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4 inform selv edge.org ContentsINDULGEtextilestobuy,collectorsimply admire 11 A dog’s life Pamper your pet with some of the finest accessories around 13 How to... Knit an Afghan Hound UseourextractfromOsborneandMuir’s‘BestinShow’bookto rustleupaloyalandtrustycaninecompanioninjustafewevenings INDUSTRY from craft to commerce 01 Marvellous menagerie Makers drawn to wild and domestic creatures. Amelia Thorpe talks to designersinspiredbyfaunaratherthanflora 32 Cocooned Women at the heart of the silk trade. Abeautifulseriesofimagesfromthe1940sthat revealthecareandskilloftheworkersinthesericultureindustry 57 COVER STORY Go with the flow The ancient craft of coracle making is experiencing something of a revival. BernardThomas‘CoracleKing’reminiscesabouthisyouthontheriver ANECDOTE textiles that touch our lives 54 COVER STORY Fisherman’s friend Ganseys have kept seafaring folk warm and dry for centuries. The Moray Firth Gansey Project aims to protect this heritage. ImagesbyGinaLeeBean,winnerofthe SelvedgeIllustrateyourPointcompetition 96 Rich plumage Featherwork in Ancient Peru. Vividly coloured and gorgeously patterned, these ancienttextilepieceslooksurprisinglymodern 54 COVER STORY Feather your nest From fashion finery to fly fishing – but not forgetting shuttlecocks, archery flights, bedding or burlesque... Aroundupoffeathers’fantasticarrayofuses CONCEPT textiles in fine art 67 Sharp canines Peter Clark’s clever paper constructions. KatieLaw,writerfortheLondonEvening Standard,meetsanartistwhoisnotafraidtoturnthepastintothepresent 38 COVER STORY Death becomes her Taxidermy, morbid or marvellous? SarahJaneDowningunpicks thehistoryofanartformsomefinduncomfortable... ATTIRE critical reporting of fashion trends 17 COVER STORY Cat’s whiskers Beware of jealous felines. PhotographedbyLonVanKeulen COHABIT stunning interiors beautifully photographed 61 Land lady The country pursuits of Athene English. Johanna Thornycroft visits the animal friendly homeoftheownerofTheGreatEnglishOutdoors.PhotographybyAndreasvonEinsiedel 8 inform Any dedicated crafter will want one of Christien Meindertsma’s oversized ‘ball of yarn’ seats. Made from wool from New Zealand cross bread sheep in bright colours or natural hues they would be a cosy place to sit and knit. Mendertsma studied at the Design Academy Eindhoven and has since started her own design label ‘flocks’. From £1,350, www.thomaseyck.com Reduce, reuse, recycle is an admirable mantra but few would take it as far as Leslie Oschmann who doesn’t balk at applying the idea to paintings and other artworks. Unwanted canvasses found in markets, attics or antique shops are transformed into functional still lives in the form of shopping bags or tables and chairs. http://swarmhome.com Creature comforts A ‘pre-loved’ toy – a bear or rabbit handed down from one generation to the next – is a special thing. But if you didn’t save your favourite stuffed animal or can’t bring yourself to part with it yet then Emily's Ark holds the answer. Emily designs, sews and sells handmade original textile animals; fully jointed and made from carefully sourced materials. Many of her creatures have a retro or vintage quality and come in many guises – everything from hares to aardvarks! www.emilys-ark.com selvedge.org The classic Woburn Peacoat is inspired by traditional nautical outerwear, as worn by the British Navy throughout the 19th century. The embossed anchor buttons are a reminder of these naval origins and the coat has a quilted chambray lining to keep you snug and warm. The pure wool fabric is special too, woven in the UK by British Mill Fox Brothers & Co (see Selvedge issue 19) who have been weaving woollen, worsted, cashmere and flannel cloth since 1772. £398, www.aubinandwills.com Oak swill baskets are traditional to the southern Lake District and they have been made in this area for hundreds of years. Owen Jones is keeping the skill alive in the 21st century and you can learn too. Oak Swill Workshop, 12-14 March, Acton Scott Museum, Shropshire, T: 01694 781 307, www.oakswills.co.uk˚ Need to know Circus elephants, prancing ponies and aerial acrobats, London based designer-maker Daniel Heath’s work is certainly eye-catching. The current collection, based on PT Barnum’s ‘Greatest Show on Earth’, is at home as fabric covering a sofa or on the walls of a sophisticated nursery. Heath has a long held interest in craftmanship. He trained in the traditional process of silk-screen printing at the Royal College of Art and set up his studio in 2006 to create bespoke, hand-printed fabrics and wallpapers in the De Beauvoir Town preservation area of London. http://danielheath.co.uk 15: Houndstooth Check What is it? A distinct broken-check pattern with four pointed ends, usually found on wool cloth. The pointed check effect is produced by a two up, two down twill weave in yarns of contrasting colours in groups of four in both the warp and the weft. The pattern is said to resemble the jagged back teeth of a hound, hence the name Houndstooth Check. Who made it? Shrouded in the mists of time, the pattern’s origin is likely to be in the lowlands of Scotland. /10 2009 /W , A lexander McQueen , A iew irst v F There may be something stately and grand about a mounted stag’s head but who could live with the sad glass eyes? Much happier thoughts accompany these papier mâché versions. Made in Haiti from layers of repurposed cement bags covered with the pages from vintage French books, they help people rather than harm wildlife. £58, www.anthropologie.eu Who uses it? Houndstooth is a perennial fashion favourite. In 2009 the late Alexander McQueen’s A/W womenswear collection ‘Horn of Plenty’ featured Houndstooth Check in multiple forms. Paying homage to the classic lines and patterns of Dior and Chanel the collection layered printed and woven versions in differing scales. More recently Nicolas Ghesquière at Balenciaga created tunic dresses with panels of bright manipulated Houndstooth Check for S/S 2011. The electric blue, grey and red patterns on wet-look leather fabrics were a far cry from traditional woven wool. www.alexandermcqueen.com 9 in f o r m s e l v e d g e . o r g 18 ire insight insp inform 1 9 in f o r mi n s pirei n s i g h t selv edge.org Lilly Shahravesh 32 industry “Ever since she was a child she had loved the art of making silk, from the moment when the web of tiny eggs, no bigger than the dots of a pointed brush on a paper card, were hatched in the warm silkworm house to the last moment when the silk lay in rich folds over her arms…” In her 1963 novel The Living Reed, Pearl S. Buck describes |silk manufacture in Korea during the 1850s. It was an economically and ritually significant task, “Even the Queen at this season must cultivate silkworms and do a share of spinning…” Buck's description of sericulture, though fictional, is accurate and revealing, “For three days and three nights the women fed the small creatures every three hours, and in the night again and again Sunia arose to see how her len Keu Va n Lon s e l v e d g e . o r g Unable to find gorgeous gifts to buy for her sister's puppy, Lilly Shahravesh started to make them instead. “I couldn't find any quality products that were good enough for Missy, so I started making coats and collars for her and that's how Love My Dog started,” explains Shahravesh, who already had 14 years experience of the fashion world tucked under her belt. Founded in 2003, Shahravesh describes Love My Dog as a “designled pet couture and accessory” business, and she still hand makes many of the dog coats, bandanas, blankets and beds herself in her Hoxton workshop. Shahravesh favours natural and traditional fabrics, especially tweeds, and has recently collaborated with Harris Tweed on a Red Tartan. Made of wool, dyed and spun on the Hebridean Islands, the cloth is handwoven, before being combined with saddlery fixings to make sturdy collars (backed with washable suede) and leads, as well as beds and blankets. Shahravesh is now designing a new Harris Tweed fabric for 2011, as well as the new collection of spring/ summer raincoats. “Everything is tested on the studio muse, my half Norfolk Terrier, half Jack Russell, called Rabbit,” adds Shahravesh. www.lovemydog.co.uk It was while working towards her final show at the Royal College of Art that Donna Wilson began experimenting. Knitting clothes on her machine and making bodies from charity shop jumpers, she began to produce a collection of curious creatures. “I’m inspired by children's drawings and wanted to capture that naïve quality – where an extra leg or eye doesn't look out of place,” she says. “I was brought up on a farm in north east Scotland. Animals have always been part of my life and I wanted to make unconventional versions.” Her latest, Wolfie (bashful, likes collecting spoons), Peanut (keen on his shell), and Puddle Man (whistles when it rains) are as quirky and playful as ever. The creatures are now knitted at Wilson's East End workshop then sewn and hand embroidered by outworkers in the Orkneys. But Wilson is careful to maintain their homespun look. “I've had offers to mass produce, but I think they would lose their charm,” she explains. This year there will be new creatures to join the growing family. “I sometimes think if that one had a baby with that one, what would it look like?” she says, adding that Ralf and Rill are the offspring of Cyril Squirrel Fox and Rudie Raccoon. Given that her work now sells in 25 countries and she's just been named Designer of the Year in Elle Decoration's British Design Awards, it's good to know that weird can sometimes be so wonderful. www.donnawilson.com Hacker Gareth ilson Donna W selv edge.org CocoonedWOMENATTHEHEARTOFTHE SILK TRADE is , Corb l 1946 risto Horace B EiderdownMEGLUKENSNOONANTAKESA SOFTLY SOFTLY APPROACH TO BEDDING My romance with fill power and loft started years ago, with a stint as a cashier at an Eddie Bauer store. The reversible vests, the diamond-quilted bathrobes, the mummy bags – all plump with down. A ski trip to Austria introduced me to the joy of sleeping under only a duvet, and made obvious the redundancy of top sheets and blankets. And one day, while enjoying a meandering Google search through luxury bedding websites, I happened upon the holy grail of down: a rocky blip of an island called Lanan, just below the Arctic Circle, off Norway's northwestern coast. Lanan is the summer home of several families, all related, who return every year to carry on the centuriesold tradition of eiderdown gathering. In spring, Common Eiders, large sea ducks, come ashore to nest in simple shelters made by the islanders; when the ducklings hatch and the nest is abandoned, the pillow of down which cushioned the eggs is left behind for the taking. The hooked construction of its individual plumules makes eiderdown the lightest and warmest of fills; the labour-intensive harvesting process also makes it the most rare and, alas, the most expensive. I’m not the only one who has coveted the stuff: Viking Age tax collectors accepted it as payment and Medieval aristocrats asked to be buried with it. In 1651, King Christian IV had Norwegian eider colonies protected by royal decree, in part so he would never be without a personal supply. The Vega Archipelago of which Lanan is a part, was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2004: birds get protection from predators, humans get the down, nobody gets hurt. The designation brought some funding, but the islanders' website made it clear they need more. If I sent them $100, for instance, to ‘rent’ a stone duck house, I would be emailed photos of ‘my’ bird while she sat on her nest. Well, that was a must-do. Then I noticed this: “Would you like to experience the life of an eider keeper? Sleep under a genuine eiderdown duvet? Now is your chance!” It didn't take long to hatch a plan. I'd adopt a duck and pay her a personal visit. All I had to do was fly from Boston to Oslo, Oslo to Trondheim, Trondheim to Bronnoysund, hop a ferry to Vega Island and look for a little boat called the Lanan II which would be waiting for me at the end of a long wooden dock. I am speeding northwest through a mosaic of 6,000 mostly-uninhabited rocky islands in the Norwegian Sea. Mountains, with patches of late spring snow, are visible on the mainland, but out here, it's all horizontals: the barren skerries, the silver sea, the ragged stratus clouds. Lanan's few white houses and red shacks come into view, and when we tie up at the weathered dock, Hildegunn Nordum, my host, greets me. With cropped white-blonde hair and glacial-blue eyes, she has the glowing good looks of someone who has never missed a day of omega-3 consumption. “Do you want to see your duck?” she asks after she has shown me to my room in the ancestral farmhouse she shares with her husband, Erik. I follow her across the treeless island, past dozens of low A-frame coops and stone nooks, each housing a nesting eider. We stop in front of a boxy shelter on which a painted sign reads, ‘Meg’, and I crouch down and peer in at a mottledbrown duck on a black seaweed nest. She looks happy with her accommodation; I consider introducing myself as her benefactor, but decide to remain anonymous. I spend the next few days trailing Hildegunn. She and her cousins, who grew up on Lanan back when families stayed year-round, share 600 eider houses, which are checked daily. We traverse plank bridges, hop over wet rocks, and row across inlets to get to the shelters. Hildegunn coos something at every duck and I ask for a translation. “I say to them: How are you today? You are so pretty. I'm just taking a peek.” When she finds an abandoned nest, she removes the springy clump of plumage and puts it in a bag. Later, she will clean it entirely by hand – one of the key things that distinguishes Lanan eiderdown from the machine-cleaned down produced in Iceland, Greenland and other polar regions. It takes 65 nests worth to fill one duvet; by winter's end, the islanders will have stitched eight to ten of them. The comforters sell for $7000-8000 each; some are purchased online and others are sold to visitors who arrive after nesting season on regularly scheduled tour boats from Vega. It is a lovely thing to be sitting in the late evening arctic sun picking bits of seaweed out of a lap full of eiderdown. The fluff plumps like rising dough and warmth radiates through my thighs. The gulls cry, the ducks sit, the tide turns. In the morning, after I have slept one last time under the weightless magnificence of an eiderdown cloud, I will head home. But first, I will walk to the little driftwood shelter that bears my name and I will get down on my knees to bid my duck farewell. And she will be gone, leaving only her imprint on a puff of perfect down. 5 3 g l o b a l s e l v e d g e . o r g
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50 ire insight insp inform selv edge.org On the endless windblown tundra of China, and in the spellbinding but inhospitable uplands of Mongolia, there lives an animal cared for by a nomadic population of goatherders, that hides a treasure – cashmere. In the 18th and 19th centuries, when cashmere became popular in Europe, it was imported as a finished product in the form of shawls brought in from the Indian region of Kashmir. Today only a small quantity comes from India, most of it undertakes an incredible journey from the remotest regions of Inner and Outer Mongolia, as well as Afghanistan and Iran. The animal that gives us this prized and much sought-after fibre is Capra Hircus, present in Central Asia for more than ten thousand years. This breed of goat is capable of withstanding extreme weather conditions. The scarcity of water and vegetation in their natural habitat has forced them to accept a varied diet, and as a result they are able to survive on minimal quantities. The harsh winters on the arid and windswept steppes and extreme changes in temperature between day and night, as well as the seasons, require these goats to grow a fleece that provides both warmth and protection. Their outer coat is made up of a layer of long, coarse hairs known as guard hairs but their skin is covered in a fine, soft underfleece, called the duvet. It is the most precious part, the cashmere. Cashmere fleece is gathered in the spring when the goats moult. The fibre has an almost silky feel and is outstandingly fine: from 13 microns for cashmere gathered from the kid goats – the sumptuous baby cashmere – to 15 microns for adult cashmere. THE ANIMALS: CASHMERE AND BABY CASHMERE The creation of two typologies of cashmere – adult and baby – is a new development: until recently the duvet from the adult and kid goats was mixed by the goatherders. And while the two varieties of fibre are similar, the underfleece from the kid goats, which is gathered in the spring of their first year, boasts incredible fineness and rare insulating properties. On average an adult goat yields about 100 grams of cashmere. Kids yield a mere 30 grams of fibre taken once in the lifetime of each young animal. An edited extract from Baby Cashmere: The Long Journey of Excellence, Loro Piana & Bruna Rotunno, Skira Editore, ISBN-10: 8857203697, £60, see pg78 to win one of three copies. 5 1 in f o r mi n s pirei n s i g h t s e l v e d g e . o r g 68 concept selv edge.org May 1935, printed entirely on silver paper. Underneath is a small, worn notebook, its spidery handwriting identifying it as a list of Servant’s Wages, dated 1828. Does it bother him to tear up such beautiful things and wantonly destroy fragments of history? “Oh yes, sometimes. And collectors have a go at me. I’m still reluctant to use that silver Daily Mail paper and this beautiful old Chinese map. I’ve got hundreds of old postcards and letters too. I can’t bear to read the love letters, as I’d never use them if I did,” he says. Still, remnants of past exchanges and declarations of undying love become overlapping folds of skin beneath a bulldog’s neck, while black air gun target practice cards are turned into the spots on a Dalmatian. Such transformations – from what are essentially odds and ends of fibre – into characterful canine creations complete with shining eyes, wet noses and almost wagging tails – speak volumes for Clark’s talents, visual, technical and imaginative, even though he jokes it’s all down to the Pritt Stick. US Cocker – a portrait of an American Cocker Spaniel is made only from American papers: the tail from a Pan Am matchbox, the nose a George Washington stamp, the body a map of the US and – for the dog’s flowing ears and skirt - hundreds of stars and stripes stamps, the waves of the stamps’ franking marks adding to the movement and fluidity of the dog’s coat. The feistily feminine Prize Poodle is a riot of colour, thanks to her flaming mane made from paper lantern strips above segments of old embroidery patterns. Her Animal magic nose is cut out from an old packet of Rouge and her legs are made up from old road tax discs. Clark’s work is witty as well as being visually punchy. He begins by making an outline sketch of each dog, usually copying the obedient pose that breeders make their dogs assume at fairs. Then he blows it up to the size he wants and gets to work rummaging through the boxes for all the right papers. “I play around finding colours and shapes. If there’s a story, like where a breed might have originated from, I might work that in. I like to layer a lot, so I use fine paper, like orange or Amaretti biscuit wrappers and I like using paper that’s stained, blotchy or faded”. It’s not difficult to see why Clark has been accused of destroying the past, until you see the finished work. Then, you realise that, far from destroying it, he is both preserving it and creating something new. Katie Law Inspired by her husband Peter Clark's collaged dogs, textile designer Karen Nicol has started putting her considerable talents (she specialises in embroidery using the Irish Cornely and Multi-head machines as well as hand stitching and beading) to making textile animals, experimenting with mixed media and techniques to stunning effect. Polar Bear with a Touch of Gold was inspired by the gilded wood panelled interiors in St Petersburg. “For the bear's body I used millinery net which I frayed at the edges to look like fur and then I added gold foiled embroidery over it,” she says. Goldfish are created from layers of dayglo orange crystal organza, swimming through shimmering drops of water that Karen made by dripping blobs of clear resin around the edges, while a majestic white swan was made by embroidering a pink taffeta panel with colourful flowers, then painting over the whole in white emulsion, letting i t dry and cutting it open to reveal the patterns and colours. Peter Clarke and Karen Nicol are represented by Rebecca Hossack Gallery, T: +44 (0)20 7436 4899, w w w . r - h - g . c o . u k , w w w . k a r e n n i c o l . c o m , www.peterclarkcollage.com 6 9 c o n c e p t s e l v e d g e . o r g 72 global 7 3 g l o b a l selv edge.org s e l v e d g e . o r g 01 INFINITE VARIETY: THREE CENTURIES OF RED AND WHITE QUILTS 25–30 March 2011, Presented by the American Folk Art Museum, Park Avenue Armory, 643 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10065, T: (212) 616-3930, www.armoryonpark.org For six days in March, the historic Park Avenue Armory will be transformed into a glorious display of colour and design when the American Folk Art Museum presents Infinite Variety. More than 650 red and white American textiles, the largest quilt exhibition ever presented in New York City, are on loan from Joanna Rose, a private New York collector. Free to the public, this extraordinary assemblage will be installed in the Armory's 55,000square-foot Wade Thompson Drill Hall. "The American Folk Art Museum is taking another important step in reaching new audiences. Through this exhibition the museum continues to augment its core mission to develop new ways of attracting visitors. Since admission to the quilt exhibition is free, it represents a special gift to the people of New York City and beyond," explains Maria Ann Conelli, Executive Director of the American Folk Art Museum. For those unable to reach New York in time to see the display the news that Joanna Rose has decided to donate a number of quilts to the museum will be particularly welcome. Fifty of the most beautiful and historically significant quilts will be selected by the curators. This superb collection is astonishing not only because of the sheer number of red and white textiles but also because no two are exactly alike. Guest curator Elizabeth V. Warren and Stacy C. Hollander, project director and the museum's senior curator, have 02 03 04 Ashworth in Gav selected quilts that span three hundred years, the designs range from dazzling optical effects and fanciful mazes to dynamic zigzag lightning bolts. The patterns are appliquéd or pieced in red on a white ground or white on a red ground. "We have known that many red and white quilts were made during the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries, but this large collection allows us to study a much wider period of creativity using this colour scheme and a much wider scope of design than was ever envisioned," says Ms. Warren. The innovative display of the quilts in the Armory space has been created by New York City exhibition design firm Thinc Design. Defying gravity, the quilts spiral in mid-air filling the enormous volume of the Drill Hall and create circular pavilions that invite visitors to experience the quilts in three dimensions. Highlighted quilts will be arranged on viewing platforms for closer appreciation. Incorporated into the floor-to-ceiling design will be strategically placed benches. Infinite Variety: Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts will cap the American Folk Art Museum's ‘Year of the Quilt.’ Currently on view at the museum is ‘Quilts: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum’. The first installation of which can be seen until 24 April 2011 and the second from 10 May to 16 October 2011. While at the museum's branch location at Lincoln Square is ‘Super Stars: Quilts from the Collection’ until September 25 2011 01 Vortex, US, 1890-1910 02 Feathered Touching Stars, US, 1850-1880 03 Carpenter's Square, Mary Coffland, US, 1879 03 St. Valentine's Patch, US, 1860-1880 7 9 p r e v i e w s e l v e d g e . o r g 58 ire insight insp inform Go with the flow THE ANCIENT CRAFT OF CORACLE MAKING The coracle ( Y Cwrwgl ) is an ancient, one-person rowing boat, dating back to pre-Roman times. In Wales it features in the 9th century legend of Taliesin, one of the most famous of all Welsh poets, who as a baby was cast adrift in a coracle by his mother, the witch, Ceridwen. Traditionally, the coracle is made from a wicker frame, usually willow or ash laths covered by animal hide or flannel and a coating of tar, although latterly calico impregnated with pitch, tar and butter is used. It weighs between 11 and 20 kgs, is propelled by a single paddle, usually ash and has a strap enabling it to be carried on the back. In the Teifi Valley, in West Wales – particularly the river villages of Cilgerran, Cenarth, Abercuch and Llechryd, coracle fishing was a way of life. The coracle fishermen depended on it for their livelihood and the 'secrets' of making the craft and fishing from it were handed down from generation to generation. Each part of the river was allocated to a 'team' of fishermen – this 'bwrw' (cast) could only be fished by the men from one of the four villages. Coracle fishing even had its own language and terminology and was an ancient trade that was fiercely protected from any external interference or uninvited participation. The coracles are still made on the banks of the River Teifi at Llechryd by master craftsmen. Despite their dwindling numbers, salmon and sewin (sea trout) fishing is still practised using age-old techniques. Blodwen, a company committed to the preservation and revival of traditional rural skills and the promotion of artisans has commissioned Llechryd-based, master craftsman Bernard Thomas to produce the Teifi Coracle – one of the oldest designs of this ancient river craft. Bernard harvests the willows and hazels from October to January when the sap is down, splits them and stores them in an upright position until the following August. The sticks are then soaked in the river for five days. The weight of the wood is felt every day for a week to check that all the water has dispersed and only then is the coracle made. These skills are entirely self-taught and Bernard was a late starter, now 88 he began building coracles in his fifties. He insists the steps came to him in a dream, “I’ve loved coracles since I was a lad, but when I ws young no-one would teach me how to make my own. A coracle cost five shillings, quite a lot and I suppose they didn’t want to lose the money”. Bernard first set foot in a coracle at the age of four; “My father was coracle fisherman. We would also shoot mallards from the boat. I’ve spent my life in them. In my younger days I used to fly fish with the coracle and take my girlfriend with me – they are one-man boats but I’ve managed to get five people in one before it tipped!” There is no shortage of anecdotes from Bernard, his unofficial title of ‘Coracle King’ was hard won. In 1974 he paddled his small craft from St Margaret’s Bay to France – a 12 hour trip that was covered by newspapers and television crews. But in Bernard’s opinion this feat is eclipsed by his efforts in rescuing over fifty sheep from the flood swollen River Teifi: “I nearly died that night but the farmer was grateful, mind.” Happier time have been had at the local regattas Bernard has organised in the past where coracle sprint races and marathons took place and jousts where fishermen would attempt to upend each other's craft leaving the last man floating as the victor. During the 1980s it seemed likely that the coracle making skills would be lost with Bernard’s generation but the last fifteen years have seen a surge of interest; “I’ve taught a few people and there’s even coracle Societies now,” says Bernard with pride. Denise Lewis www.blodwen.com, www.coraclesociety.org.uk selv edge.org Perers Kristin 5 84 Line of descent Weaver Eleanor Pritchard’s new century classics WetalktoEleanoraboutlifein herstudioandherloveofMid-Centurydesign GLOBAL 30 Camel regalia The braided finery of the ships of the desert JulieHedgesvisitsthePushkarCamel FairinNorthWestIndia 71 Bovine beauty Toni Meneguzzo’s Go Puja project FirstnameSurname 54 COVER STORY Eiderdown Meg Lukens Noonan takes a softly softly approach to bedding and meets her adopted Eider duck on the remote Island of Lanan EVENTS 06 Selvedge Spring Fair Thank you to the visitors and exhibitors that braved ice and sub-zero temperatures to make our Christmas Fair such a success! The Selvedge Spring Fair will take placeonSaturday2April2011 in f o r m INFORM the latest news, reviews and exhibition listings 03 bias /contributors A letter from the Editor in chief and comments from contributors 07 news Aubin and Wills, Swarm, Graham Hollicks’ ‘Stitch By Stitch project, Oak Swill, Emily’s Ark, Daniel Heath, Christien Meindertsma, Animal Heads from Haiti and Need to Know: Houndstooth Check 80 subscription offers Win Baby Cashmere books, Free tickets to Unravel SUBSCRIBE TO SELVEDGE Our January sale 90 international listings Exhibitions, fairs, events and the Natural History Museum at Tring 88 read Rosemary Crill reviews Woven Masterpieces of Sikh Heritage: TheStylisticDevelopmentofthe Kashmir Shawl. Readling list: Wild: Fashion Untamed, Walter Potter and His Museum of CuriousTaxidermyand Silk 91 view Infinite Variety: Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts presented by the American Folk Art Museum 95 resources Websites and reading lists for those who want to know more about the articles in the Zoological issue 93 coming next The Localisation issue. It’s a small world after all... Online Have you visited the Selvedge website recently? Throughout January you can take advantage of our drygoods sale, 10% off all products and up to 20% on selected items such as our warm and woolley Pipsqueak Chapeau Alpaca hats. The discount extends to subscriptions too (see pg 80). If your New Year resolution is to brush up your textile skills then click on our craft page to discover a selection of free projects to download and make. www.selvedge.org SELVEDGE ('selnid3 ) n. 1. finished di fferently 2.?the?non-fraying edge of a length of woven fabric. [: from SELF + EDGE] s e l v e d g e . o r g

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50

ire insight insp inform selv edge.org

On the endless windblown tundra of China, and in the spellbinding but inhospitable uplands of Mongolia, there lives an animal cared for by a nomadic population of goatherders, that hides a treasure – cashmere.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, when cashmere became popular in Europe, it was imported as a finished product in the form of shawls brought in from the Indian region of Kashmir. Today only a small quantity comes from India, most of it undertakes an incredible journey from the remotest regions of Inner and Outer Mongolia, as well as Afghanistan and Iran.

The animal that gives us this prized and much sought-after fibre is Capra Hircus, present in Central Asia for more than ten thousand years. This breed of goat is capable of withstanding extreme weather conditions. The scarcity of water and vegetation in their natural habitat has forced them to accept a varied diet, and as a result they are able to survive on minimal quantities. The harsh winters on the arid and windswept steppes and extreme changes in temperature between day and night, as well as the seasons, require these goats to grow a fleece that provides both warmth and protection. Their outer coat is made up of a layer of long, coarse hairs known as guard hairs but their skin is covered in a fine, soft underfleece, called the duvet. It is the most precious part, the cashmere.

Cashmere fleece is gathered in the spring when the goats moult. The fibre has an almost silky feel and is outstandingly fine: from 13 microns for cashmere gathered from the kid goats – the sumptuous baby cashmere – to 15 microns for adult cashmere.

THE ANIMALS: CASHMERE AND BABY CASHMERE

The creation of two typologies of cashmere – adult and baby – is a new development: until recently the duvet from the adult and kid goats was mixed by the goatherders. And while the two varieties of fibre are similar, the underfleece from the kid goats, which is gathered in the spring of their first year, boasts incredible fineness and rare insulating properties. On average an adult goat yields about 100 grams of cashmere. Kids yield a mere 30 grams of fibre taken once in the lifetime of each young animal. An edited extract from Baby Cashmere: The Long Journey of Excellence, Loro Piana & Bruna Rotunno, Skira Editore, ISBN-10: 8857203697, £60, see pg78 to win one of three copies.

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May 1935, printed entirely on silver paper. Underneath is a small, worn notebook, its spidery handwriting identifying it as a list of Servant’s Wages, dated 1828.

Does it bother him to tear up such beautiful things and wantonly destroy fragments of history? “Oh yes, sometimes. And collectors have a go at me. I’m still reluctant to use that silver Daily Mail paper and this beautiful old Chinese map. I’ve got hundreds of old postcards and letters too. I can’t bear to read the love letters, as I’d never use them if I did,” he says.

Still, remnants of past exchanges and declarations of undying love become overlapping folds of skin beneath a bulldog’s neck, while black air gun target practice cards are turned into the spots on a Dalmatian.

Such transformations – from what are essentially odds and ends of fibre – into characterful canine creations complete with shining eyes, wet noses and almost wagging tails – speak volumes for Clark’s talents, visual, technical and imaginative, even though he jokes it’s all down to the Pritt Stick.

US Cocker – a portrait of an American Cocker Spaniel is made only from American papers: the tail from a Pan Am matchbox, the nose a George Washington stamp, the body a map of the US and – for the dog’s flowing ears and skirt - hundreds of stars and stripes stamps, the waves of the stamps’ franking marks adding to the movement and fluidity of the dog’s coat.

The feistily feminine Prize Poodle is a riot of colour, thanks to her flaming mane made from paper lantern strips above segments of old embroidery patterns. Her

Animal magic nose is cut out from an old packet of Rouge and her legs are made up from old road tax discs. Clark’s work is witty as well as being visually punchy.

He begins by making an outline sketch of each dog, usually copying the obedient pose that breeders make their dogs assume at fairs. Then he blows it up to the size he wants and gets to work rummaging through the boxes for all the right papers. “I play around finding colours and shapes.

If there’s a story, like where a breed might have originated from, I might work that in. I like to layer a lot, so I use fine paper, like orange or Amaretti biscuit wrappers and I like using paper that’s stained, blotchy or faded”.

It’s not difficult to see why Clark has been accused of destroying the past, until you see the finished work. Then, you realise that, far from destroying it, he is both preserving it and creating something new. Katie Law

Inspired by her husband Peter Clark's collaged dogs, textile designer Karen Nicol has started putting her considerable talents (she specialises in embroidery using the Irish Cornely and Multi-head machines as well as hand stitching and beading) to making textile animals, experimenting with mixed media and techniques to stunning effect.

Polar Bear with a Touch of Gold was inspired by the gilded wood panelled interiors in St Petersburg. “For the bear's body I used millinery net which I frayed at the edges to look like fur and then I added gold foiled embroidery over it,” she says.

Goldfish are created from layers of dayglo orange crystal organza, swimming through shimmering drops of water that Karen made by dripping blobs of clear resin around the edges, while a majestic white swan was made by embroidering a pink taffeta panel with colourful flowers, then painting over the whole in white emulsion, letting i t dry and cutting it open to reveal the patterns and colours.

Peter Clarke and Karen

Nicol are represented by

Rebecca Hossack Gallery,

T: +44 (0)20 7436 4899,

w w w . r - h - g . c o . u k ,

w w w . k a r e n n i c o l . c o m ,

www.peterclarkcollage.com

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INFINITE VARIETY: THREE CENTURIES OF RED AND WHITE QUILTS 25–30 March 2011, Presented by the American Folk Art Museum, Park Avenue Armory, 643 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10065, T: (212) 616-3930, www.armoryonpark.org

For six days in March, the historic Park Avenue Armory will be transformed into a glorious display of colour and design when the American Folk Art Museum presents Infinite Variety. More than 650 red and white American textiles, the largest quilt exhibition ever presented in New York City, are on loan from Joanna Rose, a private New York collector. Free to the public, this extraordinary assemblage will be installed in the Armory's 55,000square-foot Wade Thompson Drill Hall.

"The American Folk Art Museum is taking another important step in reaching new audiences. Through this exhibition the museum continues to augment its core mission to develop new ways of attracting visitors. Since admission to the quilt exhibition is free, it represents a special gift to the people of New York City and beyond," explains Maria Ann Conelli, Executive Director of the American Folk Art Museum. For those unable to reach New York in time to see the display the news that Joanna Rose has decided to donate a number of quilts to the museum will be particularly welcome. Fifty of the most beautiful and historically significant quilts will be selected by the curators.

This superb collection is astonishing not only because of the sheer number of red and white textiles but also because no two are exactly alike. Guest curator Elizabeth V. Warren and Stacy C. Hollander, project director and the museum's senior curator, have

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Gav selected quilts that span three hundred years, the designs range from dazzling optical effects and fanciful mazes to dynamic zigzag lightning bolts. The patterns are appliquéd or pieced in red on a white ground or white on a red ground.

"We have known that many red and white quilts were made during the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries, but this large collection allows us to study a much wider period of creativity using this colour scheme and a much wider scope of design than was ever envisioned," says Ms. Warren.

The innovative display of the quilts in the Armory space has been created by New York City exhibition design firm Thinc Design. Defying gravity, the quilts spiral in mid-air filling the enormous volume of the Drill Hall and create circular pavilions that invite visitors to experience the quilts in three dimensions. Highlighted quilts will be arranged on viewing platforms for closer appreciation. Incorporated into the floor-to-ceiling design will be strategically placed benches.

Infinite Variety: Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts will cap the American Folk Art Museum's ‘Year of the Quilt.’ Currently on view at the museum is ‘Quilts: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum’. The first installation of which can be seen until 24 April 2011 and the second from 10 May to 16 October 2011. While at the museum's branch location at Lincoln Square is ‘Super Stars: Quilts from the Collection’ until September 25 2011 01 Vortex, US, 1890-1910 02 Feathered Touching Stars, US, 1850-1880 03 Carpenter's Square, Mary Coffland, US, 1879 03 St. Valentine's Patch, US, 1860-1880

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ire insight insp inform

Go with the flow

THE ANCIENT CRAFT OF CORACLE MAKING

The coracle ( Y Cwrwgl ) is an ancient, one-person rowing boat, dating back to pre-Roman times. In Wales it features in the 9th century legend of Taliesin, one of the most famous of all Welsh poets, who as a baby was cast adrift in a coracle by his mother, the witch, Ceridwen.

Traditionally, the coracle is made from a wicker frame, usually willow or ash laths covered by animal hide or flannel and a coating of tar, although latterly calico impregnated with pitch, tar and butter is used. It weighs between 11 and 20 kgs, is propelled by a single paddle, usually ash and has a strap enabling it to be carried on the back.

In the Teifi Valley, in West Wales – particularly the river villages of Cilgerran, Cenarth, Abercuch and Llechryd, coracle fishing was a way of life. The coracle fishermen depended on it for their livelihood and the 'secrets' of making the craft and fishing from it were handed down from generation to generation.

Each part of the river was allocated to a 'team' of fishermen – this 'bwrw' (cast) could only be fished by the men from one of the four villages. Coracle fishing even had its own language and terminology and was an ancient trade that was fiercely protected from any external interference or uninvited participation.

The coracles are still made on the banks of the River Teifi at Llechryd by master craftsmen. Despite their dwindling numbers, salmon and sewin (sea trout)

fishing is still practised using age-old techniques.

Blodwen, a company committed to the preservation and revival of traditional rural skills and the promotion of artisans has commissioned Llechryd-based, master craftsman Bernard Thomas to produce the Teifi Coracle – one of the oldest designs of this ancient river craft.

Bernard harvests the willows and hazels from October to January when the sap is down, splits them and stores them in an upright position until the following August. The sticks are then soaked in the river for five days. The weight of the wood is felt every day for a week to check that all the water has dispersed and only then is the coracle made.

These skills are entirely self-taught and Bernard was a late starter, now 88 he began building coracles in his fifties. He insists the steps came to him in a dream, “I’ve loved coracles since I was a lad, but when I ws young no-one would teach me how to make my own. A coracle cost five shillings, quite a lot and I suppose they didn’t want to lose the money”. Bernard first set foot in a coracle at the age of four; “My father was coracle fisherman. We would also shoot mallards from the boat. I’ve spent my life in them. In my younger days I used to fly fish with the coracle and take my girlfriend with me – they are one-man boats but I’ve managed to get five people in one before it tipped!”

There is no shortage of anecdotes from Bernard, his unofficial title of ‘Coracle King’ was hard won. In 1974 he paddled his small craft from St Margaret’s Bay to France – a 12 hour trip that was covered by newspapers and television crews. But in Bernard’s opinion this feat is eclipsed by his efforts in rescuing over fifty sheep from the flood swollen River Teifi: “I nearly died that night but the farmer was grateful, mind.”

Happier time have been had at the local regattas Bernard has organised in the past where coracle sprint races and marathons took place and jousts where fishermen would attempt to upend each other's craft leaving the last man floating as the victor.

During the 1980s it seemed likely that the coracle making skills would be lost with Bernard’s generation but the last fifteen years have seen a surge of interest; “I’ve taught a few people and there’s even coracle Societies now,” says Bernard with pride. Denise Lewis www.blodwen.com, www.coraclesociety.org.uk selv edge.org

Perers

Kristin

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84 Line of descent Weaver Eleanor Pritchard’s new century classics WetalktoEleanoraboutlifein herstudioandherloveofMid-Centurydesign

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30 Camel regalia The braided finery of the ships of the desert JulieHedgesvisitsthePushkarCamel FairinNorthWestIndia 71 Bovine beauty Toni Meneguzzo’s Go Puja project FirstnameSurname 54 COVER STORY Eiderdown Meg Lukens Noonan takes a softly softly approach to bedding and meets her adopted Eider duck on the remote Island of Lanan

EVENTS

06 Selvedge Spring Fair Thank you to the visitors and exhibitors that braved ice and sub-zero temperatures to make our Christmas Fair such a success! The Selvedge Spring Fair will take placeonSaturday2April2011

in f o r m

INFORM the latest news, reviews and exhibition listings

03 bias /contributors A letter from the Editor in chief and comments from contributors 07 news Aubin and Wills, Swarm, Graham Hollicks’ ‘Stitch By Stitch project, Oak Swill, Emily’s Ark, Daniel Heath, Christien Meindertsma, Animal Heads from Haiti and Need to Know: Houndstooth Check 80 subscription offers Win Baby Cashmere books, Free tickets to Unravel

SUBSCRIBE TO SELVEDGE Our January sale 90 international listings Exhibitions, fairs, events and the Natural History Museum at Tring 88 read Rosemary Crill reviews Woven Masterpieces of Sikh Heritage: TheStylisticDevelopmentofthe Kashmir Shawl. Readling list: Wild: Fashion Untamed, Walter Potter and His Museum of CuriousTaxidermyand Silk

91 view Infinite Variety: Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts presented by the American Folk Art Museum 95 resources Websites and reading lists for those who want to know more about the articles in the Zoological issue 93 coming next The Localisation issue. It’s a small world after all...

Online Have you visited the Selvedge website recently? Throughout January you can take advantage of our drygoods sale, 10% off all products and up to 20% on selected items such as our warm and woolley Pipsqueak Chapeau Alpaca hats. The discount extends to subscriptions too (see pg 80). If your New Year resolution is to brush up your textile skills then click on our craft page to discover a selection of free projects to download and make. www.selvedge.org

SELVEDGE ('selnid3 ) n. 1. finished di fferently 2.?the?non-fraying edge of a length of woven fabric. [: from SELF + EDGE]

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