Skip to main content

Previous page: Left: Thistle wallpaper, by John Henry Dearle, for Morris & Co. Block print. England, 1897 Right: William Morris by Frederick Hollyer, 1874 below: Left: Phyllis Barron and Dorothy Larcher printing in Hampstead Right: Winchester Phyllis Barron printed on heavy linen SELVEDGE 58 – spearheaded this revival, setting up a small textile printing workshop where they experimented with natural dyes. Eschewing the technical sophistication of earlier Arts and Crafts textiles, Barron and Larcher aspired to a more earthy, ‘primitive’ aesthetic, drawing on ethnographic sources such as African art for their dynamic abstract designs. The history of block printing in Britain is all about lineage, with hands-on skills and trade secrets being passed from one practitioner to another through apprenticeships. One of Barron and Larcher’s assistants, Enid Marx, went on to establish her own studio, producing block-printed dress and furnishing fabrics that were sometimes raw and punchy, sometimes delicate and light. Marx had studied at the Royal College of Art in the early 1920s alongside Edward Bawden. Their collective interest in wood engraving, fuelled by their tutor Paul Nash, closely paralleled and complemented their involvement with block printing. Bawden created a series of entertaining lino-printed wallpaper designs, such as Woodpigeon, some of which were lithographically printed by the Curwen Press, while others were block printed by Cole & Son, leading exponents of the craft right up to the present day. Another key figure in this artistic circle was Peggy Angus, see pg 36, who, like Bawden and Marx, believed that the applied arts were just as creative an avenue as fine art. After the Second World War, as well as designing ceramic tiles for Poole Pottery, Angus produced a collection of blockprinted wallpapers at her workshop in Camden Town featuring simple abstract patterns and motifs such as suns and moons. Printed in emulsion paint on lining paper using lino blocks, the textural effects tre UCA Crafts study cen UCA

Left: Curtain fabric with diamond pattern Enid Marx 1902-1998 brown block printed undyed linen, with blue cotton lining, date unknown. Right: Enid Marx working at her drawing board inder Judge. by Harm Marx. Photograph id The Estate of En ire.© icksh Ve rney, Wa rw ton Comp inherent in the printing process were a vital element in the designs. Although Peggy Angus died in 1993, she provides a direct link to the present through her former employees, several of whom subsequently produced wallpaper in the same idiosyncratic way. Hugh Dunford Wood, who was one of her “slaves” during the 1970s, affectionately describes Angus as his fairy godmother. Classically trained at the Ruskin School of Painting in Oxford, his early encounter with Angus fuelled his passion for the applied arts. “I call myself a painter and a decorator because from an early age I’ve always decorated things as well as made paintings and illustrations,” he explains. “Peggy Angus said art for life was the thing and art is decoration, embellishing life around you. That’s very much been my philosophy.” It was only after moving down to Lyme Regis a decade or so ago, however, that Dunford Wood decided to produce his wallpapers commercially, prompted by the enthusiastic response of prospective buyers to the patterns on the walls of his previous home in Oxfordshire. “They wanted to buy the blocks!” he exclaims. “They made me realize that wallpaper was in fashion because for years my environment has always been too much for people, too decorated.” The beauty of Peggy Angus’s technique is its simplicity, making it ideal as a cottage industry. No expensive equipment is required and lino is much softer to carve than wood. Household paint is simply brushed on the surface of the block, which is then pressed onto rolls of paper. “Because the brush strokes are irregular and because the pressure is irregular, it creates irregularities all over,” notes Dunford Wood, highlighting the fact that these 4 SELVEDGE 59 ives Arch ign Des ton righ ity of B ivers ive, Un il Arch Counc ign Des

Page Text

Previous page: Left: Thistle wallpaper, by John Henry Dearle, for Morris & Co. Block print. England, 1897 Right: William Morris by Frederick Hollyer, 1874 below: Left: Phyllis Barron and Dorothy Larcher printing in Hampstead Right: Winchester Phyllis Barron printed on heavy linen

SELVEDGE 58

– spearheaded this revival, setting up a small textile printing workshop where they experimented with natural dyes. Eschewing the technical sophistication of earlier Arts and Crafts textiles, Barron and Larcher aspired to a more earthy, ‘primitive’ aesthetic, drawing on ethnographic sources such as African art for their dynamic abstract designs.

The history of block printing in Britain is all about lineage, with hands-on skills and trade secrets being passed from one practitioner to another through apprenticeships. One of Barron and Larcher’s assistants, Enid Marx, went on to establish her own studio, producing block-printed dress and furnishing fabrics that were sometimes raw and punchy, sometimes delicate and light. Marx had studied at the Royal College of Art in the early 1920s alongside Edward Bawden. Their collective interest in wood engraving, fuelled by their tutor Paul Nash, closely paralleled and complemented their involvement with block printing. Bawden created a series of entertaining lino-printed wallpaper designs, such as Woodpigeon, some of which were lithographically printed by the Curwen Press, while others were block printed by Cole & Son, leading exponents of the craft right up to the present day.

Another key figure in this artistic circle was Peggy Angus, see pg 36, who, like Bawden and Marx, believed that the applied arts were just as creative an avenue as fine art. After the Second World War, as well as designing ceramic tiles for Poole Pottery, Angus produced a collection of blockprinted wallpapers at her workshop in Camden Town featuring simple abstract patterns and motifs such as suns and moons. Printed in emulsion paint on lining paper using lino blocks, the textural effects tre UCA

Crafts study cen

UCA

My Bookmarks

Skip to main content