Miroslav Sasek matches

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detail from long vintage match book made in Finland for Liberty of London and illustrated by Miroslav Sasek. Showing an illustration of a man being driven by a chauffeur in a Rolls Royce and a motorbike with a side car | H is for Home

Here’s something for all you Miroslav Sasek fans out there – there won’t be many of these left in circulation.

long vintage match book made in Finland for Liberty and illustrated by Miroslav Sasek. Showing illustrations of different vehicles such as a London cab, motorcycle with side car and chauffeur driven Rolls Royce | H is for Home

It’s a vintage book of matches with black & white cover design by the famous illustrator – unused and in pristine condition – what a rare survivor!

detail from vintage matchbook made in Finland for Liberty of London | H is for Home

Sasek depicts 1950s/60s London traffic in his unmistakable style…

red interior of a long vintage match book made in Finland for Liberty and illustrated by Miroslav Sasek. Showing completely unused black matches with red heads | H is for Home

… and it’s a very long match book – 32cm, so plenty of room for Sasek’s wonderful drawings.

detail of the spine of a long vintage match book made in Finland for Liberty and illustrated by Miroslav Sasek. Showing the text "150 crown matches made in Finland Designed for Liberty of London by M Sasek | H is for Home

They were manufactured in Finland for Liberty of London – just gorgeous!

New York, New York

New York, New York blog post banner

illustration from Miroslav Sasek's vintage children's book, This is... New York showing Brooklyn Bridge with cars passing beneath it

Our recent post I is for Ireland featured the This is… series of books by Miroslav Sasek.

illustration from Miroslav Sasek's vintage children's book, This is... New York showing a view of water tanks in the New York skyline

In it, we promised some more photos from a recent acquisition – This is New York.

illustration from Miroslav Sasek's vintage children's book, "This is... New York" showing people in the aisle of a grocery store

The book was published in 1960 and, as per usual, the illustrations are fabulous!

illustration from Miroslav Sasek's vintage children's book, "This is... New York" showing various types of vending machines

New York is one of those cities that works particularly well…

illustration from Miroslav Sasek's vintage children's book, "This is... New York" showing a New York traffic cop illustration from Miroslav Sasek's vintage children's book, "This is... New York" showing an American footballer

…with it’s distinctive buildings, day to day goings on and familiar characters.

illustration from Miroslav Sasek's vintage children's book, "This is... New York" showing a view of a city street lined with cars

The artist captures the 1950s/60s era – the sights and the vibrancy of the city.

illustration from Miroslav Sasek's vintage children's book, "This is... New York" showing firemen in a New York fire engine

We had a 10-day holiday there a few years ago. It had changed a bit since Sasek wrote these books but lots of the unmistakable landmarks and energy of the city were still there.

illustration from Miroslav Sasek's vintage children's book, "This is... New York" showing a street vendor selling hot dogs and soft drinks

Flicking through these pages reminds us of the great time we had – hopefully we’ll get back there again one day…

illustration from Miroslav Sasek's vintage children's book, "This is... New York" showing an aerial view of Manhattan's skyscrapers and the Hudson River in a pixelated style

…and it would be a real dream to cruise up the Hudson river to arrive in real style!

I is for… Ireland

'I is for... Ireland' blog post banner

detail of vintage book cover, 'This is Ireland' by Miroslav Sasek | H is for Home

detail of vintage book cover, 'This is Ireland' by Miroslav Sasek | H is for Home

It’s been a while since we’ve done one of our alphabet blog posts – but the arrival of this book fitted in nicely with where we left off… so, I is for Ireland.

page from vintage book, 'This is Ireland' by Miroslav Sasek featuring Irish green double-decker buses | H is for Home

The book is from the This is… series by Miroslav Sasek.

page from vintage book, "This is Ireland" by Miroslav Sasek featuring Irish pub interior

We’ve mentioned him quite a few times in blogs but, any excuse!!

page from vintage book, "This is Ireland" by Miroslav Sasek featuring rolling green fields and sheep

We absolutely adore his stuff!

page from vintage book, "This is Ireland" by Miroslav Sasek featuring shop frontage of Patrick O'Brien general store

This is Ireland, published in 1964, is no exception. He captured the quiet countryside and the hustle & bustle of town life with equal charm – the scenery, buildings, characters – day to day life.

page from vintage book, "This is Ireland" by Miroslav Sasek featuring the busy main thoroughfare, O'Donnell Street

It’s been added to our ever growing pile of Sasek books – a pile that shows no sign of abating. Each new book is greeted with the same excited anticipation.

collection of vintage books by Miroslav Sasek | H is for Home

There were two more arrivals this week – This is Israel and This is New York.

pair of vintage books, "This is Isreal" and "This is New York" by Miroslav Sasek | H is for Home

They’re both very welcome additions to our collection…

page from vintage book, "This is New York" by Miroslav Sasek featuring skyscrapers and pink stretch Cadillac | H is for Home

New York in particular lends itself to his stylised characters and distortions of scale – just wonderful! Page after page of classic illustrations. The accompanying words are very sweet too.

page from vintage book, "This is New York" by Miroslav Sasek featuring an all American diner | H is for Home

We’ll post more illustrations from this particular book – they deserve a post of their own!

London Calling!

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detail of vintage Trans World Airlines menu depicting a Coldstream guard

We’ve had this London blog on the back burner for some time – exploring London-related designs in books, ceramics and fabric.

vintage 1960s Beefeater tile designed by Kenneth Townsend

It was in featuring Kenneth Townsend tiles in our last post that brought it back to mind. We focused on his ‘Menagerie’ series of tiles in that blog, but did briefly mention his ‘London’ series.

vintage 1960s city gent tile designed by Kenneth Townsend detail of vintage 1960s city gent ceramic tile designed by Kenneth Townsend

This Beefeater and city gent are two more great examples from this latter series.

vintage Chance Glass dish depicting a double-decker bus designed by Kenneth Townsend

He also did London landmark designs for Chance Glass during the same era.

detail of vintage Carltonware moneybox in the shape of a British Bobby vintage Carltonware money box in the shape of a British Bobby

Carltonware Pottery produced a series of money boxes – also from the 1960s – their Coldstream Guard and this Bobby on the beat are also at home in a London blog.

detail of cover of vintage book entitled 'A View of London' by Edward Pagram showing a Beefeater and a raven

We picked up this copy of A View of London by Edward Pagram in our local book shop. The cover was calling out to us from the window display – when we saw all the sketches inside, it sealed the deal! This is just a small selection:

mosaic of sketches taken from vintage book entitled "A View of London" by Edward Pagram

Another must-have book for the vintage London-ophile is the children’s book, This is London by Miroslav Sasek. His illustrations are truly stunning!

cover of vintage "This is London" boook by Miroslav Sasek

illustration of the Parliament buildings from vintage "This is London" book by Miroslav Sasek

illustration of Smiths the newsagents from vintage "This is London" book by Miroslav Sasek

illustration of an elephant taken from vintage "This is London" book by Miroslav Sasek

illustration of London Underground tube platform from vintage "This is London" book by Miroslav Sasek

illustration of the interior of a packed London Underground tube train taken from vintage "This is London" book by Miroslav Sasek

illustration depicting a ship on the Thames passing under Tower Bridge taken from vintage "This is London" book by Miroslav Sasek

illustration of vegetable traders in Covent Garden market taken from vintage "This is London" book by Miroslav Sasek

This lovely little booklet produced by TWA in the 1950s is full of great advice for the US visitor.

vintage TWA "Travel tips for Britain" booklet with illustration of Coldstream Guard

We found this sweet vintage felt picture on Todmorden flea market recently.

vintage felt artwork of London scenes

detail of felt artwork depicting a London policeman at a zebra crossing between a pair of Belisha beacons

We’re particularly fond of this row of Beefeaters marching in front of Tower Bridge.

vintage felt artwork depicting 3 Beefeaters at the Tower Of London

And what do you think about this fantastic vintage tea towel of Oxford Street and its famous Christmas lights…

vintage tea towel of Oxford Street lights in London at night

detail of vintage tea towel showing Oxford Street lights at night in London

…eager shoppers and famous Routemaster buses.

London design tea tray designed by Maria Holmer Dahlgren

There’s some pretty tacky stuff on your average souvenir stall – but there are some fabulous designs being produced as well. This colourful London tea tray designed by Maria Holmer Dahlgren is one such piece which is on our wish list.

ceramic mug illustrated with the Trooping of the Colour designed by Aldo Cosomati

Or how about this mug from the LT Museum online shop? It’s taken from an original poster designed by Aldo Cosomati in the 1920s.

There’s some really good stuff in both shops – well worth a look!