Clock Hands with Squares
Dress Fabric
ca. 1943 (designed)
ca. 1943 (designed)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
British artist and sculptor Henry Moore designed this print for the textile firm Ascher Limited, founded by Zika and Lida Ascher, Czech émigrés who moved to London in 1939. Along with other British and European artists, Moore was asked by Ascher to design prints for dress fabrics in order to create more exciting textiles than those that had been available during the Second World War.
The appeal of this design is its simplicity and clarity, yet at the same time the motifs remain unrecognisable and somewhat mysterious, like an ancient indecipherable script. The origin of the symbols is unknown; some bear a resemblance to surrealist motifs in Moore's ealier drawings, whilst others appear to be completely imaginary. Moore's drawing for this design is on a deep red background, unlike his textile design where he chose a background of white, with the squares in black and varying colourways for the symbols.
The appeal of this design is its simplicity and clarity, yet at the same time the motifs remain unrecognisable and somewhat mysterious, like an ancient indecipherable script. The origin of the symbols is unknown; some bear a resemblance to surrealist motifs in Moore's ealier drawings, whilst others appear to be completely imaginary. Moore's drawing for this design is on a deep red background, unlike his textile design where he chose a background of white, with the squares in black and varying colourways for the symbols.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Clock Hands with Squares (assigned by artist) |
| Materials and techniques | Screen printed cotton |
| Brief description | Dress fabric of printed cotton, designed by Henry Moore, manufactured by Ascher, English, ca. 1943 |
| Physical description | Screen printed cotton dress fabric sample, with a drawn design of black squares each containing an abstract motif or symbol, the most recognisable being a clock face and hands, in dark pink, on a white ground |
| Dimensions |
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| Summary | British artist and sculptor Henry Moore designed this print for the textile firm Ascher Limited, founded by Zika and Lida Ascher, Czech émigrés who moved to London in 1939. Along with other British and European artists, Moore was asked by Ascher to design prints for dress fabrics in order to create more exciting textiles than those that had been available during the Second World War. The appeal of this design is its simplicity and clarity, yet at the same time the motifs remain unrecognisable and somewhat mysterious, like an ancient indecipherable script. The origin of the symbols is unknown; some bear a resemblance to surrealist motifs in Moore's ealier drawings, whilst others appear to be completely imaginary. Moore's drawing for this design is on a deep red background, unlike his textile design where he chose a background of white, with the squares in black and varying colourways for the symbols. |
| Associated object | E.1176-1976 (Design) |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | T.453-1976 |
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| Record created | June 24, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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