Not currently on display at the V&A

Furnishing Fabric

1925-1928 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Established in 1884, G.P & J Baker Ltd specialises in high quality woven and printed textiles for furnishings. The company has collected an archive containing many historical textiles and pattern books to provide its designers with inspiration. This textile design was inspired by objects in the V&A collections, and was donated to the Museum along with other furnishing fabrics in 1928. Its motifs reveal a fascination with Greek Island embroidery, of which the Museum has one of the best collections in the world.

By the 1920s, when this sample was made, avant-garde textile designers in Britain were particularly interested in severe, sparsely coloured, abstract and geometric designs. Although Bakers did not embrace the extremes of this style, the company did bring out an experimental range of purely geometric patterns.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Printed linen
Brief description
Furnishing fabric of printed linen, made by G.P. & J. Baker, England, 1925-1928
Physical description
Furnishing fabric of printed linen with a patchwork design of linked rectangular vignettes inspired by Greek and Turkish embroideries in the V&A, and showing stylised boats and symmetrical (both mirror image and diagonal symmetry) designs including stylised peacocks.
Dimensions
  • Width: 79.5cm
  • Height: 100cm
  • Diameter: 87mm
Credit line
Given by G. P. & J. Baker
Object history
The textiles (T.373, T.375,T.376, T.377 and T.378-1988) were donated to the Museum in 1928 by G.P & J. Baker, and were all inspired by V&A holdings. The Department of Asia suggested that the design on this textile was inspired by Greek island embroidery.
Subjects depicted
Summary
Established in 1884, G.P & J Baker Ltd specialises in high quality woven and printed textiles for furnishings. The company has collected an archive containing many historical textiles and pattern books to provide its designers with inspiration. This textile design was inspired by objects in the V&A collections, and was donated to the Museum along with other furnishing fabrics in 1928. Its motifs reveal a fascination with Greek Island embroidery, of which the Museum has one of the best collections in the world.

By the 1920s, when this sample was made, avant-garde textile designers in Britain were particularly interested in severe, sparsely coloured, abstract and geometric designs. Although Bakers did not embrace the extremes of this style, the company did bring out an experimental range of purely geometric patterns.
Collection
Accession number
T.373-1998

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Record createdFebruary 7, 2008
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