Marianne Straub

Marianne Straub (23 September 1909 – 8 November 1994) was one of the leading commercial designers of textiles in Britain in the period from the 1940s to 1960s. She said her overriding aim was: "to design things which people could afford" in order to remain a hand weaver which did not seem satisfactory in this age of mass-production".

Linda Parry, curator of modern textiles at the Victoria and Albert Museum, described her in 1990 as "One of two or three British artists who used their great ability to serve the industry." She had tuberculosis as a young child and spent over four years in a hospital ward, returning home at the age of eight. She then spent six months working as a technician/helper at a mill in her village. Where she was the third female student.

Straub then began working as a consultant designer for the Welsh milling industry, advising 72 mills that were supported by the Rural Industries Bureau between 1934–7 and learning the skills of mass production. In 1937 she joined the firm of Helios, a subsidiary of Barlow & Jones as head designer, becoming managing director in 1947.

Great Bardfield Artists In 1953, Straub moved to the north-west Essex village of Great Bardfield, and remains associated with the artists' community that developed there. Her neighbours included John Aldridge RA, Edward Bawden and Audrey Cruddas and Straub became friends with most of them and an integral part of the community. The village's "open house" exhibitions attracted national press attention and thousands visited the remote village to view art in the artists' own homes during the summer exhibitions of 1954, 1955 and 1958. Aimed firmly at the contract and commercial market, Tamesa was highly successful in introducing alternatives to the prevailing fashion for bold pattern, instead focusing on texture, tone and high-specification fabrics.

Academic work Straub's work was already well respected by 1952, when she spoke at the international craft conference held at Dartington Hall and argued for the preservation of knowledge among the crafts community. and also a Fellow of the Society of Industrial Artists and Designers (SIAD) and was appointed an OBE for services to textile weaving.

Publications