Spring Newsletter 2015
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Spring Newsletter 2015 1 Contents Page Papers from the DATS conference 2014 3-33 News 34-35 Exhibitions and Events 35-54 Books 54-59 DATS Constitution 59-60 Front cover image: Detail of embroidery on green silk satin dress 1925 ©National Trust Arlington Court 2 Papers from the DATS conference 2014 From ancient craft to domestic art: Anne Maile Tie-dye Archive at the London College of Fashion: Jane Holt. Senior Research Fellow Archives, London College of Fashion. [email protected] The London College of Fashion Archive holds a collection of materials created by textile designer Anne Maile recording how she developed increasingly sophisticated and innovative techniques for tie-dye from the 1950s to her death in 1976. In the late 1940s Maile attended classes at Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts as a part-time mature student and became interested in methods of resist textile dyeing. She began researching the history of the ancient technique of tie-dye, locating examples in the V&A and British Museum, and created a very detailed archive of notes, diagrams and samples recording her designs and her experiments with dyes, fabrics and papers, and tying techniques. Figure 1: Examples of tie-dye paper from Anne Maile Archive ©London College of Fashion Archives Maile recognised the potential of tie-dying as a creative medium to inspire young people in their artistic development. Her autobiographical notes show the domestic nature of tie-dye enabled her to practice and develop her craft at home in the kitchen while looking after her children. She recognised the pedagogic potential of the craft and from the late 1950s through the 1960s Maile taught and delivered workshops for other teachers on tie-dye. She appears to have been a natural teacher, keen to find out how to do things and then share that knowledge. From the mid-1960s Maile’s work became more widely known after she began collaborating with Dylon dye manufacturers. She wrote and illustrated three well received books on tie-dye, as well as numerous articles in education and women’s magazines, and appeared on television and in a Central Office of Information film. Maile took an ancient craft and turned it into an art form, exhibiting, and being commissioned to create, wall hangings for private and public spaces. She was a Fellow of the Society of Designer Craftsmen, a member of the Embroiders Guild, and of the British Crafts Centre, and was part of Vera Sherman’s group ‘Contemporary Hangings’. She also saw tie-dye as a way of self-expression, creating a method of working that she was able to control and exploit. She wore her own creations and encouraged using tie-dye to embellish clothing and accessories. How far her work influenced fashion is hard to gauge but she was producing tie-dyed garments from the 1950s 3 before it became fashionable, and her work did get exposure through her teaching, books, films, TV and exhibitions, and her collaboration with Dylon. Figure 2: Notebooks from the Anne Maile Archive © London College of Fashion Archives The collection London Collection of Fashion holds consists of fabric and paper tie-dyed samples; notebooks containing drawings and textile swatches; 16 mm film; slides, photographs and transparencies; and various letters and cuttings. The archive will form the basis of a project to create an online learning resource on tie-dye, and research is being carried out to make Anne Maile’s life, creative work and innovative methods known to a new and wider audience. Straw Cloth – its development and place in fashion. Veronica Main, Significant Collections Curator, Luton Culture. [email protected] Introduction The purpose of this short paper is to raise awareness of this interesting form of cloth and to make an appeal to locate more examples. I intend to define the types of straw cloth which are known, to share an outline of the information that I have collected, and show examples of the currently known examples. I will not have time to include more in depth information and statistics. Firstly I must define what I mean by the term straw when used in connection with the hat industry. In addition to a range of cereal crop straws by the 1700s wood chip and various types of palm leaf were prominently used. Paper also played a part. Hemp fibres were introduced in the mid-1820s and horse hair in the 1830s. Horsehair was used in hat trimmings in the 1700s. As the century continued the industry thrived with the introduction of a wide range of materials sourced from around the world. In the 1890s the introduction of manmade fibres resulted in a growth of machine-made products and their incorporation into hand-made products. When you look for these products, although the basic production technique is the same, the appearance will be different. 4 Left: Straw Cloth, early 1800s. Strohmuseum im Park, Wohlen, Switzerland. I am discussing two types of straw fabric, one that was produced as a sheet of cloth and one produced as a wide tape. Both were manufactured on looms. The currently identified examples of straw cloth incorporate cereal crop straw. The wide straw tapes known in Switzerland as Bordures incorporate a wide range of types of straw. The Bordures are most commonly found. History and examples Let me first talk about straw cloth which seems to be the earliest product perhaps dating to the late 1700s. Straw forms the weft threads and silk the warp. The amount of straw incorporated varies according to the design. You may consider straw fabric would be stiff and difficult to use. To the contrary, the methods implemented to prepare the straw and the skills of the weaver in creating a workable ratio between the warp and weft threads results in soft, flexible and strong fabric. In 1809 Mary Dixon Kies received the first U. S. patent issued to a Connecticut woman. She developed a process for weaving straw with silk or thread. Unfortunately, the original patent and samples were destroyed in the Patent Office fire in 1836. Two institutions in Connecticut claim to hold examples of hats or samples made by Mary Dixon Kies, however I have not yet seen these. I am cautious as other early examples said to have been made by prominent women in the history of the New England industry have not, despite their provenance, proved to accurately represent the contemporary written accounts. Left: Straw Cloth, early 1800s. Strohmuseum im Park, Wohlen, Switzerland. Examples of straw cloth exist in Switzerland and the United States. Within the archive of Strohmuseum im Park in Wohlen, Switzerland there is a dealer’s sample book, undated and untitled containing many pages of straw cloth samples. The book is thought to have come to the Isler Company archives as a result of trading with France. It is believed to date to the early part of the 1800s. In the collections at the Art Institute of Chicago there are eight examples of straw and silk cloth. Four are said to be from the period 1835-40 and three, which came in as a separate donation 5 from another person are said to date from the 19th century. All are different sizes and the respective donor’s did not indicate where they came from. Were they taken from sample books or from costume? (Accession numbers: 1988.119.1-5 & 1988.120.1-3) There is one piece which was an earlier donation. It is made with a different type of straw and the warp threads are cotton rather than silk as in the other examples. The museum records state it is possibly of Spanish origin. (Accession number: 1946.90) (http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork-search/results/straw/+AND+has_image%3Atrue) You will note the samples include warp patterns created with a Jacquard loom attachment. Documentation in Switzerland claims that one of the Swiss traders developed a close association with Joseph Jacquard which resulted in one of the first loom attachments being brought to Wohlen. No known examples produced as a result of this collaboration exist neither has contemporary documentation been found. Whilst I do not know or any examples of dress made from these fabrics I do know of hats made from a straw cloth. Excitingly in the collections at Boston Museum of Fine Arts there is a wonderful example of a hat made from the patterned silk and straw fabric. It is in wonderful condition and they date it at 1830. Accession number 63.2751) (http://www.mfa.org/collections/search?search_api_views_fulltext=straw+hat+1830) Left: Extract from Strohzeiten, page 33. Reproduced with kind permission of Strohmuseum The next, said to be from 1820, is in the collection of Strohmuseum im Park in Switzerland and appears in the book, Strohzeiten. This is very interesting as it is patterned with two colours of straw and this is the only example that I know of. 6 The second example in Boston Museum of Fine Arts is made from a similar straw cloth. Do note how the straw cloth has been gathered and pleated without compromising its integrity. They say this example is from the period 1815. (Accession number: 44.189) (http://www.mfa.org/collections/search?search_api_views_fulltext=straw+bonnet+1815) A very similar hat, sadly in poor condition is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. They give this a date of 1831. Accession number: 11.60.237) (http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search?ft=11.60.237) Do you know or do you have any of these amazing hats in your collections? Can you help locate any examples of garments made from these amazing products? I cannot prove, have no evidence, but feel some of these cloths may have been used in men’s waistcoats.