Textile Design with Vases, Hats, Shovels, Cacti and Scrolling Garlands of Leaves

Vertical panel with a textile design that is part of a group of 266 textile designs by the American artist Robert Bryer, possibly made for United Designing Co., since most of the designs carry a stamp of the "United Designing Co. / WOrth 4 - 8975". Some of them also contain a stamp in the verso of the "Original Designing Company, Inc."

The collection contains a great variety of designs, from the more traditional floral and stripe patterns, to thematic designs based on various travel destinations, with palm trees and other holiday attributes. Especially interesting among these are patterns inspired by textiles and paintings of Native American tribes, including the Inca, Navajo, Aztec and Maya. The patterns are composed of semi-abstract figures distributed across the design in a regular or, in some cases, a more casual fashion. The spontaneity of designs and the use of floral and animal motifs suggest they were created for printed textiles in the forties.

This textile design is made up of semi-abstract motifs that include a vase with scrolling motifs, colored with white, blue and yellow, two hats colored with yellow and blue, a shovel colored with yellow and gray, and a yellow cactus, as well as other abstract strips formed with geometric forms, all colored with yellow, white, blue and gray, and scrolling garlands of stylized leaves colored with cream and gray over a dark reddish-brown ground. The nature of this design alludes to the American 'decorator' style that was in vogue during the late 1930s and the 1940s, through which textile designers borrowed inspiration from exotic and Native American cultures.