Tyntesfield House

Tyntesfield is a Victorian country house set in beautiful countryside about 7 miles south west of Bristol. The NationalTrust gained possession of the property in 2002 and began a programme of restoration work. Rather than shrouding the house in scaffolding for years until it was ready to accept visitors, the Trust was determined to incorporate the public in the discovery and challenges of conservation so it opened the house only ten weeks after it purchased the property.
There is still a lot to do but it is an exciting and ongoing project. If you visit the property you can see behind the scenes and see the collection being moved around the house and skilled craftspeople undertaking many tasks in front of you. Some of the original carpets have been carefully rolled and stored away but there are still lots of examples of furniture and fabrics to be seen. There is an upholstered sofa and armchairs by J.C. Grace & Son who were one of the most important firms of decorators in 19th century Britain. Most of the furniture and curtains are early 20th century. http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-tyntesfield/w-tyntesfield-whats_new.htm

The Bayeux Tapestry

Having recently watched the programme "The Seven Ages of Britain" presented by David Dimbleby I was interested in his report about the Bayeux Tapestry.
It is one of the greatest historical records of the Middle Ages in Britain and it is now in a specially built tourist centre in Bayeux in France. It is one of the best sources of information on early Norman dress, armour, castle-building, boat building, hunting and other aspects of daily life.
It tells the story of William the Conqueror's invasion of England through pictorial panels. It is, however, not in fact a tapestry but an embroidery. It uses coloured wool on 8 long strips of bleached linen which have been stitched together to form a continuous panel about 20 inches high and 230 feet long.
One of the most famous scenes in the Bayeux Tapestry purports to show the death of Harold at the Battle of Hastings and that he died from an arrow in the eye. Historians now believe that this may be one of his knights. Contemporary Norman accounts say only that Harold fell in battle, so we do not actually know if the "arrow in the eye" story is true.
Although the story is told from a Norman point of view, the style of the needlework indicates that the tapestry was actually made in England.
The tapestry was the victim of a well-meaning restoration attempt in the last century, which resulted in modern stitching filling in the gaps in the fabric. These may not be accurate. Despite this, the Bayeux Tapestry remains one of the true treasures of the Norman period in English history.

The Red House designed by William Morris

William Morris designed the Red House in1859. The Red House is constructed of warm red brick with a steep tiled roof and it was built using many natural materials. The garden is an example of a garden as a series of exterior "rooms".
The National Trust aquired the Red House in 2002 and is carrying out restoration and research to restore the house as closely as possible to its original condition. It has some rare examples of William Morris wallpapers and fabrics.

William Morris

William Morris was one of the most influential voices in Victorian art and architecture. His influence spread into the 20th century in the form of the Arts and Crafts Movement. In 1859 Morris commissioned a friend, Philip Webb, to design him a new home, Red House in Bexley Heath. The house was to be built using traditional materials. Morris was annoyed that he could not find any good textiles and furniture to decorate his new home, so he decided to design them himself. With his friends, Burne-Jones, Rosetti and Webb he formed a small firm, later called Morris and company to sell the products they designed.
Morris did not like the increasing mechanization and mass-production in the arts and he dreamed of re-establishing the values of traditional craftsmenship and simplicity of design. His slogan was that art should be "by the people, for the people".
The company produced high quality items such as stained glass, wallpaper, textiles and furniture, often with a floral motif.

A London museum founded by the British Designer, Zandra Rhodes

The Fashion and Textile Museum is a cutting edge centre for contemporary fashion, textiles and jewellery founded by Zandra Rhodes. It has permanent and changing exhibitions as well as the Academy which runs courses for individual students and businesses.
On the 4th February there is an "in conversation" session with Debbie Moore, the founder of Pineapple Dance Studios. There is also a current exhibiton called "30 years of Pineapple" which runs until the 24th February, 2010.
Future exhibitions include "Very Sanderson - 150 years of English Decoration". It starts on the 19th March 2010 and finishes on the 13th June, 2010. Sanderson was founded by Arthur Sanderson in 1860 and for the last 150 years has been at the forefront of English furnishings. The company produced the first coordinated collection of mass-produced wallpapers and fabrics in Britain as well as a range of household paints. During its history it has collected a huge archive of wallpapers and textiles representing the many changing faces and fads of interior decoration. It is hoped that the exhibition will cater for a wide range of tastes from Arts and Crafts style, Fifties designs and Pop patterns as well as contemporary art and decor.
The address of the Fashion and Textile Museum is 83 Bermondsey Street, London SE1 3XF.

The Fashion Museum at the Assembly Rooms, Bath.

For centuries Bath has been a centre of fashion, attracting visitors to its spa. The Assembly Rooms is one of Bath's finest Georgian buildings and it also houses the Fashion Museum. It has a world-class collection of contemporary and historical dress.

Bath Fashion Museum was one of three UK museums who worked together to save a collection of nine evening dresses by the designer Madeleine Vionnet and worn by Lady Foley. Because of their high quality and the range of textiles and techniques used, the dresses were classed as unmatched by other examples already in the UK and were the subject of a recent Export Licence stop by the Secretary of State.

Two dresses aquired by the Bath Fashion Museum will be on display from December 2009 and are outstanding examples of 1930's haute couture.

The two Vionnet dresses for the Fashion Museum in Bath were bought for £101,365 of which the MLA/V&A Purchase Grant Fund gave £50,00 and the Art Fund gave £31, 365. The Council, the West of England Costume Society and many private individuals and supporters have also donated twoards the purchase.

Both dresses are in fine condition and are excellent examples of Vionnet's design legacy. They are precisely cut, delicately constructed and exquisitely embroidered using a variety of techniques.

One of the dresses on display is a full-length evening gown of cream silk tulle with a bodice decorated with intricate smocking. The pattern of the smocking resembles interlocking hexagons.

Andrew Macdonald, Acting Diretor of the Art Fund, said,
"These exquisite dresses reveal the astonishing cut and design of Madelineine Vionnet's haute couture. Her innovative construction techniques and skilled manipulation of fabric have inspired many of today's leading fashion designers."

Examples of quilts at the V and A exhibition

Rajah Quilt, Made by convicts on board HMS Rajah, 1841, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra (click image for larger version)

Bishops Court quilt, Unknown, 1690-1700. Museum no. T.201-1984 (click image for larger version)

If you would like to see more quilts which will be on display please look at the V and A website:
http://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/future_exhibs/Quilts/