A Superb archive collection of mid 20th.Century original designs for furnishing fabrics attributable to the design studio of Cavendish Textiles Ltd.
After 80 years as a trading department within the John Lewis Partnership, Cavendish Textiles closed its doors in 2011. For the entire duration, it played a major part in John Lewis’ history, pushing the Partnership to the forefront of home textiles. The Cavendish Buying Agency (later becoming Cavendish Textiles) was formed in about 1930 by Walter H Halstead. It acted as a wholesale company but functioned internally within the John Lewis Partnership allowing manufacturers to trade directly with the Partnership. Throughout the 1940’s and 1950’s, manufacturers continually looked to Halstead for guidance, and he became a figure of national importance within the textiles industry.
There are 50+ items in watercolour gouache and ink within the archive, the majority initialled to the reverse MFM, a sadly anonymous designer, one bears the Cavendish Studio stamp. Mainly dateable to the late 1950s &1960s. Various sizes average 22 by 20 cms.