Maud cushion: Vanessa Bell 50 x 50cm

Maud is a fabric design by Vanessa Bell, dating from 1913 and originally produced for the Omega Workshops in four different colourways. According to the V & A Museum, "The workshops produced six printed linens which were used by the most daring as dress fabrics. The printers are said to have used a secret process to 'preserve the freedom and spontaneity of the original drawing'."

Bell (1879-1961) was a key figure in the group of artists and designers known as Bloomsbury, that included Duncan Grant, Virginia and Leonard Woolf, Lytton Strachey, Roger Fry, Clive Bell and Maynard Keynes. In 1913 Roger Fry established the Omega Workshops, directed by Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant who, along with other artists produced furniture, pottery and textiles for sale. The work produced challenged mainstream Edwardian aesthetic predilections. Fry said: "It is time that the spirit of fun was introduced into furniture and fabrics. We have suffered too long from the dull and stupidly serious." Clients included Virginia Woolf, George Bernard Shaw, HG Wells, EM Forster, Ottoline Morrell and Maud Cunard. Keen art collectors, notably Gertrude Stein, also frequented the Omega.

The V&A acquired several Omega textiles in 1919 as it was felt 'they might become great curiosities in the future'. Bell's work is showcased in the home she shared with Grant called Charleston near Firle, Sussex. Bell was a celebrated painter and interior designer whose work is in the collection of the Tate Gallery.

Please note: Photograph of cushion is a guide only. Due to the nature of the pattern repeat every cushion in this collection will be unique.

Dimensions

Cushion cover: 50cm x 50cm.

Includes feather inner: filling 100% Pure White Duck Feather

Product information and care instructions

Specifications

Pamela fabric: 65% Linen, 26% Cotton, 9% Nylon. (pattern repeat h=63cm) Backed by 100% linen fabric. Dry Clean only.

Shipping

Please allow 5 working days for delivery of your order.

Information on The Omega Workshops from Beyond Bloomsbury: Designs of the Omega Workshops 1913-1919, The Courtauld Gallery, Somerset House, London, June 18 – September 20 2009.