Dorothy Russell at the Victoria and Albert Museum Quilt Exhibition 1700-2010
Quilts 1700-2010 at the V&A, curated by Sue Prichard, will be open from 20th March to 4th July 2010 and, having been to the press preview, I can recommend that anyone with an interest in quilts, take a trip to the museum to see the work assembled: some comes from the V&A’s own collection, other pieces are borrowed from sources such as Beamish in County Durham, St Fagans museum in South Wales. However, the quilt which has travelled furthest is the Rajah Quilt, made by women travelling as convicts to Van Diemen’s Land, now known as Tasmania.
Mrs Shepherd 1935 Northumberland at the Victoria and Albert Museum Quilt Exhibition 1700-2010
18th Century Cot Quilt at the Victoria and Albert Museum Quilt Exhibition 1700-2010
The most stunning work, for me, is wholecloth or work whose intrinsic beauty relies on the images created by stitch alone. It is the hardest to photograph and is therefore under represented in publicity for the exhibition but is a must to see.
There are very early cot quilts, late 19th and early 20th century North Country and Welsh quilts in this catagory and the most stunning 18th century unwaddeded bed quilt with beautiful, delicate, finely stitched designs covering it entirely: a stunning piece of work.
Very evident in all publicity are the colourful, pictorial quilts of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, celebrating victories, the ‘great and the good’, as well as personal occassions. They are very photogenic.
The work of male quilters is also represented in tailors’ and soldiers’ quilts, mention of Joseph Hedley (Old Joe the Quilter) 19th century tailor and quilt maker from the NE of England and information on current Fine Cell work by guests of Her Majesty at Wandsworth. The ‘make do and mend’ policy born of scarcity and poverty is also not forgotten.
Tracey Emin at the Victoria and Albert Museum Quilt Exhibition 1700-2010Exhibition 1700-2010
Representing the present; although I’d debate how much they relate to what is happening in the quilting world as I understand it; are pieces by such luminaries as Tracey Emin and Grayson Perry; selected as much for the ‘pulling power’ of their names as the validity of their contribution to ‘quilts’. I hope they ‘pull’ in a mass of viewers who would not otherwise contemplate visiting a quilt exhibition. Far more recognisable to me were works by Sara Impey and Pauline Burbidge.
Wandering through the two rooms dedicated to this, the first exhibition of quilts mounted by the V&A, is a special experience, a direct insight into threehundred years of patchwork and quilting in Britain, and I would suggest you find the time, the trainfare and the entry fee to take advantage of this rare opportunity to experience all this exhibition has to offer.
Dot Russell 19th March 2010