Elizabeth Wilhide

An essential resource for any designer, crafter, artist, or historian, The Complete Pattern Dictionary is the most comprehensive, practical, and beautiful directory of patterns throughout history, covering all periods, styles, and cultures. Throughout history, patterns have come in countless permutations of motif, color, and scale. From the first rhythmic marks pressed onto clay vessels, to the latest digital design, pattern-making has been an essential part of the decorative arts since time immemorial. With 1500 illustrations of patterns from all ages and cultures, The Complete Pattern Dictionary is not only a visual feast, it is the most comprehensive resource available on the subject. The book is arranged thematically according to pattern type, with chapters on Flora, Fauna, Pictorial, Geometric, and Abstract designs. Each pattern includes the name of the pattern, the year of its creation, and a brief description. The categories are supplemented by in-depth features highlighting the work of key designers including William Morris, Sonia Delaunay, Charles and Ray Eames, Lucienne Day, and Orla Kiely, as well as sections detailing the characteristic motifs of key period styles from Baroque to Art Deco.

Official companion to the BBC2 primetime series. The Great Pottery Throw Down brought the messy and marvellous world of pottery to life, introducing the nation to the passion and drama of turning lumps of clay into beautiful objects. Now it’s back, with more amateur potters limbering up to throw the perfect pot. Meanwhile, viewers and the British public have responded in kind, with pottery evening classes oversubscribed and sales of clay and artisan ceramics soaring. Now enthusiasts and fans of the series can fill in all the gaps with this must-have companion book, which perfectly captures the passion and creative energy of the series. Combining a vibrant and compelling narrative with striking photographs and illustrations, this book offers readers a complete introduction to ceramic art, craft, manufacture, history and culture, bringing the artform and its rich heritage to life on the page. Learn fascinating details about the materials, processes and skills involved, from the alchemy at its core to magical transformations at the potter’s wheel. Discover how the history of pottery runs parallel to the evolution of mankind, from terracotta warriors to your coffee mug on the breakfast table. And be inspired by human stories of creativity and craftsmanship, via tales of ancient dynasties, scandals of the Industrial Revolution, midcentury trailblazers, and pottery as modern ‘art’ thanks to contemporary figures like Grayson Perry and Antony Gormley.

'Heart-wrenching . . . intoxicating . . . a very English Anna Karenina' The Times'Vivid, candid, engaging. So honest' Helen Dunmore Suffolk, 1939: Julia Compton has a beautifully well-ordered life. Once a promising musician, she now has a handsome husband who pays the bills, a young son she adores and a housekeeper who takes care of her comfortable home. Then on the eve of war something unexpected happens. She falls in love. The consequences are devastating. Cut off from family and friends, Julia loses everything. Penniless, denied access to her son, completely unequipped to fend for herself, she is cast adrift in wartime London with her bohemian filmmaker lover Dougie. As invasion looms and the bombs rain down her struggle is only beginning. While Dougie seeks truth wherever he can find it, Julia finds herself lost. Before long, ruined and broken, she faces a choice - succumb to her fate, or fight to forge a new identity in the heat of war.

Elizabeth Wilhide's debut novel Ashenden traces the history of an English house across two and a half centuries. When Charlie and Ros inherit Ashenden from their aunt Reggie a decision must be made. The beautiful eighteenth-century house, set in acres of English countryside, is in need of serious repair. Do they try to keep it in the family, or will they have to sell? Moving back in time, in an interwoven narrative spanning two and a half centuries, we witness the house from its beginnings through to the present day. Along the way we meet those who have built the house, lived in it and loved it; those who have worked in it, and those who would subvert it to their own ends, including Mrs Trimble, housekeeper to the rackety, spendthrift Mores; the wealthy Henderson family, in their Victorian heyday; six-year-old Pudge; Walter Beckmann, prisoner in its grounds. A novel about people, architecture and living history, Ashenden is an evocative and allusive reflection on England and its past.'Lively interlinked historical vignettes display distinct post-Downton commercial savvy . . . a pleasurably subtle web of connections . . . a beguilingly effortless read' Daily Mail'An engrossing debut . . . a sparkling jewel: full of fascinating detail, high drama and sly wit' Amanda Foreman'I adored this book; I saw it as a sort of love letter to a vanished way of life, and a slice of English history at the same time, tracing as it does the lives of all the people who lived in Ashenden, a beautiful English country house, for over two hundred years. It's very touching and very compelling' Penny VincenziElizabeth Wilhide is the author of over 20 books on interior design, decoration and architecture and a co-author and contributing editor to some 30 other titles, collaborating with authors such as David Linley, Terence Conran and Tricia Guild. Born in the United States, she has lived in Britain since 1967. She lives with her husband, an architect, and their two children in the East End of London.