British furniture, textile and interior designer, Betty Joel was one of the few among her peers to assimilatemodern aestheticsand produce auniquely British responseto the post-war needs. Her work in both furniture and textiles wasdistinctivefor the use ofcurved linesandcurvilinear shapes.
Image source:https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/98618/mary-stewart-lockhart-mrs-betty-joel-le-touquet-france
About her life
Betty Joel was bornMary Stewart LockhartinHong Kong, in1896. In her early twenties, during the years of the First World War, she remained in China with Sir James, learning aboutart. Betty moved to England after the war, where she began designing furniture inPortsmouth. Her career began in1921, springing almost accidentally from the need to furnish her modern home in a suitable style. She met her future husband, CommanderDavid Joel, while he was in the navy serving in the Far East. Without any formal training, she startedher own businessBetty Joel Ltd. with him, starting with a furniture workshop. She begandesigning furniture, using the expertise of当地的工匠usingtraditional construction, oakandteak.
Image source:https://search.creativecommons.org/photos/3cf5839f-e6c5-4faa-af41-560d3ae4267fbyFlorida Keys–Public Libraries
In 1938, she created a studio for Lord Mountbatten’s Park Lane, a London home and a bedroom for the 2nd Countess of Iveagh at Elveden Hall. Other commissions included work forSavoyandSt James’s Palace Hotel, and for the thenDuchess of York. With the breakdown of their marriage in 1939, Betty withdrew from the design world and did not work anymore. David Joel continued the business by renaming itDavid Joel Ltd. She died on 21 January 1985, Hampshire,UK.
What were her major works?
最初的大部分furniture was made ofteakoroak. This was known as“Token” furnitureand the Hayling Island factory had the same name. Such was the popularity of Joel’s projects, that in 1929 the factory moved to a larger location in Portsmouth. Many of theEnglish social and business eliteshave commissioned Betty Joel to design interiors and furniture for their homes and offices. The desk in the picture below was part of a suite of furniture designed for the office of a Harley Street eye surgeon, F. A. Williamson-Noble. Thecurvilinear shapeand the use ofexotic wood veneers, with base and handles in contrasting Monel Metal (nickel-copper alloy), wastypicalof Joel’s styleat the time.
Image source:https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O144121/desk-joel-betty/
A good example of thecurvature of the furnitureis particularly applicable to the bed in the photo below. This bed was originally made for Lady Mountbatten and it is now in a private French museum. It is undoubtedlythe single most importantpiece of furniture of the period between the two wars produced in Britain. The painting on the wall is a portrait in oil by Frederick Whiting, by Betty Joel, from 1929. Also, note the extraordinary modernity, evident in theround stainlesssteel tableand themodernist rug.
Image source:https://www.antiques-atlas.com/antique/art_deco_betty_joel_bedroom_suite_fine_maple/as274a320
Image source:https://www.antiques-atlas.com/antique/art_deco_slipper_chairs_in_manner_of_betty_joel/as1063a001
How can we identify Joel’s style?
在类风湿性关节炎ised in theFar East, Betty Joel, in an extraordinary way, became one of the few designers who assimilatedmodern aestheticsand produced a uniquely British response to the post-war needs. She brought with her themoderationanddignityof the best Eastern tradition from China. Influenced by the rich materials and clean lines of the French Art Deco furnishings, as well as by the functionalism and craftsmanship of the Arts and Crafts movement, Joel sought to create pieces that werebeautiful,practicalandfinely crafted.
Image source:https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O68219/rug-joel-betty/
Her designs weresimpleandstraightforward. Her work in both furniture and textiles wasdistinctivefor the use ofcurved linesandcurvilinear shapes. Joel set herself the achievable objectives of producingrefinedandpractical furniturefor the modern home and unveiled, however, modern lines that linked it to theModern Movement. She was successful in introducing a version of modernity into a wider audience, albeit through a wealthy clientele, and later through other producers who imitated his style.
Image source:https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O267136/furnishing-fabric-betty-joel-ltd/
Image source:https://www.flickr.com/photos/clivehurst/45380146834by克莱夫·赫斯特
Info sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Joel
