Mephisto
Furnishing Fabric
1940s-50s (manufactured), ca. 1937 (designed)
1940s-50s (manufactured), ca. 1937 (designed)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
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.
Object details
Categories | |
Object type | |
Title | Mephisto (manufacturer's title) |
Materials and techniques | Woven cotton and rayon |
Brief description | woven, British, Hans Aufseer (Tisdall) for Edinburgh Weavers, designed ca. 1937, "Mephisto", bold semi-abstract suggesting unfolding ferns and swags, orange and brown on pale green/off white striped ground |
Physical description | Woven cotton and rayon, machine sewn two edges, one cut edge, one selvedge. Bold semi-abstract design suggesting unfolding ferns and swags, orange and brown on pale green/off white striped ground. Paper label attached: "Sundour/reg. USA no 74524/W875 spec. Mephisto". Also Morton Sundour Museum and Library label : "number 6098/date of acquisition 1959/description E.W. Mephisto". |
Dimensions |
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Marks and inscriptions |
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Credit line | Given by Sara Lee Courtaulds |
Object history | From Courtaulds Design Library, group F3 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. |
Production | When this was designed around 1937, Hans Tisdall was still using his birth name of Aufseer. |
Summary | 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. |
Bibliographic reference | The Mortons : Three Generations of Textile Creation (exhibition catalogue, V&A, 1973), cat. no. 202
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Collection | |
Accession number | T.290-2009 |
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Record created | November 19, 2009 |
Record URL |
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