David Whitehead textile panel with artwork by Feliks Topolski, 1950s

This 100% cotton fabric was produced in the late 1950s by the David Whitehead textiles company and is illustrated on page 21 of Alan Peat's 1993 book David Whitehead Ltd: Artist Designed Textiles 1952-1969. The author comments that the artwork was inspired by Jackson Pollack but gives no further details. However, the design is often attributed to Feliks Topolski (1907–1989), with the title given as Piccadilly Circus – and indeed, the statue of Eros can be clearly identified in the design, poised ready to shoot his arrow with one foot on his plinth.

The fabric measures 72cm in width and 180cm in length, and is ideal for mounting or framing as wall art. The pattern repeat is 59cm in the width and 56cm in the length. The panel is unfinished on top, bottom and left edges, the right side being selvedge. All edges have fold lines and lines of machine stitch holes from previous seams or hems (see accompanying photos), indicating that the panel has been reclaimed, perhaps from a curtain. There is a 3mm mark in the white background (see photo) and a narrow strip of slight soiling along about 8cm of the old seam foldline on the selvedge side (see photo). Otherwise the condition is excellent and the colours remain strong and vibrant.