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For Sherry and Cocktail Parties. Fortnum and Mason. Regent 8040. Piccadilly London

Trade Literature
1930s (made)
Artist/Maker
Bawden, Edward (designer)
Place of origin
UK (made)

For Sherry and Cocktail Parties. Fortnum and Mason. Regent 8040. Piccadilly London.
Bawden, Edward, 1903-1989

Description:
10 pages colour illustrations 175 mm

Notes:
Title from cover




Object details

Categories
Advertising
Printed Pages & Sheets
National Art Library
Object type
trade literature
TitleFor Sherry and Cocktail Parties. Fortnum and Mason. Regent 8040. Piccadilly London (popular title)
Materials and techniques
Single section in paper cover secured with two wire staples through centre of spine fold
Ink
Paper
Printing
Brief description
For Sherry and Cocktail Parties. Fortnum and Mason. Regent 8040. Piccadilly London. Bawden, Edward.
Physical description
For Sherry and Cocktail Parties. Fortnum and Mason. Regent 8040. Piccadilly London.
Bawden, Edward, 1903-1989

Description:
10 pages colour illustrations 175 mm

Notes:
Title from cover


Dimensions
  • Length: 180mm (closed) (Note: Measured by Book Conservation in measuring box)
  • Width: 178mm (closed) (Note: Measured by Book Conservation in measuring box)
  • Depth: 1mm (closed) (Note: Measured by Book Conservation in measuring box)
Style
20th
Production typeMass produced
Gallery label
  • For sherry and cocktail parties London, 1930s The luxury department store, Fortnum & Mason, used the services of the Stuart Advertising Agency, who employed designers like Edward Bawden to produce witty and informative catalogues. Decorative illustration was a common feature of British commercial art in this period. Promoted by Fortnum’s and others, cocktail parties and the snacks and canapés served at them became widely popular. Photomechanical relief print Designed by Edward Bawden (1903–89) Produced by Stuart Advertising Agency for Fortnum & Mason Ltd Museum no. 38041800554792(2018)
  • From 'The New Line', De La Warr Pavilion, 2016-17 Fortnum & Mason for Sherry and Cocktail Parties Early 1930s Designed by Edward Bawden (b.1903 Braintree; d.1989 Saffron Walden, UK) Edward Bawden was a British painter, illustrator and graphic artist who won a scholarship to study illustration at the Royal College of Art (1919-21) with Eric Ravilious. Bawden and Ravilious were both taught by artist Paul Nash, who referred to them as ‘an extraordinary outbreak of talent’. All three went on to become official war artists during WWII. On loan from the Victoria and Albert Museum
  • From 'The New Line', De La Warr Pavilion, 2016-17 This exhibition of commercial print from the 1930s includes material designed by Serge Chermayeff, Edward McKnight Kauffer, Paul Nash, Eric Ravilious, Graham Sutherland and László Moholy-Nagy, alongside films by Len Lye commissioned by the General Post Office Film Unit and Churchman Cigarettes. Europe in the 1930s underwent enormous social, political, cultural and technological change. To capture some of these changes through contemporary commercial print, Philip James at the National Art Library at the Victoria and Albert Museum developed the ‘Jobbing Printing Collection’. He requested samples of work from high-profile companies, artists and designers in Europe and North America, including items designed by members of the Bauhaus school, made for shops such as Fortnum & Mason, and for companies such as Elizabeth Arden, Shell and Imperial Airways. The New Line presents a selection of items from the NAL’s collection, including lifestyle and trade magazines, beauty catalogues, tourism brochures and a sample chart for stockings. It highlights how the movement of people across borders, often escaping oppressive political regimes, led to the exchange of ideas and aesthetics, and the formation of new expressions of modernity. It also shows how interconnected art, design and industry were throughout the 1930s. Alongside material from the V&A National Art Library’s Jobbing Printing Collection are items from private collections. Researcher: Sandy Jones
Credit line
Acquired from Fortnum & Masons, July 1936.
Object history
Collection of examples of commercial printing and design including catalogues and books as well as a variety of ephemera such as magazine covers, promotional cards, loose sheets, book plates, book jackets, trade cards, advertisement proofs, wine labels, menu cards etc. Firms include Shell-Mex, Austin Reed, Guinness, Heals, Imperial Airways, Orient Line. Designers include McKnight Kauffer, El Lissitsky, Bawden, Bayer, Gill, Tschichold. Categories of material include architecture, broadcasting, costume, interior design, motor industry, food and drink.

In 1936 the National Art Library decided to lay the foundations of a "collection of commercial typography and to exhibit contemporary specimens from time to time so that the trend of typographic design, both in this country and abroad, could be appraised by students of industrial art". The Keeper of the Library, Philip James was largely instrumental in acquiring the material. The bulk of the collection consists of examples from the 1930s, especially 1936 - 1939, with a smattering of items from the 1940s.
The collection is further supplemented with material from the 1960s which the Library inherited from the Circulation Department of the Museum after its closure in 1978. As these two groups of material stand as historic collections in their own right, any further examples acquired by the Library have been catalogued individually and not added to this designated 'closed collection'.

Other numbers
  • Jobbing Printing Box 7 - NAL Pressmark
  • 904588 - Horizon bib. number
Collection
National Art Library
Library number
38041800554792

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Record createdApril 14, 2016
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1348475/for-sherry-and-cocktail-parties-trade-literature-bawden-edward/
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