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Friday gem from the Stoddard – Templeton Design Archive: F J Weideman

By sammaddra on February 18, 2011 • ( 1 )

This week’s Friday gem from the Stoddard Templeton Design Archive features the work of the designer F J Weideman, in particular four small sketch books purchased by James Templeton & Co on 28 August 1896, which are numbered 33 to 36 (STOD/201/1/4/4).

The four books are all themed, as indicated by the title and corresponding monogram on the cover page, and include The Garlanded Lily (GL), The Self-decorated Chrysanthemum (SDC), The Plant Form (PF), and The Interchange (I). The books are simply made, each containing between 6 and 11 pages of coloured cartridge paper. Inside, the pages are filled with beautifully preserved coloured pencil drawings. These four items are part of the Associated Design records and are quite unique within the collection as a whole.

Like many of the continental designers who sold their sketches to Templetons, we have very little information on Weideman beyond his designs. What we do know, either through the Register of Designs or by contextual information on the back of the designs, is that between 1880 and 1900 the company purchased a number of Weideman sketches, and that these pieces of work display both skill and cutting edge contemporary design.