Entertaining À La Carte

Edward Bawden and Fortnum & Mason

Fortnum & Mason and Edward Bawden were an unlikely double act: one a firm devoted to luxury provisions and lavish entertaining, the other a shy, retiring artist, who once proposed to offer charcoal biscuits and water to guests at a ‘gloom party’. Yet the relationship inspired Bawden to produce some of his finest work, and today his vivid, fanciful illustrations are widely appreciated.

As Fortnum and Mason celebrates its tercentenary, a new book from The Mainstone Press brings together the advertising material that Bawden illustrated for the firm in the years before and after World War II.

Full of joie de vivre , this stunning body of work includes catalogues, brochures, order forms and envelopes, all of which are now highly prized by collectors of Bawden’s work and Fortnum’s ephemera.

To set the illustrations in context, the book begins with an engaging essay by Peyton Skipwith, a former Director of The Fine Art Society and a good friend of the artist. Peyton discusses the relationship between Fortnum & Mason and its most famous artistic champion, exploring both the history of the firm and the artist’s career.

The book measures 345mm x 245mm and features 128 pages with over 200 colour illustrations, with a full cloth binding. Limited to 1000 copies.