They revel in rescuing unusual artefacts, from Edinburgh police boxes to cladding from a 1960s office building. Their latest finds, historic silk screens, priced from £400 to around £800, are on exhibition at Retrouvius, 2A Ravensworth Rd, London NW10 until December 22.
The silk screens are from the collection of the famous wallpaper manufacturer, Cole’s, who, after 125 years, recently relocated from their Islington factory.
Cole’s are famous for their hand woodblock-printed wallpapers, but less well known is their silk screen studio, which was active just after World War II, when experimental designs were commissioned from the likes of Eduardo Paolozzi, Lucienne Day and David Hicks.
Some 200 silk screens were made redundant after Cole’s move and these were snapped up by Retrouvius, who worked with architect Genevieve Lilley to mount this show, where the timber-framed designs are illuminated to become unique and appealing works of decorative art.
Some of the designs date back to 1875 and the range covers florals and figurative to the shockingly abstract. “We hope to find clients who would like some of the larger designs integrated into a whole interior project.” says Genevieve.
Back to the wall…
Retrouvius of Kensal Green, London, is an architectural reclamation and design partnership founded in 1993 by Adam Hills and Maria Speake, both of whom had previously studied architecture at Glasgow School of Art.
