Material Girls - very much en vogue

Anthony Denney is not a name that I was familiar with before I visited this exhibition.  Yet in the 1960s he was considered an icon of twentieth century style.  Between 1964 and 1969 he lived at Rainham Hall, now a National Trust property and this year they are celebrating their fashionable resident in an exhibition about his life and work - click HERE for more information.

The textile art group, Material Girls have also created a display of their own contemporary work inspired by Denney - as a fashion photographer, interior designer, art connoisseur and a design icon.

Each section of the display relates to a different aspect of Denney's life.  A famous photograph (which you can see on the Rainham Hall website) shows Denney inside a huge Chinese pot - and one of the Material Girls has recreated the pot in fabric (above) - apologies for not making a note of the artist's name.

The artists are also very generous in putting their sketchbooks on display (see above) so you can get an idea of just some of the work involved in getting their ideas from paper to thread.

This section (below) refers to his interest in interior design.

Another section (below) was devoted to Denney's interest in Japanese art and culture.

I was particularly intrigued by some of Beverley Folkard's miniature book art works (below).

Denney is not someone I knew of prior to this exhibition so a visit is not just a case of seeing some beautiful textile art, but also learning something new.

These images are just a very small selection of the work on display.  The exhibition is free as most of it is in the Hayloft, the cafe next to the main building.  There is a charge if you want to visit the house itself.  Although I did not visit this time, it is an interesting place to visit.  There will always be members of Material Girls on hand to talk to while their exhibition is open - which is until 16th February 2020.  Check the Rainham Hall website for details of opening times etc or the Material Girls website for more information on their work.  

  

Wandering along the Wandle

The River Wandle in the south of London is in an area of the capital I had not visited until this week. The river's fast flowing nature made it an ideal place for siting water mills at the beginning of the industrial revolution and for this reason a link with the creation of textiles.  The industrial heritage of the river was the subject of a guided walk arranged by the Friends of Coram, a group set up to support the Coram charity.  I knew the area also had a link to the original Foundling Hospital, set up by Thomas Coram, but a bit of history beyond the scope of the walk.

Originally the site of a priory, Merton is now the site of a huge Sainsbury/Marks and Spencer store, but our guide, Stephen Benton, showed us the last remnant of the priory wall (below) hidden behind a petrol station.  

The arch below was another section of the wall, though having been accidentally knocked down (I think in the twentieth century) it is not authentically medieval but a restored section - part ancient and part modern.  

In an area now known as Merton Abbey Mills, until the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII, there had been a priory.  The site was never an abbey but once named, the title stayed. It was here that William Morris set up arts and crafts (Morris & Co) workshops in the 1880s.  Fabrics were woven, printed and dyed - alongside other crafts such as stained glass making.

This was also the location where Edmund Littler produced printed silks and fine fabrics for Liberty. The building above, known as the Show House, (built in 1912), was the design house for Liberty fabrics.

Here (above) a waterwheel, perhaps once used in textile production, and is now used by a pottery.

The building above is the Colour House.  Its flint construction suggests it could be medieval, at least in part.  It was the dye house for Liberty and now the home of a miniature theatre (since 1995).

Many of the buildings have now been turned into restaurants and shops and this (above) was the Apprentice Shop.  Built in the 1920s by Liberty, it was an area to train apprentices.  Left derelict, it was completely restored in the 1980s.

This (above) is the Long Shop - originally used for pressing silk flat, and once heated by furnaces.  It dates from 1906.

This last building is called the "William Morris" and a public house - its age and original use are not known - perhaps it has always been a pub.

After walking through the "abbey" site we travelled further along the river, eventually ending at Morden Hall Park, with mills that produced snuff, not fabric.  This was where our walk finished.  Had we gone a little further we would have reached Ravensbury, once the site of John Arbuthnot's Bleaching and Calico Printing Work where in 1760 thirteen girls from the Foundling Hospital were apprenticed.  Instead there was just time to visit the National Trust cafe before taking the journey home.  

At home with Captain Harle

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Rainham Hall in Essex, UK is one of the latest National Trust properties to be opened to the public.  I made my first visit there last weekend, not only to visit the hall but to see the work of the 'Material Girls' textile group.  Their work was displayed in the hall itself last year, but some of the work has been developed since then and their open studio event not only could I see the work itself, but also see some of their ideas and development.  Each day one of the artists is on hand to tell you more about their work, so I was also lucky to catch up with my friend Helen.

The Hall itself was built in 1729 for a Captain John Harle, as a family home and although its contents were scattered many years ago, the exterior and interior have survived pretty well.  

At present the display in the hall tells the life and times of Captain Harle, although in different seasons the displays will change to tell the lives of other occupants.  At present there are displays on items not just related to Captain Harle's nautical life, but life in the eighteenth century in general, including a recreation of a coffee house in the kitchen area.  A particularly beautiful exhibit is a dress, recreated in a style perhaps not dissimilar to the sort of dress Captain Harle's bride might have worn on her wedding day.  

One display is not peculiar to the house's original origins but shows a range of objects found during the conservation process - objects lost and now found beneath the floorboards giving a glimpse into the lives of a whole host of inhabitants.  

The Material Girls will hold their open studio until the end of this week (finishes 28 February 2016) and is free to visit (there is a fee to visit the hall).  They are situated above the cafe, but unfortunately there is no disabled access.  In May they have a new exhibition Ingrebourne Valley Visitor Centre in Hornchurch, Essex.