NEWS Our monthly digest of notable people, places and products

NOTEBOOK

Our monthly edit of news, shopping inspiration and inside information

SPOTLIGHT ON…

Morris & Co’s 160th anniversary

Founded in 1861 by William Morris and friends from the Arts and Crafts movement, Morris & Co is celebrating its 160th anniversary this year.

Its iconic wallpaper and fabric designs adorn homes worldwide and are instantly recognisable, most notably Strawberry Thief (which dates back to1883), Acanthus (from 1875) and Willow Bough (1887).

The brand started out as Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co, a decorating business providing beautiful, hand-crafted products and furnishings for the home.

Morris & Co’s output was prolific, driven by William Morris’s enthusiasm and determination, and his wholehearted belief in the Arts and Crafts movement, which emphasised the importance of decorative arts and craftsmanship in the home as a reaction to mass-production.

William Morris’s famous maxim still holds true today: “Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.”

To mark the anniversary, Morris & Co will launch the 160 range in the summer. sandersondesigngroup.com/morris&co 

RESET THE TABLE

Be bold, say the founders of Setting Pretty

Standing in front of a magnificent tapestry at London’s White Cube Gallery in 2018, Stephanie Bloom remarked to her friend Julie Darwent: “Wouldn’t that make a wonderful tablecloth?”

This lightbulb moment, coupled with a frustration at what they saw as “the lack of reasonably priced elegant yet practical table linens and accessories”, prompted them to create their own tableware, launching the company Setting Pretty last year.

The duo design napkins, tablecloths and napkin rings in a palette of vibrant colours and bespoke prints intended to be mixed and matched. “We want to encourage our customers to be playful and bold when it comes to dressing their table,” they say. “Changing the colour palette of a table is a quick and non-committal way of introducing new colours and moods to your home.” settingpretty.com

HERITAGE ADORNMENTS

Door furniture proudly cast in England

In 1860 JD Beardmore & Company was established as a general ironmongery store in Fitzrovia, London, with everything cast in England. After its heyday, the company had gone into administration by the 1990s. Danny Vara, whose family owned a hardware shop, says: “I went to see what was for sale. I’d hoped to pick up the display cabinets but, in the end, we got the business.”

He discovered a treasure trove of original moulds and catalogues from the 1890s and 1900s. “We bought a foundry in Hastings – the South Coast has a long history with ferroners,” he says. “I wanted to have the flexibility of being able to reproduce all the old patterns and designs as well as producing new ones for our own collection.” Today its quality door, window and cabinet ironmongery adorns the likes of Buckingham Palace. beardmore.co.uk

ROOM FOR REFRESHMENT

Lockdown demand for eco-friendly paint

Sales of Frenchic paint surged 500 per cent during lockdown, shipping 115,000 tons globally over a single six week-period. Using £15,000 earmarked for her pension, and driven by her love of upcycling furniture, Pamela Gruhn founded the company in 2014, initially from her kitchen table in Surrey, using her garage as a warehouse and partnering with a small factory. Today the firm has over 600 stockists in 26 countries, and won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the Innovation category last year.

Frenchic’s environmentally friendly chalk and mineral furniture and wall paint has no toxins, solvents or odour, is virtually free of volatile organic compounds and comes in over 60 colours. frenchicpaint.co.uk

A DISCERNING EYE

Antiques legend’s rural relocation

Half a century since his career began, Ken Bolan is still brimming with passion for antiques. His antique-dealing business ventures have taken him to Switzerland, Sweden, Dorset, London and, most recently, Wiltshire, where he has opened a new showroom. “It has been the most extraordinary journey,” he says.

Born in Scotland and raised in the English countryside, in the early 1970s Ken moved to Switzerland where he set up four shops selling English antiques. “I was incredibly lucky to be taken under the wing of two very generous society ladies who appreciated the English style that was to become highly fashionable throughout Europe,” he says. “My entire career has been a constant exploration and it has been a total joy to discover and interpret different styles and ideas from around the world.”

Returning to England in the early 1980s, he opened antiques shop Talisman in an old brewery in Gillingham, Dorset. It became a sensation, drawing experts and designers from across the globe. Moving the business to London in 2006 further cemented his close bond with top interior designers. Kit Kemp describes him as “always brave and bold, mighty and imaginative. Whenever I need a statement piece, I visit Ken. We sometimes need a crane and sometimes stop the traffic to install one of his monumental pieces, but it is worth all the effort. Ken is a one-off character. He has the ability to create spaces with enormous style, balance and harmony. Buying antiques becomes a fabulous adventure.”

Approaching 70 and seeking to ‘downsize’ – but not retire – Ken closed Talisman in 2019, and late last year opened appointment-only Ken Bolan Studio in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty near Tisbury. “Now I have the joy of not needing to think in a commercial manner, but rather with the joy of buying things for the pleasure of discovery,” he says. “It is simply wonderful to take on projects which inspire and excite me, and I am looking forward to the next adventure!” kenbolanstudio.com 

WIT ON THE WALLS

Divine Savages go maximal

Founded in 2017 by London husbands Jamie Watkins and Tom Kennedy, Divine Savages brings a sense of maximalist fun to the home through its exuberant and passionate designs – always with wit and a wink.

The duo design luxury wallpapers and fine fabrics, home accessories, gifts and limited-edition art prints in a carefully curated a spectrum of colourways so the ‘volume’ in each room can be controlled – from soothing tones to a stimulating symphony. “Our mission is to inject a splash of wonder into your home,” they say, “encouraging a braver use of pattern, print and colour, and our collections reflect our passion for daring design with a flourish of both the divine and the savage.”

The brand’s team of craftsmen celebrate heritage manufacturing with intricately engraved rollers and hand-mixed paints. Recent launches include Beloved Beasts and new colourways for wallpaper Crane Fonda (right). divinesavages.com

IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE

Wicklewood & Blithfield’s new flagship store

Colourful emporium Number 13 opened late last year in Kensington as the first flagship store and showroom of companion companies Wicklewood and Blithfield.

It beautifully showcases the full collections of long-established fabric and wallpaper house Blithfield and colourful artisanal home decor company Wicklewood.

Dressed as a curated space to immerse clients in the worlds of both brands, the store has plans to host launches for new collections, offer design advice and host virtual events.

Wicklewood recently launched its first full dinnerware collection. Mexican ceramics created in collaboration with artist Gorky Gonzalez, hand-painted Italian plates, colourful resin cutlery made in France and recycled glassware from Central America sit alongside hand-woven Colombian Iraca placemats and vivid Indian handblock-printed tablecloths, made using traditional techniques handed down through generations.

New collaborations include illustrations by Felicity Buchanan and mirrors by Amy Balfour, with more planned for 2021.

Blithfield’s complete library of fabrics and wallpapers can be viewed and ordered in the showroom, including its recently launched Somerset collection inspired by antique textiles, with colourful new prints, weaves and embroidery. wicklewood.com; blithfield.co.uk n