Presents a selection of more than 100 furnishing textiles and designs that range from a spectacular printed hanging designed by the Wiener Werkstätte artist, Dagobert Peche, between 1911 and 1918, to a series of dramatic woven, silk and metal wall coverings Les Colombes designed by Henri Stephany for the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes. The Art Deco period is well represented by the works of Raoul Dufy, Alberto Lorenzi, Robert Bonfils, Alfred Latour, Emile Alain Seguy and Paul Dumas. Although the majority of pre-Second World War textiles are of French origin, the exhibition also includes some rare British furnishing fabrics from the 1930s, in particular the iconic and very elegant Magnolia Leaf by Marion Dorn, woven in off-white and silver viscut by Warner & Sons in 1936. During this period, Britain attracted talented European designers, such as Jacqueline Groag and Marian Mahler who had trained with Josef Hoffmann at the Vienna Kunstgewerbeschule. They became highly influential in creating a ‘New Look’ that took hold of Britain after the austerities of the Second World War. ‘The Festival of Britain,’ held in 1951, was epitomised by Calyx which launched the career of its designer, Lucienne Day and is now considered to be a landmark of post-War design. So great was its success that several versions were produced as well as contemporary copies, all of which are reproduced here in spectacular colour.

Two great textiles from the 1950s – Seaweed designed by Ashley Havinden in 1954 for Arthur Sanderson and Grecian by Alec Hunter in 1956 for Warner & Sons – bridge the gap between the spirit and elegance of the inter-War period and the new ‘contemporary’ look of the 1950s. Britain maintained its pre-eminent position in textile design throughout the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s. This was because firms like Edinburgh Weavers, Heal & Sons and Hull Traders and museums such as the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester (the centre of the British textile industry) worked hard at integrating and promoting great design, often by well-known artists within the industry. Among the artists who worked with Edinburgh Weavers were Marino Marini, Victor Vasarely and Alan Reynolds. Britain was not alone in applying art to industry. An elegant example of Op Art is the work of the German artist, Wolf Bauer, whose 1969/70 designs for one of the leading American manufacturers, Knoll Textiles, is a highlight of this book.

The textiles here have been organised by several broad categories, beginning with type, and then by area of origin, dating and style. First are ikats and prints from India: the ikats woven in silk as “double ikats” and known as patola, and two prints that are cotton chintz. Though made in India, these textiles were all found in Sumatra, with the patola being highly-prized heirlooms used ceremonially, and the prints being used widely in trade across Indonesia from Sumatra to the Eastern Islands.

Next are ikats and other woven textiles organised by origin, moving West to East, from Sumatra to Borneo, Sulawesi, Bali, and Timor. For all of these pieces, the material was hand spun or commercial cotton, silk, or sometimes a mixture of the two.

Lastly are batiks, mostly from Java. The first three are the oldest batiks in this collection, each of which has been analysed by radiocarbon dating and found to originate in the 17th and 18th centuries, respectively. These batiks are made on hand spun cotton.

The batiks here are from Sumatra and Java (the great mother-temple of batik artistry), ranging in age, after the proto-batiks described above, from the early 19th century to mid-20th century. They vary in style from the most traditional, including those distinctive in colour and pattern from the kratons (palaces) of the sultans, Indian influences from chintz and other Indian imports, to Chinese-inspired depictions of animals, insects, plants and flowers, to French-inspired Art Nouveau mostly via Batik Belanda.

This collection of Indonesian textiles and some related Indian textiles that were popular and influential in Indonesian usage and design came together in a series of collecting periods spanning nearly 40 years.

Visions in Silk presents the first comprehensive exploration of exquisite Japanese fine art textiles from the Meiji era (1868-1912), showcasing the unparalleled treasures from the Khalili Collection of Japanese Art.

This beautifully illustrated volume reveals how Japanese artists and craftsmen ingeniously adapted centuries-old textile traditions to create innovative art textiles that captivated international audiences, won exhibition awards, and served as prestigious diplomatic gifts.

Featuring over 300 spectacular examples, the book examines dazzling works of embroidery, yuzen resist-dyed silk and cut velvet, tapestry, and oshi-e raised silk, ranging from elegant panels, hangings and screens to grand exhibition showpieces. Each represents the pinnacle of artistic collaboration and hitherto unsurpassed technical mastery.

Written by leading international experts, this landmark publication provides unprecedented insight into these remarkable yet understudied treasures. Visions in Silk will enchant anyone interested in Japanese art, textile design, Japonisme, and the cultural transformations that occurred during the Meiji era, when Japan opened to the outside world.

“a well-written, well-referenced and well-illustrated book. It provides a valuable addition to the literature and our understanding of a previously little-researched facet of the industrial midlands” British Art Journal
“Cataloguers now have an impressive volume of new information to draw on when describing anything from a simple tea tray to those suites of papier mâché furniture which remain as impressive today as when they dazzled visitors at the great international exhibitions of the 19th century” Antiques Trade Gazette
As one of the few decorative arts about which little has been written, japanning is today fraught with misunderstandings. And yet, in its heyday, the japanning industry attracted important commissions from prestigious designers such as Robert Adam, and orders from fashionable society across Europe and beyond. This book is a long overdue history of the industry which centred on three towns in the English midlands: Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Bilston. It is as much about the workers, their skills, and the factories and workshops in which they laboured, as it is about the goods they made. It tells of matters of taste and criticism, and of how an industry which continued to rely so heavily upon hand labour in the machine age reached its natural end in the 1880s with a few factories lingering into the late 1930s. Richly illustrated, it includes photographs of mostly marked, or well-documented, examples of japanned tin and papier mâché against which readers may compare – and perhaps identify – unmarked specimens. Japanned Papier Mâché and Tinware draws predominantly upon contemporary sources: printed, manuscript and typescript documents, and, for the period leading up to the closure of the last factories in the 1930s, the author was able to draw on verbal accounts of eyewitnesses. With a chapter on japanners in London, other European centres, and in the United States, together with a directory of japan artists and decorators, this closely researched and comprehensive book is the reference work for collectors, dealers and enthusiasts alike. Contents: From Imitation to Innovation; Enter the Dragon!; The Lion of the District; Japanning & Decorating; Not a Bed of Roses!; Clever Accidents?; Decline of the Midlands Japanning Industry; The Birmingham Japanners; The Wolverhampton Japanners; The Bilston Japanners; Japanners in London and Oxford; Products; Other Western Japanning Centres; Appendices.

The focus of the plethora of books on British textiles has largely been on their design and designers; relatively little has been written on the marketing of the products. Trading Textiles whilst making reference to the many avenues and methods for selling fibres and fabrics focussed on press advertising whereby manufacturers not only showed off a product, a brand, but intentionally or unintentionally provided potential buyers with an image of the company itself. Although, eventually, as with so many industries in the 20th century, companies that originally built their reputation on one line — a particular fibre or textile or stage of production — conglomerates came to offer comprehensive ranges. Trading Textiles compares the different styles of advertising of firms driven by design, those science based, those focussed on furnishings, and others relating to fashion.

Covering mid-20th century textile advertising the book not only illustrates what was happening in graphic design generally but the changing character of the textile industry itself.

“It is difficult to leaf through this book without saying ‘wow’ over and over, which means this is definitely top of the Christmas reading list.” – Embroidery Magazine

“For anyone involved with textile arts, fashion, design, or art—from makers to collectors, from students to museum curators—this book is an absolute must-have. A feast for the eyes, a source of inspiration, and a reminder of how art, craft, and imagination are intertwined.” — NL Magazine

Stephen Ellcock’s Book of Textiles is a unique collaboration between bestselling author Stephen Ellcock and textile expert Karun Thakar. Together, they share an inspiring vision of the world through the medium of textiles, leading the reader on a journey into the splendours of nature and the infinite complexities of the human condition.

A social-media sensation, Ellcock is widely known for his online curation of artworks, while Thakar owns one of the world’s most important and varied textile collections. Through a spellbinding selection of more than 200 of the most significant, extraordinary and distinctive pieces in Thakar’s collection, these pages cover everything from fashion, costume and adornment to pattern and design, rituals and magic, pure abstraction and the sublime.

Combining Ellcock’s singular vision with Thakar’s expert eye, Stephen Ellcock’s Book of Textiles is a ground-breaking compendium of wonders and a must-read for anybody with an interest in art and visual culture, as well as textile devotees, experts and enthusiasts.

Philippe Fatin is a traveller, photographer and collector who has established a world-class collection of tribal textiles from southern China.

These exquisitely colourful, hand-woven textiles are highly prized by collectors and here for the first time is the most extensive collection of garments collected from tribes across southern China including the Bazhai, Zhouxi, Xijiang and Gedong amongst others. The distinctive styles, colours and motifs from each are looked at in turn and the remarkable photographs allow the reader to appreciate the intricacy of each piece and the tradition prized by each tribe.

Profusely illustrated with over 320 colour illustrations the book not only studies the designs themselves but shows the ceremonies the textiles are made for, the traditional weaving methods employed as well other ornamentations such as headpieces and fastenings as well dying techniques and working methods.

For thousands of years, the peoples of Central Asia have created spectacular textiles for every aspect of life. Infinite care, resources and time have gone into making elaborate costumes (connoting the wearer’s identity and place in society), equestrian items, and exquisite furnishings for settled as well as nomadic lifestyles. Items of dress were decorated literally from top to toe: boots were embroidered with metal thread, while hats were stitched, appliquéd and felted. The women of a family would come together to embroider dazzling suzanis to form part of a bride’s dowry; master dyers and weavers would craft vibrant ikat hangings. Combined, these objects tell an evocative story of life along the Silk Road in times past.

This book brings together outstanding textiles from the Neville Kingston Collection, featuring many previously unpublished pieces. It is the second volume to document this exceptional English collection; Turkmen Carpets: The Neville Kingston Collection was published in 2016.

This volume celebrates the brocade textiles, or songket, of Bali. Songket, consisting of supplementary weft-decorated textiles made from imported silk and gold and silver threads, was historically reserved for the ruling elite. Today, these luxurious textiles are favoured as ceremonial attire, especially for Balinese brides and grooms. Songket Bali distinguishes itself from similar textiles produced in other regions of Indonesia and Southeast Asia through the use of unique Balinese-style Hindu motifs. These adorn garments and textiles that are part of offerings to deities and ancestors.

This book documents a collection of approximately 90 Paracas textiles. The collection consists of cloaks, ponchos, tunics, as well as some smaller fragments such as ribbons. Originally housed at the Ethnographic Museum in Gothenburg, Sweden, the objects were returned to Peru during 2019 and 2020. Paracas textiles tell the story of the people living in Peru more than 2000 years ago and how they saw and viewed the world. In cultures without a written language imagery is very important. Textile pictures were created from the depths of the human senses, from thoughts and dreams. The makers of the Paracas textiles depict fantastic stories from their time and culture about creation, death and thoughts about life.

Kerstin Paradis Gustafsson has studied, inventoried and analysed the Paracas textiles for decades, and cracked codes about how they were made. She also has pioneering theories about what they want to say and how the unbroken thread symbolises life. In this text, Kerstin documents and explains the secret behind these fantastic 2000-year-old textiles.

Thread and Fire is a fascinating journey through the centuries-old trade networks that developed across a group of archipelagos along the equator. Of the 18,000 islands, more than 900 are permanently settled by over 360 ethnic groups, speaking 700 languages and dialects. For centuries this vast and rich environment favoured local and regional exchanges, and it was only later that people visited from afar. New connections integrated these archipelagos with the distant civilisations of continental Asia: first India, later China and from the 13th century onwards, the Islamic world. Finally, with the arrival of Europeans in the early 16th century, global trade and connections grew rapidly. Spices and forest & sea products were the focus of foreign interests, and textiles were the currency for their acquisition. These imported textiles, complemented with ornaments and jewellery, soon became part of the region’s social fabric, indispensable items of gift and exchange, essential markers for the indictment of ceremonies, rights of passage and signifiers of rank and prestige.

Thread and Fire explores and illustrates those ancient connections and traditions through Indonesian and Timorese textiles, regalia and jewellery from the Francisco Capelo collection, assembled over a 20-year period and now part of the permanent collection of Casa Asia-Colecao Francisco Capelo in Lisbon.

Sheila Fruman, fascinated by the textiles and handmade carpets she saw when she travelled overland in 1969 from Turkey to India, tells the stories of nine intrepid adventurers who have combed the streets and bazaars of Central and South Asia finding, researching, collecting and selling antique Kashmir shawls, embroidered Uzbek textiles and robes, Anatolian kilims, Turkmen carpets and many other textile treasures to interested Westerners. 

These stories capture the post-World War II era’s free spirit that briefly coincided with economic prosperity and open borders. With over 200 colour illustrations, the book shows how the indigenous designs and motifs popularised in the US and Europe by these textile travellers can now be found in anything from haute couture to high-end interior design to mass-marketed bedding, tableware and clothing.

The dealers and collectors who have spent their lives seeking these complex pieces of the past have intriguing stories to tell and collections of some of the finest textiles of their kind in the world. Taken together, their stories are an enlightening guide to understanding how we connect to the past, and how textiles connect the world.

Threads of Time is a journey around the world through the medium of textiles. In many communities, cultural heritage and traditions have been handed down through generations by textile artisans. Their beliefs, history, ceremonies, and traditions have been woven into cloth with meaning and purpose sometimes lasting thousands of years. Textiles are special in that they can create narratives that are personal as well as eminently portable.
The pages of Threads of Time illustrate exquisite textiles with location photography, from historical examples of centuries past to extraordinary contemporary expressions, revealing a continuum of inspiration and beauty. The 16 chapters, covering regions from across the globe, feature contributions from local textile makers and experts, bringing together over 30 voices to tell stories of cloth. 

Locations explored include: Indonesia, China, Vietnam and Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, Bhutan, Nagaland, Punjab, Egypt and Palestine, The Caucasus, Turkey, Madagascar, Tunisia, Ghana, Peru and Guatemala, Navajo Nation.

“The book is a tribute to a unique, taste-forming textile art that has lost none of its appeal to this day. ” — Preetorius Foundation 

“If Chintz seems rather too ‘Miss Marple-y’ or old hat, this magnificently produced book, CHINTZ: Indian cotton textiles from the Karun Thakar collection, is set to change your mind, and your decor.” — Embroidery Magazine

Chintz explores the historic importance of Indian printed and painted cotton textiles, drawing on the Karun Thakar Collection. Assembled over thirty years, the collection comprises over two hundred examples, many of which have featured in significant museum exhibitions. With contributions from leading scholars and curators, including from the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, this book examines the historical significance of Indian printed cottons and their influence on global trade from the 14th century onward, and includes examples found in Sri Lanka, Japan and throughout Europe. The book provides insights into the artistry of Indian designers and the enduring legacy of this textile tradition, making it a valuable resource for those with an interest in art history, textile design and global cultural exchange.

Charlotte Perriand (1903-99) is undoubtedly one of the most significant figures in 20th-century interior design. She was one of the pioneers in introducing the metal tube as building material for furniture, paving the way for machine age aesthetic in interiors in the 1920s and 1930s. Together with Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret she created a number of iconic classics, such as the chaise-longue LC4, the armchair LC2, or the sling chair LC1.

This second part of the new three-volume monograph on Perriand covers the period 1940-55 with her extensive stays in Japan 1942-42 and 1953-55, and with her designs for the reconstruction in France after WW II. It also investigates extensively her collaboration with Jean Prouvé 1952-55. Moreover, the new volume looks at her work together with with Jeanneret and again also Le Corbusier during the 1950s, and it documents Perriand’s involvement and role in founding the Useful Forms movement in 1949. The book features again an abundance of images and documents, mostly in colour and many of them previously unpublished.

Charlotte Perriand: Complete Works is the authoritative source on this key figure of 20th-century interior design for scholars, dealers, and collectors. Each of the three lavishly illustrated volumes is completed by annotations, index, and bibliography.

Also available: Charlotte Perriand – Complete Works Vol. 1: 1930-1940

Man Ray (1890-1976) occupies a prominent place in 20th century art history. A versatile artist, he was a pioneer of modern art. His polymorphic work crosses all fields visuals: photography, assemblage, sculpture, painting, drawing, film…
Man Ray arrived from New York in Paris in July 1921. Born in Philadelphia in 1890, of Jewish parents of Russian origin, Emmanuel Radintsky took a two-syllable pseudonym: “Man”, man (short for Manny, his childhood nickname) and “Ray”, the ray of light. Painter, draftsman, assembler of objects, in New York he frequents intellectual and artistic circles, discovers the European avant-gardes with his first wife who makes him discover French literature… He became friends with Marcel Duchamp, with whom he collaborates for artistic creations.
This friendship will last all their lives. In connection with the movement European Dada, they publish the only issue of New York Dada, which attracted very little attention. Disappointed and disillusioned, Man Ray concludes that “Dada cannot live in New York”. He only has one objective: to join Duchamp who has just returned to Paris…

Ikat textiles, known as abr in their lands of origin in Central Asia, are beloved by collectors, decorators and textile devotees across the world. This book presents a new approach to the intricately patterned silk textiles by focusing on complete robes from a major private collection. These items of clothing tell stories about their wearers: their home, identity and place in society. By studying the history, making, and changing fashions of ikat robes, the past is brought to life. It quickly becomes clear that the power and influence of Central Asian costume reached far beyond the borders of modern Uzbekistan, inspiring imitations and providing visual stimuli for avant-garde artists.    

With stunning photography and previously unpublished research findings, this publication is a new take on ikat costume for those interested in the history of textiles and fashion, but also for those wishing to admire the sheer beauty and exquisite craftsmanship of these remarkable textiles.

Swiss surrealist artist HR Giger (1940–2014) achieved international fame in 1979 for designing the fantastic creatures and eerie environments that terrified moviegoers in Ridley Scott’s science fiction film Alien. Yet before these iconic creations made him a celebrity and won him an Oscar for visual effects, Giger was already highly regarded in the international art world for his unique freehand painting style and biomechanical dreamscapes.

HR Giger: The Oeuvre Before Alien 1961–1976, first published in 2007 and now becoming available again in a new edition, is the only book to date to document the artist’s lesser known, but no less impressive, early work. This lavishly illustrated volume traces Giger’s career from his education as an architect and industrial designer at the Zurich College of Art to the development of his ink drawing and oil painting technique and his eventual breakthrough as one of the foremost artists of the fantastic realism school. Featuring many unpublished or rarely available early paintings and drawings, and accompanied by an essay by noted art historian Beat Stutzer, this volume juxtaposes Giger’s paintings with works by his predecessors, including Ensor, Fuseli, Goya, and Piranesi.

HR Giger: The Oeuvre Before Alien illuminates the mind of a visual genius whose first artistic experiments were decades ahead of their time.

“There have been volumes written on and by Terence Conran and Mary Quant, but this is the first time they have been placed together in a book. And it works.” – Colin McDowell, The Times “It is given to a fortunate few to be born at the right time, in the right place, with the right talents. In recent fashion there have been three: Chanel, Dior and Mary Quant.” – Ernestine Carter. Transporting you back to London at the height of the Swinging Sixties, this book provides vital context for two of the biggest and boldest names in ‘Pop’ fashion: Mary Quant, alleged mother of the miniskirt, and Terence Conran, the entrepreneur behind the new wave of ‘lifestyle’ stores. Friends, associates and allies in design, Quant and Conran stood at the head of an informal but influential bohemian group who steered the rudder of style during the Pop era. ‘The Chelsea Set’ resist definition; there was no comprehensive members list. Conran/Quant: Swinging London – A Lifestyle Revolution explores the contributions of designers and artists from Laura and Bernard Ashley to Eduardo Paolozzi, Nigen Henderson and Alexander Plunket Greene, all of whom were essential generators of Sixties Style.

European fashion was profoundly influenced in the early decades of the 20th century by the style, textiles, patterns and colour combinations of Asian clothing. The discovery of the kimono, in particular, with its loose cut, fluid lines and broad range of decorations, captivated the great couturiers of the period. It enabled adventurous women in the Roaring Twenties to cast out their corsets and social straightjackets, while offering a new, daring kind of elegance with exotic overtones. From the meeting of these two sartorial cultures has sprung an exhibition and this catalogue, in which the drawings of Paris fashion designers are compared with examples of contemporary East-Asian textiles from the Baur Foundation in Geneva. The wonderful garments discussed include the collections of kimonos and other Japanese clothes gifted by Sato Mariko (2008) and Sugawara Keiko (2015), as well as Chinese textiles that are the pride of the Foundation.