NEWS ARCHIVE
Marion Dorn and Warner & Sons
Dr Christine Boydell explores Marion Dorn’s design journey with Warner & Sons. Marion Victoria Dorn was born in San Francisco in 1896, and settled in London in 1923 with her partner, the graphic designer Edward McKnight Kauffer. At this time, she began designing...
Morris & Co.: Design & Manufacture at Warner & Sons
This year we are celebrating the connection between renowned designer William Morris and Warner & Sons. Click here for further details.
A Place of Creative Exchange
by Cathy MacTaggart In 2013 I spent some time volunteering at the Warner Textile Archive, and found I met lots of people with a wide variety of skills. At the time I was working on the penultimate module of my degree in Contemporary Applied Art, but was struggling to...
In Review – Selling Silks: A Merchant’s Sample Book (1764)
by Lesley Ellis Miller V&A Publishing, 2014 In 1972, Warner & Sons sold a selection of items from its business archive through Christie’s, and donated a special collection to the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. Selected by Nathalie Rothstein, among the...
Summer Belles – the [common] thread #3
Summer Belles is an eye-catching hand-painted paper design, communicating the social freedom that many began to experience in the 1970s. Like many other designs in the Archive Collection, it highlights another side of Warner & Sons' legacy - that of bold,...
Warner & Sons in WWI: Business as Usual?
"Silk for a few, bullets and mud for men at the front" Our research into Warner & Sons' contribution to the war effort between 1914 and 1918 was featured in the East Anglian Daily Times on Saturday 23rd August. Click here to read Steven Russell's piece. Find out...
Birds – the [common] thread #2
It's another take on an avian species for this month's [common] thread, but birds are an ever popular choice for a motif and Marion Dorn's are just fabulous. The birds in Birds (screen-printed cotton, 1936) swoop this way and that for a gloriously cheery and carefree...
Clout
In Old English, clout was a word used for patch; it later came to mean rag or fragment: 'Ne'er cast a clout 'till May be out' i.e. don't discard you winter clothes until the end of May...or until the end of July, if the hailstones in the UK this week are anything to...
Flamingos – the [common] thread #1
Flamingos have long had a home in the hearts of authors (think Carroll), hotel complex developers (think Vegas), and kitsch gardeners (still a thing). And from stationery and swimwear, it's safe to say that these elegant and intriguing birds are back in favour; the...
In the Fabric of Braintree
Braintree's textile industry was all kinds of fabulous. It made quite a mark on the town. In the 19th and 20th centuries, Braintree was home to (the family company of:) and who gained international notoriety for their and Their skilled even created cloth for the of...
On the Joy of Social History
With the weekend came Coffee, Cake & Memories - not only a celebration of the Warner Textile Archive's 10th anniversary, but a celebration of Warner & Sons, and those who contributed to creating its legacy. We invited the Company's former employees to...
Warner & Sons in WWI
The Warner Textile Archive is one of many museums in the UK taking part in the IWM First World War Centenary Partnership. At the Archive we have undertaken a special research project, uncovering the role of Warner & Sons and its employees during World War One, and...