Marianne Straub - textile designer

Marianne Straub (1909-1994), one of the leading commercial textile designers in Britain from the 1940s to the 1960s. Born in Switzerland, she studied hand-weaving and textiles and came to England in 1932. She became a design consultant on industrial milling and weaving before joining the firm of Warner & Sons.

This is a sample of jacquard-woven warp tapestry, made from wool, cotton and continuous filament rayon. The design is based on X-ray crystallographic patterns. Named 'Surrey' pattern, it was manufactured by Warner & Sons, as part of a collection of 83 samples designed for the 1951 Festival of Britain.

Helmsley furnishing fabric by Marianne Straub (credit V&A)

(Credit: Warner & Sons/ Science Museum)