Not on display

Sickles

Furnishing Fabric
1956 (designed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The Irish-born artist who created the design for this fabric, Louis le Brocquy, was entirely self-taught. Having studied paintings in various institutions, including the National Gallery in London, le Brocquy went on to produce a challenging body of work with manifest sensitivity to the turbulent political climate in post-war Britain. Le Brocquy's textile designs were similarly progressive. The severe forms and stark contrast in colours employed in his designs are visually unsettling and recall le Brocquy's most famous work, a depiction of domestic isolation entitled A Family, which was painted in 1951 and is now in the National Gallery of Ireland.

Le Brocquy executed this design for David Whitehead Ltd., a leading manufacturer of furnishing fabrics, based in Lancashire. The company engaged avant-garde designers to produce furnishings with a modern 'look', throughout the 1950s and 1960s. The design on this fabric was created by mechanised screen-printing, then a comparatively new technology that reduced costs considerably for the manufacturer.

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleSickles (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Screen-printed cotton
Brief description
Furnishing fabric 'Sickles' of screen-printed cotton, designed by Louis de Brocquy for David Whitehead & Sons Ltd, England, 1956
Physical description
Furnishing fabric of screen-printed cotton in black on a lilac background. The pattern includes a repeating sickle motif.
Dimensions
  • Width: 48in
  • Length: 77in
Credit line
Given by David Whitehead Ltd.
Subject depicted
Summary
The Irish-born artist who created the design for this fabric, Louis le Brocquy, was entirely self-taught. Having studied paintings in various institutions, including the National Gallery in London, le Brocquy went on to produce a challenging body of work with manifest sensitivity to the turbulent political climate in post-war Britain. Le Brocquy's textile designs were similarly progressive. The severe forms and stark contrast in colours employed in his designs are visually unsettling and recall le Brocquy's most famous work, a depiction of domestic isolation entitled A Family, which was painted in 1951 and is now in the National Gallery of Ireland.

Le Brocquy executed this design for David Whitehead Ltd., a leading manufacturer of furnishing fabrics, based in Lancashire. The company engaged avant-garde designers to produce furnishings with a modern 'look', throughout the 1950s and 1960s. The design on this fabric was created by mechanised screen-printing, then a comparatively new technology that reduced costs considerably for the manufacturer.
Bibliographic reference
Schoeser, Mary and Kathleen Dejardin. French Textiles: from 1760 to the present. London: Laurence King, 1991, p.198.
Collection
Accession number
CIRC.644-1956

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Record createdMarch 6, 2007
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