1920s (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Charles and Ursula Birnstingl were active as illustrators and commercial artists in the UK between the 1920s and 1940s. Together they ran the Favil Press at 24 Peel Street in Kensington, London from 1920 until 1932 when they took up farming. They sold the publishing house to Victor Gollancz, a noted humanitarian and champion of socialist and egalitarian causes. The Favil Press remained active until the early 1960s, publishing works by Edith Sitwell, the Vorticists, and many volumes on wood engravers.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Brief description | Page decorations designed for the Favil Press by Charles and Ursula Birnstingl. London, 1920s. |
| Physical description | Colour process engraving |
| Object history | Formerly part of the permanent collection of the British Institute of Industrial Art, transferred to the Victoria & Albert Museum on 1 January 1934. The British Institute of Industrial Art (BIIA) existed from 1919 to 1934. It was established by the Board of Trade and the Board of Education with the primary aim of raising the standard of design in British manufacturing industry. Though its activities, it also sought to influence public taste, and contained numerous examples of popular Art Deco and interwar period styles. The BIIA opened an Exhibition Gallery in Knightsbridge, London, and, during the two decades of its existence, held a series of exhibitions and public lectures, and published various reports. In 1922, the BAAI held their annual show at the V&A. The organisation was dissolved in 1934 when the Board of Trade decided to take direct responsibility for the arts and industry. 361 objects from the BIIA permanent collection were transferred to the V&A, largely consisting of prints and ceramics. These objects were on long term display in the north court galleries of the V&A prior to their official transfer into the permanent collection in 1934. |
| Summary | Charles and Ursula Birnstingl were active as illustrators and commercial artists in the UK between the 1920s and 1940s. Together they ran the Favil Press at 24 Peel Street in Kensington, London from 1920 until 1932 when they took up farming. They sold the publishing house to Victor Gollancz, a noted humanitarian and champion of socialist and egalitarian causes. The Favil Press remained active until the early 1960s, publishing works by Edith Sitwell, the Vorticists, and many volumes on wood engravers. |
| Bibliographic reference | Announcing the inauguration of the BIIA in 'The Studio' (May 1919, p.132) it stated that:
'During the recent period of reconstructional effort, numerous societies, leagues, and associations have sprung up, filled with artistic effort, backed by men and women of repute schooled in thought of the right sort. There is a danger of each of these societies overlapping and covering the same ground unknown to the others, for the problems with which they deal, when investigated, are seen to tend to the same end, the general setting right of art in everyday life. The new Institute should be the means of co-ordinating the activities of such bodies and with their aid should bring home to the masses the real need for art.'
In 'Drawing and Design', Volume 1, Issue 2, June 1920, it was stated that their annual exhibitions would be:
'essentially an exhibition of industrial products and not of designs, and a special fund is to be enabled by the State, through the Victoria & Albert Museum, to acquire for the nation specimens of the best work exhibited each year'. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.3887-1934 |
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 | June 30, 2009 |
| Record URL |
Download as: JSON
