Worckt with flowers' Linen or cotton embroidered with flowers © Coram
Yesterday, between ice skating and coffees, an article in the Selvedge Magazine caught my attention: It was describing a phenomenal exhibition: "Threads of Feeling" in the Foundling Museum in London. It's on view through March 6, 2011 and if you are in London, I envy you, because I'd really love to go.
Letter and token left with Florella Burney’s at the Foundling Hospital 19th June 1768 © Coram
The museum tells the story of the Foundling Hospital, from its beginnings in 1739, London's first home for abandoned children. Times were tough for impoverished mothers in 18 century England and many could not properly care for their children and had to leave their babies at a place where they would be fed and cared for. When a baby was left, a small piece of fabric was pinned to the registration form for identification purposes either provided by the mother, or a piece of fabric cut from the clothes of the baby.
These small fabric pieces are now part of one of the largest collections of 18th century everyday textiles thanks to impeccable British record keeping. Not many from this period survived, as textiles were valuable and were often worn until they fell apart, or were made into linings or rags.
They're mostly printed cotton, many of them vividly colored often depicting birds, flowers and acorns. Sometimes, patterns would be cut apart to be rejoined should the mothers reclaim their babies.
© Coram
The reality was that of out of the 16,282 babies left at the hospital between 1741 and 1760, only 152 were reclaimed.
Today is Martin Luther King Day here in the US and I believe many of these women also had a dream. The dream that their circumstances would somehow change and they would finally be in the position to take care of their children.
40 Brunswick Square
London WC1N 1AZ
I'm just wondering if I can summon up the emotional courage to visit the exhibition when I'm in London next week. I know that it will make me cry, I know that thoughts of it will linger on with me long after I leave the building behind...and yet, I would love to see it.
ReplyDeleteHmm....
What a lovely story. I was familiar with the Foundlings but not the wonderful fact of how the fabric was kept as part of the records. It will inspire me to visit!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this - I'd never heard about the fabric piece of the story. It's thrilling to see the materials and sad to know that it meant an unimaginable separation.
ReplyDeleteIts a really beautiful exhibit, I visited it a couple of weeks ago. Quite heart wrenching, when you read the description of the baby: how old, boy or girl, where found or dropped off. some with notes from the mother, some already named, but the tactility of the small fabric swatches and ribbons seems to make the records much more tangible somehow.
ReplyDeleteSass Brown
www.ecofashiontalk.com
Beautiful, and it also reminds me of an Australian artist doing a conceptual art piece, called "Roses from the Heart" asking people from around the world to make a bonnet to commemorate the thousands of female convicts and their babies who died in terrible circumstances in Tasmania in the 18th and 19th centuries. Here is the link http://www.christinahenri.com.au/
ReplyDeleteLove your blog!
this is amazing and beautiful...i love your blog too!
ReplyDeleteI have been too, and it is heartbreaking and illuminating at the same time. All those little scraps of fabric tell a very powerful story..
ReplyDeleteI, too, wish I could see this exhibit. I'm sure as much as I would find the textiles interesting, it would break my heart to see the stories.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the info and the site.
A friend just sent me a link to the online Threads of Feeling exhibit! Thought I'd share the link here where I first read about the Foundling Museum. :)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.threadsoffeeling.com/
Thanks so much Carrie, just looked at the site. The collection is amazing.
ReplyDeleteYou're so very welcome! Thanks to you for introducing me to the museum in the first place! And yes, they've done a really smash up job with this online exhibition, yes? The only thing I could ask for is a pause button... or a plane ticket. ;) I'm smitten whenever "lovely" and "powerful" come together.
ReplyDeleteCarrie, I was wondering about the pause button as well. When pressing the "Slideshow Playing" in the bottom left corner it does stop. When you click on it again it resumes. I´ve clicked through the entire collection with help of the small squares on the bottom of the site. I´ll link it in my sidebar, it´s just amazing. You´re right, lovely and powerful is a great combination. Thanks so much for bringing this to my attention.
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