Kiddies Town
Wallpaper
1951 (designed)
1951 (designed)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This paper is from the John Line series '1951 Limited Editions'. The series employed talented and innovative designers already established in the field of textiles, such as Groag and Lucienne Day. The series itself proved to be important and influential, establishing the terms 'modern' and 'contemporary' as selling points.
This, as its title tells us, is a nursery wallpaper. The design consists of child-like line drawings, red on a plain ground, of simple almost hieroglyphic motifs - sun, flower, house, balloon, fish, ball, tree and so on. At first sight it appears naive, but it is actually rather sophisticated, being inspired, like many 1950s patterns, by the line drawings of the artist Paul Klee. This paper was definitely for the middle-class nursery, being too specialised, too expensive and not sufficiently colourful to appeal to popular taste.
This, as its title tells us, is a nursery wallpaper. The design consists of child-like line drawings, red on a plain ground, of simple almost hieroglyphic motifs - sun, flower, house, balloon, fish, ball, tree and so on. At first sight it appears naive, but it is actually rather sophisticated, being inspired, like many 1950s patterns, by the line drawings of the artist Paul Klee. This paper was definitely for the middle-class nursery, being too specialised, too expensive and not sufficiently colourful to appeal to popular taste.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Kiddies Town (manufacturer's title) |
| Materials and techniques | Colour machine print, on paper |
| Brief description | Portion of nursery wallpaper 'Kiddies Town', child-like drawings of simple almost hieroglyphic motifs, red on a plain ground; Colour machine print, on paper; Design by Jacqueline Groag; Produced John Line and Sons Ltd.; England; 1951. |
| Physical description | Portion of nursery wallpaper 'Kiddies Town', child-like drawings of simple almost hieroglyphic motifs - sun, flower, house, balloon, fish, ball, tree etc. - in the style of the line drawings of Paul Klee, red on a plain ground; Colour machine print, on paper. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Credit line | Given by John Line & Sons Ltd |
| Object history | Given by John Line & Sons Ltd. |
| Historical context | This paper is from the John Line series '1951 Limited Editions'. The series employed talented and innovative designers already established in the field of textiles, such as Groag and Lucienne Day. The series itself proved to be important and influential, establishing the terms 'modern' and 'contemporary' as selling points. This, as its title tells us, is a nursery wallpaper. The design consists of child-like line drawings, red on a plain ground, of simple almost hieroglyphic motifs - sun, flower, house, balloon, fish, ball, tree and so on. Seemingly naive, it is actually rather sophisticated, being derived, like many 1950s patterns, from the line drawings of Paul Klee. This paper was definitely for the middle-class nursery, being too specialised, too expensive and too dull in colour to appeal to popular taste. [Gill Saunders, 'British Design at Home', p.138] |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | This paper is from the John Line series '1951 Limited Editions'. The series employed talented and innovative designers already established in the field of textiles, such as Groag and Lucienne Day. The series itself proved to be important and influential, establishing the terms 'modern' and 'contemporary' as selling points. This, as its title tells us, is a nursery wallpaper. The design consists of child-like line drawings, red on a plain ground, of simple almost hieroglyphic motifs - sun, flower, house, balloon, fish, ball, tree and so on. At first sight it appears naive, but it is actually rather sophisticated, being inspired, like many 1950s patterns, by the line drawings of the artist Paul Klee. This paper was definitely for the middle-class nursery, being too specialised, too expensive and not sufficiently colourful to appeal to popular taste. |
| Bibliographic reference | Oman, Charles C., and Hamilton, Jean. Wallpapers: a history and illustrated catalogue of the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. London: Sotheby Publications, in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1982. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.881-1978 |
About this object record
Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
| Record created | February 11, 2000 |
| Record URL |
Download as: JSON
