The Pritchard Papers
| This material is held at | University of East Anglia Contact Details | Location |
| Reference Number | GB 1187 PP |
| Dates of Creation | 1829-1996 (predominantly 1925-1985) |
| Name of Creator | John Craven Pritchard, 1899-1992 |
| Language of Material | English |
| Physical Description | 43 series; 70 boxes A light box is available in the Archives for the viewing of slides. |
Scope and Content
General papers, correspondence, plans, photographs, slides, and film accumulated during the lifetime of Jack Pritchard.
Refer to the System of arrangement for scope.
Administrative / Biographical History
Jack Pritchard described himself as an entrepreneur, although he trained at Cambridge as an engineer and economist.
Born in Hampstead in 1899, he served as a midshipman in WWI. In 1924 he married Molly Cooke, who became a practicing psychiatrist. They had two sons born in 1926 and 1928. Jack also shared a daughter with Beatrix Tudor Hart.
In 1925 Jack joined the Venesta Plywood Company and in 1928 he designed, with E.A. Brown, a sideboard in Plymax. He became deeply involved in reforming the British furniture industry, in new design and architecture developing on the Continent, education, and much else. He commissioned Le Corbusier to design a stand for Venesta at the Building Trades Exhibition in September 1930. At around this time he met the engineer/architect Wells Coates and also made several trips abroad. As a result of these trips and the contacts he made, Jack was one of the most informed people on "international style" architecture and design. His introduction of Henry Morris to Walter Gropius lead to Gropius's involvement in the design of Impington Village College.
Pritchard was a leading member of the Design and Industries Association, and he was also involved with Political and Economic Planning. The Pritchard's set up two companies in the 1930s: Isokon Ltd which was the umbrella body for architectural ventures in London, Birmingham and Manchester and which included Wells Coates's Lawn Road Flats which was opened in 1934; and Isokon Furniture Company which manufactured furniture and household equipment.
During the war Pritchard worked for the Ministries of Information, Supply and Fuel and Power. From 1949 until his retirement in 1963, he directed the Furniture Development Council.
Published works: View from a Long chair: the memoirs of Jack Pritchard. 1984. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Arrangement
- PP/1: Biographical papers 1829-1996
- PP/2: General correspondence 1934-1984
- PP/3: Business activities 1925-1970
- PP/4: Political and Economic Planning (PEP) 1931-1981
- PP/5: Political correspondence 1920-1972
- PP/6: Educational correspondence 1927-1972
- PP/7: Design activities other than Isokon 1927-1964
- PP/8: Correspondence with artists, designers and critics 1929-1978
- PP/9: Correspondence with architects 1934-1981
- PP/10: Sailing activities 1939-1985
- PP/11: Refugee activities and correspondence 1938-1975
- PP/12: Wartime activities 1939-1945
- PP/13: Personal financial papers 1936-1983
- PP/14: Papers given to learned bodies by Jack Pritchard 1946-1985
- PP/15: Isokon Ltd 1928-1979
- PP/16: Lawn Road Flats 1932-1972
- PP/17: The Isobar 1937-1992
- PP/18: Isokon Furniture Company 1932-1981
- PP/19: Furniture Working Party 1945-1967
- PP/20: Furniture Development Council 1943-1972
- PP/21: Furniture Industry Research Association 1961-1983
- PP/22: Henry Morris 1912-1985
- PP/23: Wells Coates 1929-1979
- PP/24: Walter and Ise Gropius 1930-1983
- PP/25: Marcel Breuer 1936-1981
- PP/26: Laászloó Moholy-Nagy 1936-1980
- PP/27: Philip and Lella Florence 1934-1980
- PP/28: Design and Industries Association 1925-1980
- PP/29: Philip Morton Shand 1934-1938
- PP/30: Family papers 1933-1983
- PP/31: Rosemary Pritchard 1924-1973
- PP/32: Maxwell Fry 1934-1986
- PP/33: Articles and items of architectural and design interest 1949-1983
- PP/34: Mansfield Forbes 1928-1936
- PP/35: Isokon blueprints, drawings and tracings 1934-1978
- PP/36: Gordon Russell 1940-1981
- PP/37: Charlotte Perriand 1930-197?
- PP/38: Roman Terlikowski and design in Poland 1978-198?
- PP/39: The Half-Hundred Club 1937-1948
- PP/40: Isokon financial records 1930-1965
- PP/41: Jennifer Jones 1960-1983
- PP/42: 8 Angel Lane, Blythburgh - miscellaneous papers 1963-1986
- PP/43: Aldeburgh festival 1968-1976
Conditions Governing Access
Other than where a specific access restriction is noted, the collection is open for consultation in the Archives Department by appointment during its advertised opening hours.
Conditions Governing Use
Reproductions can be supplied in hard copy or digital format subject to physical condition and the terms of deposit. A charge is made for this service. Copyright restrictions may apply and the advice of the Archives department should be sought for any use of reproductions other than personal research.
Acquisition Information
The papers were moved to the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts at UEA by December 1986, and in February 1988 they moved from the SCVA to UEA's Library.
In 1995 the collection was awarded grant-aid by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) for conservation and the production of an online catalogue and a guide in both electronic and hard-copy form.
Custodial History
The collection now known as the Pritchard Papers accumulated during the lifetime of Jack Pritchard as a material record of that life. At some time between late April and the end of May 1972 Jack Pritchard gave his papers to the University of Newcastle. Sorting, arranging and listing of the materials was carried out in the School of Architecture. It was envisaged that they would be transferred to the Library and be known as The Jack Pritchard Collection of Documents.
In 1985 negotiations began between librarians of Newcastle University and the University of East Anglia, with Jack's approval and perhaps at his instigation.
Other Finding Aid
The Pritchard Papers: a guide to the papers of John Craven Pritchard (1899-1992). 1998. UEA.
http://www.lib.uea.ac.uk/lib/libinf/find/archives/pritchard/ppframe.htm
The papers have been catalogued to item level on the library's on-line catalogue
http://www.uea.ac.uk/is/libcatalogue
Access Points
| Title | The Pritchard Papers |
| Creation | This document was generated by Javascript from an HTML form which structured the input according to the elements of ISAD(G) Version 2. |
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Isokon Ltd
Digital Objects:
![Isokon minimun flat. Halftone reproduction [from Design For Today], 1933.](http://www.archiveshub.ac.uk/images/content/dao-gb1187pp15-isoflat-small.jpg)
Isokon minimun flat. Halftone reproduction [from Design For Today], 1933.
| Reference Number | GB 1187 PP/15 |
| Dates of Creation | 1928-1979 |
| Language of Material | English. |
| Physical Description | 5 files; 6 boxes |
Scope and Content
Correspondence and documents regarding various real estate businesses set up and investigated by Jack and Molly Pritchard, and Wells Coates
Isokon Control Company Ltd, incorporated on 8 February 1935 was originally known as Extraordinary Ltd, incorporated on 21 November 1928. It become known as Wells Coates & Partners Ltd on 30 September 1930 and on 20 June 1932 it became known as Isokon Ltd. Isokon (Lawn Road) Ltd and Isokon (Windsor) Ltd were subsidiaries of the parent company.
Isokon (Lawn Road) Ltd, incorporated on 26 February 1935 was the subsidiary company set up to purchase Lawn Road Flats from Isokon Ltd, the Isokon Control Company managing the property.
Isokon (Windsor) Ltd was the company formed out of the project or scheme to build flats in Windsor. The scheme was also known as " Isokon No 3". The flats were to be built on the St Leonard's Hill Estate in Windsor. Insufficient funds were raised for the scheme and it never went ahead, despite substantial progress which had been made. Included are brochures, plans, and feasibility studies.
Isokon Flats (Manchester) related to a proposed "flat building" scheme in Manchester known as "Isokon 2". All aspects of the scheme are covered: finance; feasibility studies; building site proposals; building plans and building restrictions, etc. Correspondencts include, among others: A.P. Simon (landowner) and Adams, Thompson & Fry (town planning consultants and architects). The flats were never built.
Isokon Flats (Birmingham) contains all correspondence relating to proposed flats which were to have been built in Birmingham on Philip Florence's land. A complication was that the land was zoned for private residential use only and the flats would result in a multiple dwelling. The final plan was for 16 flats in 4 blocks. The flats were never built.
Arrangement
- PP/15/1 Isokon Control Company Ltd 1928-1969; 1979
- PP/15/2 Isokon (Lawn Road) Ltd 1935-1975
- PP/15/3 Isokon (Windsor) Ltd 1932-1947
- PP/15/4 "Isokon 2": Manchester Scheme 1934; 1936
- PP/15/5 "Isokon 2": Birmingham Scheme 1935-1938
Access Points
| Corporate Names | |
| Isokon Ltd | |
| Isokon (Lawn Road Ltd), service flats ( 1932 - 1975) | |
| Isokon Flats (Birmingham) | |
| Isokon Flats (Manchester) | |
| Isokon (Windsor Ltd) | |
Lawn Road Flats
Digital Objects:
'Come and see Lawn Road Flats', design for advertisement c. 1934.
| Reference Number | GB 1187 PP/16 |
| Dates of Creation | 1932-1972 |
| Language of Material | English. |
| Physical Description | 4 files containing 79 sub-files; 15 boxes |
Scope and Content
The series includes: documents concerning the planning, design, finance and construction of Lawn Road Flats; correspondence relating to their maintenance, repair and daily administration; correspondence relating to each individual flat and its occupants; and publicity materials, photographs and press-cuttings relating to the scheme. In 1968 the flats were sold to the New Statesman Publishing Company and three years later to Camden Council, documents relating to these transactions are also in this series.
Administrative / Biographical History
This series relates to Lawn Road Flats, a block of flats built in Hampstead in 1933 to a design by Wells Coates. The flats were primarily inspired by Molly Pritchard, and were largely furnished by the Isokon Furniture Company. They were also serviced and a restaurant and club was later added, the Isobar.
In May 2001 Notting Hill Housing Group was chosen to purchase and restore this Grade 1 listed building. Work on the building is expected to be finished in Summer 2002.
Arrangement
- PP/16/1 Design and construction 1932-1936
- PP/16/2 Publicity and promotion 1933-1972
- PP/16/3 Management, services and maintenance 1934-1969
- PP/16/4 Tenants 1934-1968
Access Points
| Subjects | |
| Apartments -- England -- London | |
| Corporate Names | |
| Lawn Road Flats | |
| Isobar | |
Isokon Furniture Company
| Reference Number | GB 1187 PP/18 |
| Dates of Creation | 1932-1989 |
| Language of Material | English. |
| Physical Description | 10 files containing 129 sub-files; 8 boxes |
Scope and Content
Contains company reports, financial papers and minutes; patents, designs and licensing agreements; correspondence concerning furniture design, production and marketing; advertising leaflets, including original art work, some designed by László Moholy-Nagy, press-cuttings, slides and photographs of the furniture.
Post World War II material deals with keeping the company going, continued production of the Long chair and two exhibitions of Isokon furniture in the 1970s.
Administrative / Biographical History
The Isokon Furniture Company was established in 1935, while Jack Pritchard was still employed by Venesta Ltd. Isokon had begun to produce furniture in 1933, the first products being plywood "book boxes", modular shelf units designed by Wells Coates and manufactured by Venesta. In 1936 Jack Pritchard left Venesta to run the Isokon companies full-time. The book units and their variants had had some success, and Isokon had also begun to market the products of other companies, such as Finmar and PEL. With the arrival of first Walter Gropius and then Marcel Breuer the company expanded its own range of products, particularly tables and chairs, maintaining the emphasis on the use of plywood. Progress was modest until Breuer's Long chair went into production. However, before the market could be fully developed war broke out, cutting Isokon off from its suppliers of raw materials and its principal manufacturer.
After the war Jack Pritchard made several attempts to revive the company and eventually production of the Long chair resumed, together with revised versions of the Penguin Donkey book-case and the Bottleship, both re-designed by Ernest Race.
Arrangement
- PP/18/1 Foundation, minutes and annual reports 1935-1968
- PP/18/2 Financial Papers 1933-1986
- PP/18/3 Patents, designs and licensing agreements 1931-1975
- PP/18/4 Advertising and publicity 1930-1980
- PP/18/5 Marketing 1930-1989
- PP/18/6 Sales 1933-1947
- PP/18/7 Design 1934-1972
- PP/18/8 Manufacturers and suppliers 1932-1980
- PP/18/9 Other business correspondence 1937-1981
- PP/18/10 Miscellaneous 1938-1975
Access Points
| Subjects | |
| Chairs | |
| Personal Names | |
| Race Ernest furniture designer | |
| Corporate Names | |
| Isokon Furniture Company | |
