Arne on the lino
/If I come across a curious image of a building or an interesting interior then it goes into a scrapbook folder.
This struck me as a period piece and a good example of how classic designs actually can’t stay the same and even when, looking back, designers and stylists ‘mine’ a period for inspiration then it never looks the same. Any revival has to pay lip service to the fact that time and taste have moved on.
I’m not sure of the date of this British advert but I would guess sometime around 1970. The Ant Chair, designed by Arne Jacobsen in 1952, and the Super-Elliptical table, by Piet Hein, Arne Jacobsen and Bruno Mathsson, from 1968 are still in production but what a peculiar mash-up of ceramics and cutlery and table decorations. It looks as if there is a special dish or tray for the French stick and that the wine is to be served in tumblers or larger glasses. Was that ever a fashion? And this is from Liberty - the London design store.
I tend to think that stylists on photo shoots go too far but this shows just how far most have come.
Thelma seems an oddly cozy name for a trade association and when the copywriter says “exciting new things are always happening in linoleum”, the model hardly looks convinced.
