See more objects with the tag transportation, London Underground.

Object Timeline

  • We acquired this object.

1931

  • Work on this object began.

1941

  • Work on this object ended.

2021

2025

  • You found it!

Upholstery Sample, Chesham

This is a Upholstery Sample. It was designed by Marion Dorn Kauffer and manufactured by John Holdsworth & Co. and made for (as the client) London Passenger Transport Board.

This object is not part of the Cooper Hewitt's permanent collection. It was able to spend time at the museum on loan from London Transport Museum as part of Underground Modernist: E. McKnight Kauffer.

It is dated ca. 1936. Its medium is moquette (wool pile). It is a part of the Exhibitions department.


In 1936, Frank Pick commissioned new upholstery for transport seating from leading designers including Dorn, whose Chesham and Colindale designs were used in railway carriages into the 1950s. Dorn received a design brief that the textiles be durable and hide dirt but also bring a cheerful atmosphere to the cars. She visited the John Holdsworth mill in Halifax, England, to observe and better understand the manufacturing process.

It is credited London Transport Museum.

Its dimensions are

H x W x D: 27.9 × 23 × 0.3 cm (11 in. × 9 1/16 in. × 1/8 in.)

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Underground Modernist: E. McKnight Kauffer.

There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian’s Terms of Use page.

If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/2318805113/ |title=Upholstery Sample, Chesham |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=29 May 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>