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Heinrich Loffelhardt; designer; 1957; Germany
Overview
Reading and collecting
Books and journals fed Walter’s fascination with design history and helped him connect international design trends to objects he found in Wellington.
The Decorative Art yearbook of 1956–57 featured the precursor to Schönwald’s dinner service ‘Shape 511’ among the ‘freshly created designs’ that year. Shape 511 would go on to win gold at the 1957 Milan Triennial Exhibition of Decorative Arts and Modern Architecture in Italy.
The Decorative Art yearbook was founded on the belief that ‘art in everyday things was the inalienable right of all’. This tenet is testament to the enduring influence of British designer and reformer William Morris, who had advocated just that. Morris’s beliefs continue to be expressed today through Walter Cook’s collection.