Furnishing fabric, printed linen, British (Carlisle, England), 1926-1928, Morton Sundour Fabrics Ltd., from "Cumberland Block Prints" series, scenes inspired by Iranian decorative art from the Safavid period embedded in a composition of outsized palms and flowering and fruiting trees and large bodies of water

Furnishing fabric, printed linen, scenes inspired by Iranian decorative art from the Safavid period embedded in a composition of outsized palms and flowering and fruiting trees and large bodies of water

Given by Sara Lee Courtaulds

From Courtaulds Design Library, group A1. The Courtaulds Design Library principally contained records from the 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.

In Europe and America in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries there was a great interest in Iranian decorative art from the Safavid period (1501–1722) showing scenes with figures. The demand was so great that new items were made in Iran in the Safavid style for export.

The design on this textile features various motifs in a Safavid style: two princely figures hunting with a falcon, one with a companion; an entertainment scene; and riders. These scenes are embedded in a composition of outsized palms and flowering and fruiting trees that were not drawn directly from Iranian art. The large bodies of water also represent a different design idiom.

T.262-2018