Thursday 25 February 2016

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.





Thursday 18 February 2016

Communicating in Fabric and Stitch




The East Anglian Stitch Textile (E.A.S.T) group to which I belong is currently preparing for the last display of our WWI themed exhibition  Between the Lines which travels to the Landmark Arts Gallery, Teddington, later in the summer.  As part of the exhibition there will be workshops on the themes of "identity" and "communication".  We wanted to explore something relevant to the exhibition without necessarily being war related.


Once you start to explore the theme of identity you realise what a huge topic it is - where to start? Perhaps start with name or initials?  Or geographical location - town, county, country or part of the wider world - a European or a citizen of Earth?  To begin with it I didn't know where to begin until I thought about a subject that has inspired me for the last decade - that of foundling tokens.  

One of the aspects I find particularly interesting about the tokens is the fact that they can communicate through time - a heart left in the 18th century by a mother giving up a child is still understood as a message of love and hope in the 21st century.  It is a simple symbol with a complex history and connects with themes of friendship and faith as well as romantic love.  

My sample of work, of which there are only details shown here, is a combination of hearts that not only relate to my years of research and the stories discovered but using fabrics which have their own memories they contain hidden aspects of my own identity.  The heart at the top of this page is from a piece of fabric copied from a scrap in the Foundling Hospital archives.  Originally it was used for the exhibition Threads of Feeling, - an exhibition about the foundling textile tokens that ran at the London Foundling Museum in 2010/11.  The second heart shown includes a piece of my wedding dress fabric - just a small scrap left over not a piece cut from the dress itself.  One heart includes fabric given to me by a friend Angela from the USA (see below) as a gift, a friend made through the token exhibition.  Another piece (not shown) is left over from a banner I helped make with the Billericay Branch of the Essex Handicrafts Association so a reminder of other friendships.  Another a piece of tea-towel bought from my local supermarket, but used in a piece of work that told the story of Margaret Larney - the tragic and true story of a women I have researched in depth.  Every fabric holds a memory, sometimes several, and thereby becomes part of the story of my identity.


Although the work was originally planned as a sample for the E.A.S.T workshop, I am hoping to put it into an exhibition of work for the Chelmsford branch of the Embroiderer's Guild, later this year. With each use the work will add another layer of memories.







Thursday 11 February 2016

Egyptian Texts and Textiles



Think of Egypt and you tend to think of mummies, pyramids, hieroglyphs, etc, but the British Museum exhibition, Egypt: Faith After the Pharaohs, looked at the history and culture of the country from the time when the Pharaohs had lost their power to the Romans.  From belief in multiple gods many people were converted to the idea of one through the religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.  In the early centuries AD, people of different faiths generally lived side by side, tolerant of their diversity and often influenced by their differences.  

Because of the climate and geological conditions in Egypt, textiles survive in abundance, allowing them to be part of the evidence of life almost 2000 years ago.  Very early on in the exhibition there was a child's linen tunic dating from the 6-7th centuries AD.  

One of the most elaborate textile artefacts of the exhibition was a set of tomb curtains, again dating from the 6-7th century AD.  They were brightly coloured with a border of cartoon like cherubs holding swags and baskets of fruit between them.  With the curtains pulled together two angels held a plaque which was badly worn, but showed a cross in the centre.  The plainer areas were dotted with birds, flowers and fruit.  Apparently the curtains survival was due to their reuse as a burial shroud. 

The exhibition also included one of the oldest known embroidered Islamic cloths - the Marwan tiraz (inscribed textile).  This ceremonial cloth dates from 684-750AD (or 64-133AH).  

Another favourite piece from the exhibition were some fragments of tunic decorations, that included nilometers, ie instruments for measuring the height of the Nile water.  The fragment showed God holding a cornucopia and his companion Euthenia holding a veil filled with fruit.  One cupid figure holds a bird while another engraves the figures IZ (17) and IH (18) indicating the ideal height of the Nile (too much meant flood, too little drought).   

Although not textile related, I also found the section on the Cairo Genizah collection interesting. This is a collection of hundreds of thousands of literary texts abandoned in Ben Ezra Synagogue in Old Cairo.  It gives a remarkable insight into the social and economic life of medieval people living in Egypt and includes personal letters alongside literary works. Two Scottish scholars (twins Agnes Lewis and Margaret Gibson) brought back some of the fragments to their friend, Solomon Schechter in 1896.  He recognised their importance and brought back 193,000 manuscripts back to Cambridge -scholars are still studying them today.

The exhibition had begun with three texts (one Jewish, one Christian and one Islamic).  It ended with three tunics, each different but with decoration that does not allow them to be identified as from any particular culture - similarities and diversity, altogether.

I visited this exhibition in its last days.  I had not expected there to be so many textile items on display and as they come from a range of museums (British Museum, Victoria and Albert and the Louvre), I was lucky to see them altogether.  My timing also meant that the exhibition shop was selling items at very discounted prices - the image at the top of this post is that of an embroidered bag, made in modern Egypt.  The British Museum's next major exhibition on Sicily (opens April) also promises some textiles so it looks as if I will have to go back there again in the spring.


Thursday 4 February 2016

The Power of Flowers



The Fashion and Textile Museum are currently displaying 140 years of Liberty fashion and fabrics. A company that was started by Arthur Lasenby Liberty began when he was asked to look after the Oriental Department of the Farmer and Rogers Great Cloak and Shawl Emporium in Regent Street. He became friends with members of the Aesthetic movement and this allowed him to establish his own shop across the street.  

In his early years Japan had just opened trade links with the West and Japanese inspired clothing was the height of fashion.  This section of the Liberty in Fashion exhibition at the museum included some of my favourite items, particularly this embroidered outfit.  Behind is a piece of the the painted design.


The Aesthetic movement itself must have been a revelation when women were able to wear clothing that allowed them not only to move more freely but display their taste in the arts.  Liberty's was also a promoter of traditional skills and the exhibition displays several smocked outfits, alongside a display of traditional crochet.  

The twentieth century is well represented moving from the traditional floral prints of the 1920s and 30s to the bolder Art Nouveau revival style of the 1950s.  In the 1960 to 1970s designers used Liberty prints in modern trend-setting styles.  


Any student of fashion will, I think, enjoy this exhibition as much for the clothing details as the prints themselves, and the museum are more than happy for you to take flash-free photography.  

A small section of designs by Susan Collier and Sarah Campbell, design consultants for Liberty in the 1960s shows fabrics used for fashion and furnishings, and completes the exhibition.

The exhibition continues until 28 February 2016 and will be followed by Art Textiles: Marian Clayden in March and April.  As always the museum has a whole host of talks, workshops and activities.