Designer Debby Tenquist. Portrait by Christoph Hoffman Photography
A renaissance woman in a modern moment, South African designer Debby Tenquist has as many talents as she has interests. During her studies in decorative arts at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the South Africa native realized that many decorative artists were also architects and gardeners, so by a scholarly osmosis, she learned about historical gardens and the principles of their design.
After a stint working for Sotheby’s auction house and a turn working in antique valuations, Tenquist decided to try her hand at landscape architecture back in Johannesburg.
She was fortunate to get commissions that excited her from the start and soon had a bustling business, culminating in her work on The Garden of St Christopher—a private garden open by appointment—in the city’s Hyde Park. Even so, Tenquist itched for a change in medium. In 2015, she set her sights on textiles, an art form she had studied and long admired.
A bountiful view of The Garden of St Christopher in Johannesburg, a project that took Tenquist five years to complete. Photo by Elsa Young
Samples of her Incredible India collection. Photo by Marianne Swankhart
“Textiles have always had an enormous role to play in society,” she says. “The stories and subjects that are used reflect the faith and belief systems of people. The symbols have great meaning. A lot of that is lost today, but there’s a huge swing back toward artisanal objects. People are looking for less technology in their lives. There’s a simplicity in the exotic and ethnic designs in textiles that people are drawn to.”
Though Tenquist had an artistic background, she hadn’t put pen to paper in 35 years. But once she started drawing (she uses a pen on an iPad), she felt invigorated. She named her line Botanica Trading with the goal of creating botanically inspired textiles with a modern sense of scale and size. Her first collection, Incredible India, launched in the United States last August to rave reviews. She is enjoying the change in perspective.
—Debby Tenquist
Her design for The Garden of St Christopher mixes formal elements with a romantic palette. Photo by Elsa Young
“Textiles are very much a cultural and artistic expression of the times,” says Tenquist, who draws from her love of nature and Oriental and European decorative arts for her fabrics. Photo by Marianne Swankhart
With a follow-up collection based on the Ottoman Empire in the works and an expansion into chinoiserie wallpaper, Tenquist is relishing her return to the decorative arts.
No matter the media; however, her ultimate inspiration will always be the natural world. “Anything that draws us towards nature is important,” says Tenquist. “It’s where our roots lie.”
By Kirk Reed Forrester
