Benjamin Fletcher was a British designer and influential art educator closely associated with the development of the Arts and Crafts movement in Leicester. Born near the Wrekin in Shropshire, he began working for the Coalbrookdale Company as a child and later taught at Coalbrookdale School of Art.
Fletcher moved to Leicester in 1888 as deputy to Augustus Spencer at the Leicester School of Art. He became head of the school in 1900 and remained in the position until 1920, strengthening its links with local craft industries and placing greater emphasis on practical training and design reform.
A close friend of Harry Peach, Fletcher introduced him to the writings of William Morris and William Lethaby. In 1907, the pair established Dryad Furniture to produce well-designed cane furniture for the British market. Fletcher created many of its early designs, drawing upon Arts and Crafts principles as well as German and Austrian furniture.
The Traveller’s Joy chair, designed around 1907, was reportedly among Fletcher’s own favourites: he purchased five examples during its first year of production.
