface, and exposed rivets that fasten the upright to the base. In addition, we see an engraved owl against a background of fine stipples in the metal. Collectors appreciate the handwork even though the bookends do not stand out at a distance.