Not on display

London Wall

Head Scarf
ca. 1942 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Jacqmar was both a textile manufacturer and a London fashion house. Listed in commercial directories from 1936 to 1972 as Jacqmar Fabrics (1936) and Jacqmar Ltd Fabrics (1942), this branch of the company specialised in the production of luxury silk scarves. It gained a reputation for quality printed head squares through the 1940s and 1950s and was noted for patriotic scarves illustrating aspects of wartime Britain, which were first issued in 1941.

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleLondon Wall (manufacturer's title)
Materials and techniques
Printed rayon
Brief description
Head scarf 'London Wall' of printed rayon, designed by Arnold Lever for Jacqmar, London, ca. 1942
Physical description
Head scarf of printed rayon. Printed with multicoloured posters with slogans on a brick wall.
Dimensions
  • Length: 94.5cm
  • Width: 96.5cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • '-Go! -to! -it!'
  • 'SAVE for VICTORY'
  • 'AIR RAID SHELTER'
  • '"we shall not flag or fail, we shall go on to the end" - Winston Churchill'
  • 'if you must talk... talk Victory!'
  • '-give us the TOOLS we will finish the job'
  • 'careless talk costs lives'
  • 'your courage your cheerfulness your resolution'
  • 'LEND TO DEFEND THE RIGHT TO BE FREE'
  • 'BILL STICKERS WILL BE PROSECUTED BY JACQMAR'
  • 'THIS IS LONDON WALL BY JACQMAR COPYRIGHT'
Object history
Purchased. Registered File number 1987/1832.

Jacqmar Ltd. Fabrics produced a range of patriotic textiles printed during the Second World War. Many of these were created by Arnold Lever, their house designer. The brightly coloured slogans represent handwritten posters pasted onto a brick wall. A lively combination of warnings and exhortations to persevere courageously in the face of war, such as Churchill's 'We shall not flag or fail, we shall go on to the end', is punctuated by the reminder that 'Bill Stickers Will Be Prosecuted By Jacqmar'. Jacqmar was the first British scarf manufacturer to overtly display the company's signature on its products. Used as a wartime substitute for silk, rayon was a man-made fibre developed at the start of the 20th century.
Subjects depicted
Summary
Jacqmar was both a textile manufacturer and a London fashion house. Listed in commercial directories from 1936 to 1972 as Jacqmar Fabrics (1936) and Jacqmar Ltd Fabrics (1942), this branch of the company specialised in the production of luxury silk scarves. It gained a reputation for quality printed head squares through the 1940s and 1950s and was noted for patriotic scarves illustrating aspects of wartime Britain, which were first issued in 1941.
Collection
Accession number
T.290-1987

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

Record createdJanuary 8, 2003
Record URL
Download as: JSON