I spent a very interesting day at the Victoria and Albert
Museum yesterday searching through old issues of the Furniture Gazette to find
out about the state of lace manufacturing in the UK in the 1870s. These
journals are a fascinating resource aimed at those in the trade, rather than
consumers, and they give a frank view of the business world. However they also
include news items, obituaries, trade relations, articles about current styles,
as well as thoughts about design and manufacturing. For example a few of the
things I read about were disputes in the lace trade, a patent for a device that
traps muslin fabric between two glass window panes, a description of how the
jacquard patterning system works, and a review of the lace at the 1874
international exhibition by Mrs Bury Palliser. I was also pleased to find some
designs for window drapery including fine lace curtains and some tips on
curtain design by those well know gurus of the day the Misses Rhoda and Agnes Garrett.
Thursday 26 January 2017
Friday 20 January 2017
Nottingham lace
I’ve spent the last few days in Nottingham first attending a
symposium about lace and lace related topics and then doing some more research
towards my response to the Battle of Britain lace panel. At the symposium I
gave a paper about the approach I’m taking to the commission and how other
artists have produced textile responses to war archives and themes of conflict.
There were many other interesting papers, in particular, David Hopkin talking
about research into lace ‘tells’, Gail Baxter discussing her research into lace
business records, Matthew Potter talking about the Limerick lace industry and
Amanda Briggs Goode discussing early artschool training for lace designers. The
research towards the Battle of Britain panel involved sourcing some of the
original photographs from which the original panel was designed. So all in all
an excellent few days, meeting new lace contacts and catching up with old ones
and doing some research.
Thursday 12 January 2017
Japanese lace fan
Walking the dog in the winter I always enjoy looking at the
trees and the lace-like images made by the leafless branches. They remind me of
Japanese paintings and it was the combination of Japanese art and the
silhouettes of winter trees that inspired me to make this hanging of a fan. I
used a Bedfordshire style of lace, which, with its plaits and leaves provides a
good representation of winter twigs. I felt the combination of black threads
and red background gave an oriental air to the piece and I also added some gold
beads to give some highlights and a golden full moon to add to the Japanese
effect.
Friday 6 January 2017
Battle of Britain lace panel
My exciting
new project for the coming year involves the Battle of Britain lace panel – the
image just shows a detail. I’ve been commissioned to produce a contemporary
textile response to the panel and its associated archive and I’m very grateful
to the Textile Society for giving me a professional development award to help
me fund the project and Nottingham Trent University for giving me a residency.
The Battle of Britain panel was manufactured by Dobsons and Browne of
Nottingham in 1942-6. It is 5 yards long and 65 inches wide and celebrates the
bravery of the aircrew who fought the Battle of Britain in 1940, as well as the
resilience of the people of London who were besieged nightly by the German
Luftwaffe. It depicts the insignia of the Allied Air Forces that played a role
in the battle, as well as scenes of the bombing of London. It was produced as a
limited edition, and panels were presented to the air forces involved and to
dignitaries of the day, including Winston Churchill. Today the panels are
displayed in Air Force Museums, cathedrals, textile museums and other places
worldwide. Once the panels had been produced, the original designs and
associated jacquard cards were destroyed to ensure that it remained a limited
edition. However, later in life, the designer, Harry Cross, painted the scenes
in the panel, and these and other archival material have recently been loaned
to the Lace Archive, at Nottingham Trent University. It is this archive that
has been the impetus for the new project. My first research visit is planned
for mid January so watch this space to see how the project progresses.
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