A crucial partnership

FAR from a lonely figure in London, Althea Mcnish co-founded the Caribbean Artists Movement and was a friend and mentor to many. Her crucial partnership was with the jewellery designer and silversmith John Weiss, the son of Jewish refugees from Tsarist and Nazi persecution, whom she married in 1969.

With her bird-of-paradise outfits and his cream suits with matching fedora, they were a stylish fixture at design launches and parties. Their house became a hub for youthful talent. Both only children and with no offspring of their own, their 49-year marriage was a model of mutual support. Latterly—with Weiss head of the furnishing and interior-design department of the London College of Furniture—they focused on teaching and often gave joint lectures.

On her husband’s death in 2018, Mcnish said: ‘I couldn’t have asked for a better partner. John was very supportive, loving and considerate. We joined together to make life better for our students.’