woven, British, 1951,Edinburgh Weavers, design of tufted squares in red on beige ground

Woven wool, machine-sewn top and cut bottom edges, design of tufted squares in orange-red on beige twill-woven ground. Woven EW label : "Quality Special Tufting on Peterhead (illegible) / Colour Spec. red on natural / LCC Concert Hall (Festival of Britain).

Given by Sara Lee Courtaulds

This design was produced, as the result of winning the commission, by Hilary Bourne and Barbara Allen, for use in the Royal Festival Hall. However, the fabric used, when it opened as part of the Festival of Britain in 1951, was in the reverse colourway, with white tufting on a red background. This sample was most likely put forward at the time as one option.
A curtain in the reverse colourway is held in the Royal Festival Hall archive, ACC_2022_0005 and at Ditchling Museum of Art and Craft.

The sample came into the V&A collection as part of the Courtauld Design Library
From Courtaulds Design Library, group E4
The Courtaulds Design Library principally contained records from Courtaulds’ factories at Halstead and Bocking, Essex, and Halifax, and the large collection that came into Courtaulds’ possession through its acquisition of Morton Sundour and Edinburgh Weavers in 1963. The library was used by designers within Courtaulds and was also available for the use of Courtaulds’ customers. Following the acquisition of Courtaulds by the international corporation Sara Lee and the subsequent change in the business it was decided that the V&A would be the most appropriate location for the collection to enable it to be appreciated and used more fully. The Library was donated to the V&A by Sara Lee Courtaulds in 2001.

Edinburgh Weavers was founded in 1928 by the textile manufacturer James Morton (1867-1943) as an experimental design and marketing unit of Morton Sundour Fabrics. Originally based in Edinburgh, the firm merged with Morton Sundour Fabrics' weaving factory in Carlisle in 1931. They achieved success in the UK and US under the enlightened directorship of Alastair Morton (1910-63), who commissioned freelance designers and artists to produce work for interpretation as printed and woven fabrics. Following Alastair Morton's death, Edinburgh Weavers was taken over by Courtaulds in 1963.

T.219-2009