A rare Art Deco / Modernist Movement runner
Made at the Wilton Royal Factory, Wessex, England, designed by Marion Dorn (1896-1964). Signed : DORN
15ft 5in x 3ft 5in : 470cm x 105cm
When Marion Dorn supplied her rugs for Syrie Maugham’s famous all white drawing room, she used shearing to make the fretwork design thus raising the pile creating a design in itself. The present rare runner is of similar effect though the ground is of a flat weave and the design with a knotted pile, which for Dorn’s rug designs is perhaps her most innovative work.
Her rugs were made at the Wilton Royal Carpet Factory, Wessex, commissions include: the Savoy Hotel, the Berkeley Hotel, both in London, the ocean liners: Orion and Queen Mary. In America she designed and supplied the carpet for the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House, Washington, and worked with Edward Fields. Her husband was Edward McKnight Kauffer, the noted American artist and poster designer (Metropolis).
There is, in the Brighton Museum and Art Gallery’s collection, a similar patterned rug, though of circular form, of which we also have another example, both rugs came from the same provenance. The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, have in their collection examples of her rugs, the runner format is exceptionally rare.
The interior design firm of John Duncan Miller used Marion Dorn rugs in their design schemes. At Wings, Streatham London, a runner of similar design, was used for the main hall.
Literature
Christine Boydell, The Architect of Floors, Schoeser, 1996, page 71, plate 61.
Charlotte & Peter Fiell, 30s & 40s Decorative Art, Taschen, 2000, page 347.
Price : P.O.A.
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