Aldo Londi Arkitectura Animal Range – £150 – £220, Heals
Most famous for his Rimini Blu pottery figures & homewares produced for Ceramiche Bitossi, the Arkitectura range was the last to be designed by Londi.
We would like one of each please – thank you!
Today’s Bookmarks book review is 1950s Fashion Print….
…one in a series written by Marnie Fogg and published by Anova Books.
The book’s arrival was perfectly timed as it appeared hot on the heels of our vintage fabric haul which we blogged about recently.
It’s very attractive visually.
Holding the book, with its tactile, textured cover is almost like handling a piece of barkcloth.
An initial flick through the enticing photos contained within persuades you to delve deeper.
There are endless examples of superb, period fabric designs to drool over…
…full-colour, detailed images of vintage prints on every page.
Some very recognisable patterns as well as ones you’ll probably not seen before.
It isn’t however, just a collection of pretty pictures…
…it’s extremely well researched – Fogg really knows her subject.
She used to be a lecturer in Visual Studies and the Culture of Fashion at the University of Nottingham.
In addition to details about the actual fabric designs, the book encompasses related topics such as interior design and social & historical influences.
Another strong point of the book is the photo captions – they’re full of additional information and incisive comments.
It’s a wonderful leisure read, but also a great resource…
… an inspiration for design projects or for identifying fabrics that you may be lucky enough to find!
There’s also a useful bibliography of where to go next if your appetite for 50s patterns has been whetted.
It’s a must for devotees of textile designers such as Lucienne Day, Marian Mahler, Robert Stewart, Jaqueline Groag, Sylvia Chambers & Tom Mellor to name but a few – along with manufacturers such as Heals, David Whitehead Ltd and Edinburgh Weavers…
…and for fans of Mid-century Modern design in general.
This book is going to be a permanent fixture on our shelves.
1950s Fashion Print can also be bought from Amazon, Abe Books and Hive.
We’ll be following up in the very near future with a review of Fogg’s 1960s Fashion Fabrics…
…we’re very much looking forward to it!
[Many thanks to Anova Books for supplying this review copy.]
Poole Pottery is a vast topic with well over 100 years of production, so we’ll narrow it down a bit – and concentrate on one of our favourite ranges.
The arrival of Robert Jefferson, as resident designer in the late 1950s, took Poole in new directions with regards to shapes and glazes.
The Delphis range was one of the developments.
Working with Guy Sydenham, the gulf between studio pottery and commercial production could be bridged, resulting in this exciting, dynamic range.
Delphis was launched at an exhibition at Heal’s in 1963 and subsequently at stores throughout the UK.
Abstract designs & bright colours were the characteristic features.
The range was a great success both at home & overseas and was increasingly marketed with the emphasis on the hand painted element.
A standard range of shapes was used with individual painters responsible for the free-flowing designs. There were approximately 50 artists working on the range including names such as Andrée Fontana, Beverley Mantel, Cynthia Bennett, Lynn Gregory, Ross Sommerfelt, Janet Laird, Thelma Bush and Carol Holden.
Our own particular favourite is Carol Cutler (Kellett) who worked between 1969 & 1976.
Carol Cutler’s painter’s mark
Production of Delphis continued until the late 1970s.
Other similar Poole ranges to look out for from this period are Aegean, Ionian and Atlantis.
Aegean range fish plate
To see a huge range of colour photos of all the different Poole pottery visit the Poole Pottery Collectors Club website.
There’s also a wonderful book that looks at Delphis in detail. It includes a full list of the Delphis painters and their marks. It actually covers the entire history of Poole Pottery – all the ranges & designers involved. It is simply entitled Poole Pottery by Hayward & Atterbury. It’s available from both www.amazon.co.uk
and www.amazon.com
It contains lots of great, full-colour reference photographs.
Also, check out the Poole Pottery Flickr group we started up. Please feel free to join up & add any photos of your own!
We sometimes have a few pieces of Poole, including Delphis, for sale at H is for Home.
Some of you may have noticed that it’s been longer than usual between blogs. We’ve had a very busy week, including a magazine photo shoot at our house – all very exciting! More about that to follow soon…
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