It’s the heady moment we at COVER dream of; a gold strike during a lunchtime shufti at the charity shop (thrift store in American speak). This week your scribe bagsied a mint copy of The Contemporary Decorative Arts from 1940 to the present day, published in 1980. After polite jostling with would-be claim jumpers, the book fell open to the page with an illustration of Warner’s 1969 “Space Walk” roller printed cotton furnishing textile, issued at the same time as “Lunar Rocket”, which keen readers will remember we blogged about last week. Weird, eh?
Our eye was also caught by Antonio Boggeri’s black and white op art carpet for Polymer-Montecatini Edison, Italy. Looking like a Bridget Riley painting as floor mat, a quick Google on Boggeri pulled up an Abe Books Italy sales page for the book “Proposals for printed textile floor coverings” by Giulia Borgese. Tantalising list of designers, mainly Italian, but with a “rogue” entry for American designer Ken Scott who moved to Italy and designed the Milan restaurant “Eats & Drinks”. Dubbed “eccentric” by TIME magazine in 2005, we at COVER want E&D decor for the staff canteen.
Called “the maestro of ultra floral prints” by Dino Buzzati in “Corriere della Sera”, July 17, 1963, a selection of Ken Scott designs have been reissued by various manufacturers. DJ
