Wigram thumbnail 1
Wigram thumbnail 2
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Not on display

This object consists of 6 parts, some of which may be located elsewhere.

Wigram

Set of Furnishing Fabrics
1947 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Mary Duncan designed this print for Cresta Silks Limited of Welwyn Garden City in 1947, and it was produced as dress fabric. The company had specialised in block-printed silk dress fabrics, but after the Second World War screen-printing was introduced, which allowed more flexibility for design. Cresta Silks fabrics were produced for an upper-middle class market, and were sold through mail order as well as their own shops. Other designs were also commissioned after the war, including prints by Graham Sutherland and Lara McKinnon, with the painter Patrick Heron as head designer. Prints by Duncan for Cresta Silks often had a loose, paintly nature.

Object details

Categories
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 6 parts.

  • Furnishing Fabric
  • Furnishing Fabric
  • Furnishing Fabric
  • Furnishing Fabric
  • Furnishing Fabric
  • Furnishing Fabric
TitleWigram (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Screen-printed spun rayon
Brief description
Set of furnishing fabrics 'Wigram' of screen-printed spun rayon, designed by Mary Duncan, made by Cresta Silks Ltd., Hertfordshire, 1947
Physical description
Set of furnishing fabrics of screen-printed spun rayon. Abstract pattern of purple, pink and grey on a white and mustard ground.
Dimensions
  • Repeat height: 19.5cm
  • Each length: 18in
  • Each width: 24in
Production typeMass produced
Production
Cresta Silks Ltd was founded in 1929 by Tom Heron and specialised in the production of innovative block printed silk dress fabrics designed by leading British painters including Paul Nash and Cedric Morris.

Reason For Production: Retail
Summary
Mary Duncan designed this print for Cresta Silks Limited of Welwyn Garden City in 1947, and it was produced as dress fabric. The company had specialised in block-printed silk dress fabrics, but after the Second World War screen-printing was introduced, which allowed more flexibility for design. Cresta Silks fabrics were produced for an upper-middle class market, and were sold through mail order as well as their own shops. Other designs were also commissioned after the war, including prints by Graham Sutherland and Lara McKinnon, with the painter Patrick Heron as head designer. Prints by Duncan for Cresta Silks often had a loose, paintly nature.
Collection
Accession number
CIRC.107 to E-1947

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Record createdApril 4, 2005
Record URL
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