Murder In Damask
No one writes a detective novel quite like Agatha Christie. Renowned for her tongue-in-cheek character names, page-turning revelations, and ingenious red herrings, Christie wrote a grand collection of sixty-six notoriously captivating detective novels, fourteen gripping short-story collections, and twenty compelling stage plays. This collection, aside from the Bible and the works of William Shakespeare, stands as the best-selling literary work of all time.
The Fabric Behind Agatha Christie's Mysteries
Christie was often inspired by grand English homes and Abney Hall was no exception. A grand Victorian residence built in 1847, it encapsulates the quintessential country house. Prince Albert, having resided there for a brief period in 1857, described it as one of the region’s ‘most princely mansions’.
Christie frequented the property often to visit her sister Margaret, who lived at the hall with her husband James Watts. When their son, also James Watts, took over the property he became the last private owner. He soon commissioned A.W.N Pugin - who inspired many of the designs in our archive at Watts 1874 - to alter the Victorian architecture to an even grander state. As part of this renovation, Pugin used the "Madonna and Saints" (c. 1450) tapestry by Rogier van der Weyden - a renowned Early Netherlandish painter of the Northern Renaissance - to create the Bellini design. The design was subsequently made into a fabric wallcovering to adorn Abney Hall’s drawing room.
Bellini is still being woven over 100 years later
The swirling, grand damask is almost hypnotic in nature, ultimately providing the perfect backdrop to the twisting and ever-shifting plot of a detective novel. Long winter nights in a room embraced by the rich silk damask seem warm and welcoming, only enhancing the tension of the darkness and fear that run through the residences in Christie's novels. During her visits to Abney Hall, she was likely imagining her many characters sat against the ambient backdrop as they whispered, plotted and interrogated.
The designs, tones, and fabrics used in an interior all greatly influence its atmosphere. Sweeping, majestic designs create an air of opulence whilst still giving the room warmth. Our grand damasks, such as our opulent Cassius, striking Malvern, or quintessential Old English, therefore acts as the perfect balance to the sharpness of gothic architecture, such as at Abney Hall. Many of our damasks are the original designs of our co-founder, G.F. Bodley. The classical damask design was named after the Syrian city situated along the Silk road trade route, Damascus, and their naturalistic designs have filled luxurious spaces across Europe ever since.
Mystery Muses
It was this grandeur that inspired Christie. Her novels are often situated within the context of a grand country home. Dinner parties in extravagant dining halls, whispered meetings in secluded corridors, and a near isolation from the outside world all set the scene for Christie’s captivating mysteries. She was inspired by the upstairs-downstairs domestic hierarchy and often commented on the microcosm of British society that the running of these homes reflected by using household staff as witnesses or accomplices who were essential to her plots.
Christie wrote her novels After the Funeral (1953) and The Tale of the Christmas Pudding (1960) whilst staying at Abney Hall. After the Funeral is set in a grand country home where the family of Richard Abernethie gather to read his will. After a subsequent murder and increasing tensions about his inheritance, speculations about his cause of death start to creep through the house.
Written seven years later, The Tale of the Christmas Pudding follows the theft of a Prince’s priceless ruby. It is also set in an English country house but this time at Christmas; a period during which Christie often visited Abney Hall. Christie depicts a classic, old-fashioned English Christmas. Christmas Pudding - a delicacy tracing back to medieval England - even plays a crucial role in how the plot unfurls.
Depicting family affairs and festivities link these novels to stereotypical life in an English country home, therefore reflecting the inspiration Christie got from visits to Abney Hall. In Janet Morgan’s Agatha Christie: A Biography Christie's quoted praising the ‘great influence’ the Hall had on her, and she describes it as ‘the picture of a Victorian house’. Christie’s letters and writings also describe it as being ‘perfect’ for writing.
Murder Backdrops
Since sparking Christie’s imagination, our grand, gothic designs have played a key role in murder mysteries. In Britain’s treasured Sherlock TV series, Sherlock’s bedroom is decked out in our Amicia wallpaper in the statement Honey Bird colorway. Originally discovered on the walls of the Billiard Room at Stokesay Court, Shropshire, the design’s warm tones create a pensive atmosphere for Sherlock’s musings.
Enola in disguise in young Sherlock's clothes. Screenshot: 'Enola Holmes' trailer
Similarly, Netflix’s hit series Enola Holmes, which follows the adventures of Sherlock’s younger sister, features our Marie-Séverine wallpaper. Named after our CEO, the delicate damask offers a statement yet remains delightfully dainty. Additionally, our Oscar wallpaper was also used by the series’ set designers. A classically swirled damask, it reflects the fast past swirling of a detective’s mind at work.
Finally, following Christie’s novels being influenced by the design of Abney Hall, her novels have since gone on to influence interiors. In a recent project for a top-end private home, our Camberwell Indian Red wallpaper adorned a corridor for which the design brief was to emulate the ambience of the Orient Express - the long-distance luxury train on which Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express was set.
Our Collection
To drench your space in gothic designs grand enough to have inspired Christie’s great novels, explore our collection of damasks here, or come to our London showroom at the Chelsea Harbour Design Centre.
Written by Molly Wraith