In the late 1920s Bawden began designing wallpapers in collaboration with the artist John Aldridge. For a time these were printed by the artists themselves from lino blocks in the small studio in the attic of Bawden’s home in Essex. It was a tedious and physical task, but Bawden’s willingness to undertake this is much in keeping with his craftsman’s instinct. The blocks were later transferred to John Perry & Co (acquired by Cole’s in 1941) who produced the wallpapers from them. The process of making the wallpapers – printing them like an artist’s print – meant that they had to be made in separate sheets rather than rolls.

The Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester (www.whitworth.man.ac.uk) has large holdings of wallpapers by John Aldridge and Edward Bawden.

Further reading:
David McKitterick, Wallpapers by Edward Bawden printed at Curwen, Whittington Press, January 1989