At the recent marvellous Antiques For Everyone fair at the NEC in Birmingham, a friendly dealer approached me with a folder of around 50 photographs of furniture, home accessories, and room designs. Her father was a teacher and had used them in the late 1950s and early 1960s as props for lessons. Since he retired, they had sat forgotten in his loft until she rediscovered them after he died.
I found them fascinating – and turning them over revealed an even more fascinating feature. The backs all bore the names of the designers, manufacturers, and the dates of introduction. Some of the designs I recognised, some I did not. Although the dealer didn’t want much for them, I gave her £20, saying that it could always be donated to charity.
If I’m lucky, I sometimes see such archives on the Antiques Roadshow, and I always advice that, copyright allowing, the owner scans them and posts them online. In some instances, the images are original artworks, and the owners are the children of the designers who created them. The companies they were created for are typically long gone – like the tile company I filmed at the Antiques Roadshow in Hartland Abbey. In those cases I suggest that they compile the images into a book on their father or mother and their work. This suggestion doesn’t usually go down very well, due to the amount of work that requires!
So, I thought I’d practice what I preach, and post the archive I bought online. Hopefully, it’ll help someone somewhere identify their furniture, or learn something more. I’ve divided it into separate blog posts, each covering Seating, Home Accessories, Other Furniture, and Room Sets (here).
What I’d ask you to do is to relax and look closely at each image. Consider the fabrics used for upholstery, the ceramics, books and other accessories on the shelves, what features are brought out in one piece by another placed nearby, and the way pieces have been positioned, both in room sets and in the ‘frame’ of the photograph.
Enjoy. And if you’d like any more information, please email me using the contact form found using the top menu bar. Oh, and I’ve not watermarked them so that you can enjoy them properly. So if you want to use them elsewhere, please have the politeness and decency to ask me first, and credit the image with a link to my site. Thank you!
Also, if the copyright is held by you or your company and you wish me to credit them to you, or take them down, please contact me.
Late 1950s Model J.3 room divider unit unit by F. Wrightson & Co Ltd, Brampton Works, Billet Road, London E17, designed and first produced in 1956. Made from a variety of woods and veneers including French striped walnut, mahogany, African walnut, and birch multi-ply, with heat resistant cellulose lacquer. In November 1956, this unit cost £38. 5s. 7d., excluding purchase tax of £1. 5s. 5d..
‘Man’s Study’ from the Garden Court section of the ‘Three Arts’ exhibition organised at their showrooms in Berners St, London by Arthur Sanderson & Sons, in January 1954. Arranged by A.J. Milne MSIA, in collaboration with the Council for Industrial Design, it includes a mahogany desk by L.M. Furniture, a desk chair and easy chair by Horace Holme Ltd, and storage and bookcase from S.Hille & Co Ltd. All textiles and wallpapers by Arthur Sanderson & Sons Ltd.
A living room designed by H.E. Fritsch of Munich, with white gloss walls, a walnut built-in bookcase, red and blue chairs, and a black and white tweed upholstered sofa.
The interior of a room arranged by Gio Ponti for the Milan Triennale in 1957, containing some of his furniture, such as his Superleggera chair (far left).
A French flat, c1955, organised by Marcel Gascoin for the Comité Francais des Expositions. The architect was Marcel Roux. The notes point out the ‘open plan and feeling for space which is emphasized by the open hatchway and two sided screen of storage cupboards”.
Interior by FORM, the magazine of the Swedish Society of Industrial Design, with a teak Radiola TV designed by Carl Erik Lindström, a teak Radiola Femett tabletop receiver designed by Lennart Bender, AB Ljungs Industrier ‘USA43’ chairs from the DUX series, Tabergs Yllefabriks AB woollen ‘Ulvasa’ fabric upholstery and rugs, Bergbom & Co. AB lamps, and Vafver AB and Stockholms Bomullsspinneri curtain designed by Gota Tragardh.
A room from a two bedroomed Unity flat, shown at the Daily Mail Ideal Home Exhibition 1955, including a Stag wardrobe and chest of drawers, a Kandya ‘Jason’ beech-backed chair, Dot & Co hanging shelves, H.C.Hiscock multi-ray shade, Sandersons wallpaper, Brintons flooring, Haworth bedspread, and David Whitehead curtains
A room interior arranged by John Hill, most furniture from the Utility price range. The Council of Industrial Design organised a tour of this room and seven others in the Provinces during 1950.
Interior of a house in Cannon Lane, London, designed by Mrs Eileen Bell in 1954. Falmir settee in peacock blue by H.K. Furniture, French chair by Drouet, Swedish rugs from Finmar, and David Whitehead curtains.
Ward & Austin mahogany veneered and marquetry plywood bedroom furniture, made by Loughborough Cabinet Manufacturing Ltd, 1956
An oak wardrobe, chest of drawers, and a dressing table with mirror and stool, all designed by Gordon Russell c1927, and manufactured by Gordon Russell Ltd, photographed b1959