Antony Little (1942–2024) belongs to that rarefied generation of post-war British creatives whose influence, though often exercised behind the scenes, proved instrumental in shaping the visual identity of an era. A designer, illustrator, and artist of singular imagination, Little stood at the forefront of the aesthetic revolution that came to define 1960s London, an age in which fashion, art, music, and interior design coalesced into a new and vividly expressive cultural language. His work, erudite and sensuous, drew upon the past while capturing the spirit of its time. It situated him as a particular protagonist in the revival of Art Nouveau and its reinterpretation for a modern audience.

Born in 1942, Little came of age at a moment when British design was undergoing a profound transformation. The austerity of the post-war years was giving way to a renewed appetite for ornament and cosmopolitanism. Antony’s trajectory was defined less by establishment convention than by a precocious immersion in the creative currents of post-war London.

By the mid-1960s, he had become an integral figure within the social and artistic circles that congregated around Chelsea and the King’s Road. A milieu populated by designers, musicians, and tastemakers whose collective output came to epitomise the phenomenon of “Swinging London.” His circle included figures such as Mick Jagger, Brian Jones and many others, including Princess Margaret, who have become synonymous with that age. Within this context, Little’s sensibility, rooted in draughtsmanship, historical knowledge, and a highly personal sense of style, found fertile ground.

From the outset, drawing formed the foundation of his practice. His line, at once controlled and expressive, reveals an affinity with the great illustrators of the late nineteenth century, not least Aubrey Beardsley. Yet these affinities were never merely imitative. Rather, Antony approached historical sources with a distinctly modern eye, reconfiguring them through a lens that was by turns ironic, theatrical, and deeply attuned to contemporary culture. It was this capacity for reinvention that positioned him at the vanguard of the Art Nouveau Revival, a movement that, in the hands of designers such as Little, became synonymous with the liberated spirit of the 1960s.

His early career was marked by a series of collaborations with leading figures of the London scene. Working alongside creatives including Barbara Hulanicki, Nicky Haslam, and others within their orbit, Little contributed to a visual culture that blurred the boundaries between fashion, retail, and art. His designs for the boutiques Biba and Hung On You were particularly significant in this regard. These spaces, conceived as immersive environments rather than mere shops, relied upon a cohesive aesthetic in which graphics, interiors, and merchandise formed a unified whole. Antony’s contribution, whether in the form of pattern, illustration, or logo design, was central to their enduring allure.

Parallel to these commercial endeavours ran a more literary strand of activity. Antony illustrated numerous books, most notably a celebrated edition of short stories by Guillaume Apollinaire. The drawings produced for this project, encapsulate the distinctive qualities of his graphic style. Dark, playful, provocative, and sensuous, they engage directly with the themes of Apollinaire’s text while asserting an autonomy that elevates them beyond the status of mere illustration. In their economy of line and psychological charge, they stand as independent works of art, anticipating the broader recognition that Little’s draughtsmanship would later receive.

The foundation of Osborne & Little in 1968 marked a decisive moment in his career. Established in partnership with his brother-in-law, Sir Peter Osborne, the company would go on to become one of the most influential names in British interior design. From its inception, Little served as the creative engine of the enterprise, producing designs that combined historical reference with a bold, contemporary sensibility. His wallpapers and textiles, often hand-drawn and richly detailed, reintroduced ornament and narrative into interiors at a time when the austerity of modernism still held sway. The success of Osborne & Little, both commercially and critically, ensured that his aesthetic vision influenced the decorative language of late twentieth-century interiors.

Yet, despite his prominence within the design world, Little remained a curiously private figure. While Osborne & Little expanded internationally, its fabrics and wallpapers adorning interiors from London to the White House, he gradually withdrew from the public-facing aspects of the business, retiring in 2005. What followed was not a cessation of creative activity but a redirection: a return to drawing and painting, mediums through which he could explore more personal themes.

Throughout his career, he continued to draw and paint, developing a body of work that was largely kept from public view until relatively recently. These works, many of which date from the 1960s onwards, reveal a deeply personal engagement with themes of mythology, literature, and the natural world. Executed primarily in ink, they demonstrate a mastery of line that is both technically assured and emotionally resonant. Their figures, elongated, stylised, and often imbued with a languid sensuality, inhabit worlds that are at once timeless and unmistakably of their moment.

The relative privacy in which this work was produced speaks to a broader aspect of Little’s character. Despite his proximity to fame and fashion, he remained notably reticent, preferring the intimacy of the studio to the visibility of publicity. His home in Chelsea, described as possessing an almost operatic quality, functioned as both a repository for his collections and a setting for his creative activity. Within this environment, two separate flats which Antony masterfully brought together with a theatrical double height staircase; objects, furniture, and works of art coexisted in carefully orchestrated spaces, reflecting a sensibility that extended seamlessly from the drawn line to the lived space.

It is precisely this synthesis of life and art that finds expression throughout this catalogue. Little by little, the collection offers an unprecedented insight into Antony’s aesthetic universe. Bringing together works, whether designed or bought, reveal the undiluted breadth of his interests and the coherence of his vision. These pieces, are all characterised by their elegance and wit, exemplifying the same principles that underpin his works on paper: a sensitivity to line, proportion, and historical reference, combined with a willingness to experiment and innovate.

The drawing desk from his Chelsea home (Lot 203), upon which many of his most celebrated designs were conceived, stands as a tangible link to his creative process, while a cased pair of his signature white Chelsea boots (Lot 310), handmade by his preferred cobbler in Naples, offers a glimpse into his unapologetic personal style.

Following Antony’s death in 2024, it is now that he is beginning to receive renewed attention and recognition as an artist of remarkable significance. The works presented here, whether drawings, objects, or personal effects, collectively articulate a vision that transcends disciplinary boundaries. In this respect, Antony may be understood as part of a wider tradition of iconic artist-designers, such as Oliver Messel, Cecil Beaton and Eileen Gray for whom the applied arts offered a legitimate ground for creative expression.

Ultimately, Antony Little emerges as a figure of quiet yet enduring influence: an aesthete whose patterns adorned the  interiors of a generation, and an artist whose drawings reveal a deeply cultivated and imaginative mind. The present collection, assembled over a lifetime offers a unique opportunity to engage with the full scope of his achievement. It invites us not only to admire the objects themselves but to consider the mind that produced them, a sensibility marked by curiosity, erudition, and an unwavering commitment to beauty as well as to recognise the lasting significance of his contribution to British design. In the words of Antony himself ‘It’s all rather CURIOUS!’

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Auction Details

Tuesday 12 May 2026, 10.30am BST
Donnington Priory, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2JE

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