This carpet design by Czech-born Jacqueline Groag (1903-1985) is called 'Oyster Bay' and was designed for the British company Andrew Gaskell Ltd. in 1966. Forty years earlier in Vienna, Groag had studied under and was highly influenced by Josef Hoffmann (1870-1956), an Austrian architect and designer. He was a founder of the Vienna Secession, a group of artists who rejected the academic art establishment in Austria in 1897. This is a famous example of a European phenomenon of the late 19th and early 20th century, when progressive artists decided to 'secede' or withdraw from the status quo and form their own artistic movements.

Groag's interpretation of Secessionist style is typified by dense patterns, no apparent orientation and an underlying structure of abstract geometric patterning. These could be squares, circles or amorphous shapes, as in this carpet design.

After a successful career on the European mainland, the designer and her architect/designer husband, Jacques Groag (1892-1962), moved to London in 1939 where they settled. In the post-war period, Jacqueline produced a prolific body of work to which this design belongs. Her impact on 20th century British design was honoured when she became a Fellow of the Faculty of Royal Designers for Industry in 1964.