Interiors and decorative antiques duo Edd and Cassie Nicholas (pictured) collaborate with the Warner Textile Archive to create an exclusive and unique homeware range.
About the Collaboration
The Warner Textile Archive, Braintree has collaborated with interiors duo Edd and Cassie Nicholas from Dig Haushizzle to create a unique and exclusive homeware range inspired by designs housed in the Archive.
Edd and Cassie were invited to view the Archive, to be inspired by the collection and collaborate on an exciting and bespoke range on homeware items blowing new life into the designs.
The collection comprises over 100,000 items, including designs on paper, hand woven textiles, printed textiles, business records, photographs and manufacturing equipment.
After looking through countless designs and styles they were quickly drawn to one designer in particular, Eva Crofts (1875 – 1946), who designed for Warners & Sons in the early 1900’s. Her colourful paper designs have now inspired a range of soft furnishings, wallpaper and ceramics designed by local ceramicist Madelaine Murphy. The names of the designs were never recorded so to add to the collaboration some of the names are inspired by places where Cassie and Edd live in the Forest of Dean.
All items are being produced and made by craftsmen in the UK with most items being made to order. The range will be available to purchase from dig-haushizzle.co.uk and at The Museum Shop in Braintree Museum.
About Dig Haushizzle
Dig Haushizzle is a decorative antiques and interiors business run by Edd and Cassie Nicholas from their home in the Forest of Dean. With a distinctive interior style established through their work with antique and vintage furniture Cass and Edd run their online store as well as currently focusing more on commercial and residential interior design projects. In 2019 Cassie was a designer on the BBC and Netflix show, Interior Design Masters hosted by Fearne Cotton and judged by interior expert Michelle Ogundehin. The competition was tough but Cassie went on to win and completed the prize of a contract in a top London hotel in Summer 2019. Since the show Cassie has been working as a Creative Designer for the Loungers hospitality group working on both interiors, exteriors and product design.
“It has been a wonderful experience to be able to jump into the depths of the Warner Textile Archive and to see and design from their extensive historic collection. We fell in love with the work of Eva Crofts immediately, her work is distinctly painterly and with a touch of a folk art aesthetic. We wanted to be as true to her original designs as possible and wanted to use them in ways we could see working in our own home. It has always been a starting point when buying antiques to always buy what we like, so this time we wanted to design and make exactly what we would like and wanted too! We really hope other people like the pieces we have created and get to enjoy the beautiful work of Eva Crofts.” Cassie Nicholas
About Eva Crofts (1875 – 1945)
Eva Crofts (born Evangeline Johnson) was an English textile and ceramics artist during the 20th century. Crofts described her work as “natural happiness and of clear unalloyed pleasure.” Crofts primarily designed for a range of textile manufacturers including Warners, Sundour Fabrics and Donald Brothers Ltd in Dundee. She was a contemporary of the Bloomsbury Group and her work was widely exhibited including at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Born in Greasley, Nottinghamshire she is the younger sister to Dame Laura Knight, the first woman elected to full membership of the Royal Academy of the Arts and who affectionately called Eva “Sissie”. Croft’s mother was Charlotte Johnson who taught at Nottingham School of Art and with the encouragement to develop her artistic talents her maternal uncle paid for her to attend the Ecole de Beaux Arts in Paris. Eva showed that she was a talented ceramic and textile designer in her own right and designed ceramics for such companies as A.J. Wilkinson and E. Brain & Co. As Eva Crofts she contributed designs to Clarice Cliff’s Bizarre Bon Jour and Krafton Bon Jour ranges in the 1930’s, both of which are still sought after and collected. Eva also became better known for her work as a textile designer for companies such as Donald Brothers, Turnbull & Stockdale, and Warners & Sons.
“This collaboration has given us a wonderfully different perspective on our collection. Having Cassie and Edd come in and bring Eva Crofts’ designs to life again has been utterly inspiring. Also, having these designs that were designed for textiles translated into ceramics has been magical” Polly Redman, Commercial and Communications Manager, Braintree District Museum Trust
Photo Credit: © Cassie Nicholas