LOUISA PESEL (1870-1947) An outstanding needlewoman and advocate of the art of embroidery, Pesel focused her life on teaching and encouraging others to stitch for employment, therapy and recreation. In 1918 Pesel was instrumental in starting the Khaki Handicrafts Club, which taught men in Bradford suffering from shellshock to sew and embroider as a form of therapy. She travelled in Greece, Turkey, Egypt and India between 1887 and 1914, collecting fabrics and embroidery dating back to the 17th century. While in India she went by camel through the Khyber Pass. In 1910 she visited Egypt, exploring the antiquities by donkey. In the early 1930s, at the invitation of the Bishop of Winchester, and aided by a fellow artist and designer, Sybil Blunt, Louisa was appointed to train volunteers to produce embroidered cushions, kneelers for the choir in Winchester Cathedral. Hundreds of volunteers worked on the project from 1931-36 which resulted in a total of 360 kneelers, 62 stall cushions, 34 long bench-cushions, and 96 alms. During WWII, she organised embroidery kits to be sent to allied prisoners of war in Europe via the Red Cross. An encourager of small groups, Pesel helped lay the foundations of the Embroiderers’ Guild and was its first president (19201922). Louisa Pesel also features in Tracy Chevalier’s novel, A Single Thread, which focuses on the Winchester Cathedral embroideries.
OLIVE MATTHEWS (1887-1979)
Above Greek, border fragment, 19th century, silk, linen and metallic yarn, from Louisa Pesel’s collection © Leeds University Library, University of Leeds Right Silk top, 1817-1819 © The Olive Matthews Collection, Chertsey Museum. Photograph John Chase Photography Far right Brocade shoe 1735-1745 © The Olive Matthews Collection, Chertsey Museum. Photograph John Chase Photography Below Robert Tanner,
Duplicate sample book 1970s part of Muriel Rose’s Collection © Crafts Study Centre
Above Knitted
oversocks, date unknown from Edith Durham’s collection © Calderdale Museums Collection, Halifax. Photograph Paul Tucker
Below Edith Durham, object labels,
© Calderdale Museums Collection, Halifax. Photograph Paul Tucker
Encouraged by her father, Olive Matthews began to collect at the age of 12 using her pocket money to buy historic fashion and textiles. A London resident, one of her hunting grounds was the Caledonian Road Market before it closed in 1939. Olive snapped up textiles when they were hardly viewed as antiques, including a pair of 18th-century brocade shoes and a gentleman’s night cap dated to around 1600. Olive went on to buy at auction and was a frequent visitor to the costume department at the V&A. Her collecting reflected her love of technical accomplishment and decoration, all within a budget (she never spent more than £5 on an item). In the 1960s she set up a trust with Chertsey Museum to house her collection when she died.
MURIEL ROSE (1897-1986) Pivotal in the development of modern crafts in the 20th century, Muriel Rose was the director of The Little Gallery, London from 19281939, a landmark venue promoting the work of numerous artists, printmakers and ceramicists including Phyllis Barron and Dorothy Larcher, Ethel Mairet, Bernard Leach, Lucie Rie and Hans Coper. She also sold textiles made by miners’ wives from Durham and Wales, providing money for impoverished communities. An expert needlewoman, she was commissioned by Claridge’s to make quilts for its new art deco wing. Rose was also a founding trustee of the Craft Study Centre where her archive now resides. Below Phyllis Barron and Dorothy Larcher, Large Basket
1920s-1930s. Block print on cotton © Crafts Study Centre 2004, from Muriel Rose’s collection
ANTIQUE COLLECTING 49