Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1528556
S ibyl Colefax & John Fowler, one of the world's most influential decorating firms, turns 90 this year. To mark the anniversary, a number of objects and textiles have been reproduced from Fowler's iconic residence, The Hunting Lodge, a 1730s architectural gem in Hampshire, England, where Fowler lived from 1947 until his death in 1977. The 90th Anniversary Collection is concise but meaningful. It includes a lambswool lap rug woven with the classic Berkeley Sprig motif, first developed from a very early block- printed wallpaper fragment found by John Fowler in a house in Berkeley Square, Mayfair. A reproduction of an original Regency étagère with simulated bamboo paintwork once held Fowler's collection of 19th-century tole verrière, containers used for Clockwise from top left: The 90th Anniversary Collection Hunting Lodge étagère by Colefax and Fowler. John Fowler, 1950s. Fabric swatch of Strawberry Leaf in red. The historic location of Colefax and Fowler on 39 Brook Street, London. A British chilling champagne and wine glasses. An archival Gothic stripe fabric, used in The Hunting Lodge dining room, was drawn by Fowler himself and originally block-printed. Fowler loved to arrange blooms from the Lodge gardens, and he enjoyed elevating practical objects into vases. His two- tiered vase, made from test tubes and plywood, is ingenious not only because it arranges flowers perfectly but because such materials were not under ration during the war. Lady Colefax founded her namesake firm in 1934 with clients from an influential circle of friends; Fowler, a rising design star, joined her a few years later. By the 1940s, Nancy Lancaster, an American socialite from Virginia, had purchased Lady Colefax's share of the business and was instrumental in creating the English country-house aesthetic, a look that Fowler once described as "a pleasing decay" of sun-bleached chintz, vibrant colors, a mix of antiques, and an atmosphere of disheveled coziness. sibylcolefax. com. Rebecca Sherman Design Legacy Lives On 54