Acquired from the estate of costume designer Shirley Russell
Like the dress seen as a Related Item, this woman’s waistcoat is a luxurious garment of simple construction made from a colourful hand block-printed silk, its design influenced by the geometric abstraction pioneered by various art movements of the 20th Century. With its clear, bright coloured circular motifs vying with jagged straight-edged shapes, and small areas of monochrome stripes or checks, the design is very similar to those of the French Maurice and Adam Verneuil who, in 1926, published their pattern book Kaléidoscope, Ornements Abstraits. This was one of a number of high-class books illustrated with pochoir prints that disseminated up to date inspiration to international textile design studios. The silk of this waistcoat probably originated from Macclesfield in Cheshire, the centre of British silk production.
