Furnishing Fabric thumbnail 1
Furnishing Fabric thumbnail 2

Furnishing Fabric

1950 (designed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This screen print was originally cut on lino-blocks and then photographed onto the screen. The designer, Barbara Pile, trained at the LCC Central School of Arts and Crafts. Within the field of textile design, the school remained influential throughout the twentieth century and is now known as Central Saint Martins, part of the University of the Arts cohort. Past alumni included Terence Conran, Joyce Clissold and Marianne Straub.

Prior to producing this print, Pile had designed prints for several key British textile manufacturers, including the Donald Brothers, David Whitehead and Alan Walton Textiles. In post-war Britain, textile designers had begun to reduce naturalistic motifs such as leaves, stems and seed heads to more linear, almost skeletal forms. Often cited as an act of rebellion against a tradition of romantic floral styles, Pile's leaf print is an early example of a move towards greater simplicity and economy within 1950s textile design.

Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
screen printed linen
Brief description
screen printed linen, 1950, British; Pile, Barbara (Central School)
Physical description
Screen printed linen furnishing fabric with design of stylised leaves in white and black on rust and green ground.
Dimensions
  • Length: 192cm
  • Width: 123cm
  • Length: 187.5cm
  • Width: 118.5cm
  • Diameter: 103mm
Summary
This screen print was originally cut on lino-blocks and then photographed onto the screen. The designer, Barbara Pile, trained at the LCC Central School of Arts and Crafts. Within the field of textile design, the school remained influential throughout the twentieth century and is now known as Central Saint Martins, part of the University of the Arts cohort. Past alumni included Terence Conran, Joyce Clissold and Marianne Straub.

Prior to producing this print, Pile had designed prints for several key British textile manufacturers, including the Donald Brothers, David Whitehead and Alan Walton Textiles. In post-war Britain, textile designers had begun to reduce naturalistic motifs such as leaves, stems and seed heads to more linear, almost skeletal forms. Often cited as an act of rebellion against a tradition of romantic floral styles, Pile's leaf print is an early example of a move towards greater simplicity and economy within 1950s textile design.
Bibliographic reference
Sue Prichard, V&A Pattern: The Fifties. London, V&A Publications, 2009. Plate 2.
Collection
Accession number
CIRC.232-1950

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
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