Mandarin

<p>Linda Harper’s <em>Mandarin</em> (1966), a psychedelic Op Art paisley, combines the visual intensity of a swirling and fractured high-contrast, black-and-white pattern with violet and brown undulating, globular forms. The design exemplifies the textiles that the creatively oriented firm Hull Traders produced in collaboration with designers, such as <a href="https://www.artic.edu/artists/117596/shirley-craven"> Shirley Craven</a> and Linda Harper, during the 1960s and 1970s. Overall, the extruded, entangled biomorphic forms resemble the flowing fluids of a lava lamp. These melting, shifting shapes and motifs set the stage for Shirley Craven’s <a href="http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/261147"><em>Curtain Up</em></a> (1970), another vibrant and mind-bending design.</p> <p>Established in 1957, Hull Traders began as a firm dedicated to promoting the work of experimental designers in all media, but after two years shifted to focus on textile printing. <em>Mandarin</em> is an example of “A Time Present Fabric,” a special collection that Hull launched in 1960. The name references the firm’s early days, when they held exhibitions of artists’ works, in various media, that were called <em>Time Present</em>. The moniker comes from the T. S. Eliot poem “Burnt Norton,” and specifically the stanza “Time present and time past / Are both perhaps present in time future, / And time future contained in time past.” With this clever, albeit esoteric word play, Hull Traders emphasized their modern approach to interiors.</p>