Pat Albeck – Queen of the Teatowel
On Friday I was given this beautiful vintage linen teatowel, designed by someone called Pat Albeck. I idly Googled this name, having no idea I was about to encounter the Queen of Teatowels herself!
Pat Albeck is a legend of a British designer who has been designing teatowels (as well as ceramics, paper and other fabrics) ever since the 1950s. My fish teatowel is one of a set of three, all made with cut paper collage, and sold in the John Lewis department store in the 1960s. Aren’t they beautiful?
Apart from doing lots of work sold at John Lewis (enough to be featured in Lesley Jackson’s Twentieth Century Pattern Design, mind you!), other clients have included Sandersons, Horrockses, Heals, and Jean Muir, and her designs have been used extensively on stationery and crockery too.
But let’s back to teatowels. After all, Fiona Rattray, in an article for the Guardian, says that Pat Albeck “practically invented the decorative teatowel”, and I’m kinda interested in teatowels myself too.
Most of her teatowels were designed for the National Trust, using images, objects, and sometimes cats from National Trust houses as design themes. 
There really are a lot of these National Trust teatowels, as Pat Albeck has also designed their annual calendar teatowel since the 1970s. Chances are, you might recognise some of these in your own linen cupboard: 
All these pics and the info has been taken from Pat Albeck’s website, which is full of interesting history and anecdotes about each design. It also has the interesting fact that her designer son Matthew Rice has married ceramist Emma Bridgewater, adding a new thread to this English patterning dynasty.
lovely post heather, noah’s ark is my fave.
lovely post heather, noah’s ark is my fave.
hi heather
my gran used to have some of these! Goodness know where they all ended up.
Somebody somewhere is probably blogging about finding them in a 2nd hand shop!
Karin
Wow! Those are incredible! I can’t wait to track down a few of her patterns for my own home. Thanks for sharing.
Becky
love all these! thanks for sharing.
drew
http://www.drew-o-rama.com
That certainly is come serious dish towelage! These are great- the images remind me of my youth.
love all these!!
thanks heather!
The fish towel is super duper awesome:) Just – wow!
Wow! All of them are lovely! Thank you for the neat find.
Lovely image overload! I heart the fancy schmancy fish.
Isn’t it so FUN to discover a treasure trove of something like that! Thanks for sharing… she’s amazing.
What is it about tea towels that mean they are the canvas for such good design? Is it that old thing about having a small piece of art in every aspect of your life, even when drying dishes? Or, are they just the right size for designers? Are they affordable to print? To buy? They are brilliant, as are yours. (Just got my Selvedge mag … bravooo).
i love this post!
i love this post!
Wow, that is wonderful. I love those towels, I have a new collection to start.
Wow, that is wonderful. I love those towels, I have a new collection to start.
I loved this post – my favourites are the type driven ones – but hard to choose.
Heather, TWO things: One, I was so pleased to see your tea towels all the way over here in the U.S. of A in BROOKLINE, MA at POD!! YAY! (and my mifflettes are there too..)
Second, Tammis Keefe is a fantastic tea towel and handkerchief designer. You can find her work sometimes on Ebay, as well as Pat Albeck.
Congratulations on 1,000 sales – FANTASTIC, You deserve the recognition you are getting. Your work is whimsically beautiful.
holy moly! these are fantastic! especially the kitchen one. thanks for pointing me toward this wonderful artist. and congratulations on the shop’s success!