Haemoglobin 8.26, Festival Pattern Group blue fabric, 1950-1951

Made:
1950-1951 in Manchester
maker:
Barlow and Jones Limited
Sample of clothes or furnishing fabric, blue colour Collection of 83 samples designed for the 1951 Festival of Collection of 83 samples designed for the 1951 Festival of

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Sample of clothes or furnishing fabric, blue colour
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Collection of 83 samples designed for the 1951 Festival of
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Collection of 83 samples designed for the 1951 Festival of
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Sample of clothes or furnishing fabric, blue colour, with nested hexagonal motif surrounded by circles, made by Barlow & Jones Ltd., Manchester, England, 1950-1951. Based on the X-ray crystallographic pattern of the haemoglobin molecule. From a collection of 83 samples designed for the 1951 Festival of Britain.

To the untrained eye, this pattern is a series of hexagons surrounded by circles. The design is actually based on the pattern of a haemoglobin molecule produced by x-ray crystallography. The structure of haemoglobin was found using this technique by Max Perutz (1914-2002), a British biochemist.

The textile samples were made for the Festival of Britain in 1951 by the Festival Pattern Group. The Festival of Britain celebrated the centenary of the Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace as well as the best of Britain’s art, design, technology and science. The Festival Pattern group was a collaboration between x-ray crystallographers, designers and manufacturers. These samples are just one of the fabric designs created. They are shown here with the same design reproduced in a range of different colours.

Details

Category:
Experimental Chemistry
Object Number:
1976-644/9
Materials:
textile
Measurements:
overall: 175 mm x 245 mm
type:
textile sample
credit:
Gift of Dr. Helen Dick Megaw