Hammer Prints Limited was a company founded in 1954 by

Nigel Henderson Admiral Sir Nigel Stuart Henderson, (1 August 1909 – 2 August 1993) was a Royal Navy officer who served as Chairman of the NATO Military Committee from 1968 to 1971. Naval career Henderson joined the Royal Navy in 1927.

History

Founded on 5 August 1954, Hammer Prints Ltd was established: "To purchase, sell, manufacture, hire or act as agents for the sale of textiles, wallpaper, statuary, ceramics, furniture and photographic equipment and materials". Henderson and Paolozzi were registered as the company directors along with Judith Henderson who acted as secretary. Working from a studio at Henderson's home at Landermere Wharf near Thorpe-le-Soken in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, they developed over eleven designs that were screen printed onto wallpapers, textiles and readymade ceramic products. Hammer Prints coincided with the artists’ involvement in the Independent Group, a contingent of artists, architects and writers who celebrated popular culture and mass production. Paolozzi's notes stated "it is the object of Hammer Prints Ltd that an attack be made on the craft field using the silk-screen as the media to be exploited." Hammer Prints wallpapers were manufactured by Cole & Son from 1955, and their textile designs were produced by the Lancashire firm Hull Traders from 1958. ''Coalface'', ''Cowcumber'', ''Hessian'' and ''Sgraffito'' were the first to become available from January 1955. ''Barkcloth'', ''Big Drawings'', ''Newsprint'', ''Portobello'' and ''Townscape'' followed whilst ''Sea Beasts'' and ''Toys'' were developed for a range of ceramic tiles, lampstands, bowls, trays and furniture. A letter from Paolozzi to Peter Hatch at the Council of Industrial Design, (latterly known as the

Design Council The Design Council, formerly the Council of Industrial Design, is a United Kingdom charity incorporated by Royal Charter. Its stated mission is "to champion great design that improves lives and makes things better". It was instrumental in the prom ...

) introduced their work: :" he wallpapersare printed in black on white and white on black. The same screens have been employed in different colours according to customers requirements, we also provide the same designs printed on various fabrics by the Helzarin colour process... The origin of the designs of the wallpapers is the outcome of the application of design ideas employed by Nigel Henderson, Head of Creative Photography at the Central School of Arts and Crafts and Eduardo Paolozzi design instructor at the same school." :Sgraffito is built up round several photo prints of an inked impression of an engraved block of plaster. :Hessian is a demonstration of a monotype principal, pieces of inked canvas arranged and rearranged to form a multi-evocative pattern. :Coalface, lid of a tea chest engraved and worked upon with red-hot wires to form a design which would evoke the world of geological stratifications and form a background to modern living. :Cowcumber, photo-enlargement of a seventeenth century herbal wood-cut with adjustments made to fit scale of screen and repeat." Some promotional material on their designs described two later patterns: :Newsprint which was originally called 'Paris Walls', has its origin in a large number of photographs of hoardings, wall drawings, and so forth taken during a visit to that city. :Barkcloth has an affinity with the semi-abstract designs of some primitive peoples, in which man's own products are rendered into their simplest forms and incorporated as elements in a geometrical design. Hammer Prints exhibitions were held at the Studio Club on Swallow Street in December 1955 and from 10 December 1956 to 4 January 1957. The Castle Bookshop on Museum Street in Colchester also held 'an exhibition and sale of bowls, tiles, scarves, textiles and wallpapers from 21 April to 5 May 1956. The collaboration between the artists lasted only a few years with Henderson working on designs alone until 1962. The artists continued to receive royalties on their design work from Cole & Son and Hull Traders until the company was dissolved in 1975.

Hammer Prints clients

* Jane Drew * Bristol Old Vic * Liberty (department store) *

John Dankworth Sir John Phillip William Dankworth, CBE (20 September 1927 – 6 February 2010), also known as Johnny Dankworth, was an English jazz composer, saxophonist, clarinettist and writer of film scores. With his wife, jazz singer Dame Cleo Laine, he ...

Institute of Contemporary Arts The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch, the ICA c ...

* Terence Conran * Richard Sheppard (architect) *

Theo Crosby Theo Crosby (3 April 1925 – 12 September 1994) was an architect, editor, writer and sculptor, engaged with major developments in design across four decades. He was also an early vocal critic of modern urbanism. He is best remembered as a found ...

References

External links

Nigel Henderson & Eduardo Paolozzi: Hammer Prints Ltd 1954 - 75 exhibition at

Firstsite Firstsite is a visual arts organisation based in Colchester, Essex, which opened in 2011. It was the national Art Fund's Museum of the Year in 2021. The building Firstsite occupy as tenants was designed by Rafael Viñoly and the freehold is ret ...

December 2012 - February 2013

Hammer Prints textiles in the

National Galleries of Scotland National Galleries of Scotland ( gd, Gailearaidhean Nàiseanta na h-Alba) is the executive non-departmental public body that controls the three national galleries of Scotland and two partner galleries, forming one of the National Collections o ...

collection

Hammer Prints textiles in the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

collection

Wallpaper article on the exhibition at

, Colchester {{Authority control Ceramics manufacturers of England Wallpaper manufacturers British furniture designers British companies established in 1954 Manufacturing companies established in 1954 1954 establishments in England Design companies established in 1954