Liberty and the Silver Studio

This is a rare opportunity to join experts from the Museum of Domestic Design & Architecture (MoDA) and discover iconic fabric designs by the Silver Studio for Liberty London. The session at the Museum will start with a short talk exploring how the studio worked with the iconic store after which participants can study examples from Liberty’s aesthetic movement, including the peacock feather pattern designed by Arthur Silver, to the floral patterns which have characterised Liberty fabrics since the 1920s.

The Silver Studio was a commercial design practice, which between 1880 and 1963 completed more than 20,000 schemes for items such as furnishing fabrics, wallpapers, table covers, rugs and carpets. The Studio answered the needs of its customers, who were retailers and manufacturers at all levels of the market. Many of its clients were mass producers and Silver Studio designs therefore found their way into numerous British homes.

After it closed, the contents of the Silver Studio – artwork, record books, photographs, correspondence and so on – were given to Hornsey College of Art, which became part of what is now Middlesex University. This material is the focal collection of the Museum of Domestic Design &Architecture (MoDA). In 2008, the Silver Studio Collection was awarded Designated Status in recognition of its quality and importance as a national resource.