COLLECTIONS

ARCHIVES & COLLECTIONS

This page: Sir Jonathan Portal Bt donated this 18 th -century cup by Abraham Portal, a pupil of de Lamerie.

Facing page: A Freedom Ceremony, with the 500 Masters exhibition banners. We continue to preserve, make accessible and develop our archives and collections, whilst supporting talent and nurturing skills in a number of endangered crafts.

ARCHIVES

With more than 250 research enquiries answered and an increase in the number of research visits made by academics, 2019 was another busy year in the Archive. Subjects of interest included The Company’s role as lobbyist for the cloth trade, 1600 to 1640; reforms in schools influenced by livery companies in the late 17 th century, for example at Sutton Valence Grammar School, Kent; 19 th -century grants to University College Bristol; historical links between textile and fashion education and the textile and fashion industry in England, 1850 to 2000; and the Yorkshire College of Science (now the University of Leeds) and its relationship to industry and trade bodies.

The breadth of interests demonstrates the research potential of our archives, and we are committed to widening access to our collections by enhancing our online catalogue, making preparations to provide access to digitised material online and participating in outreach activities to showcase our unique holdings.

We contributed to the successful outdoor exhibition City Women in

the 18 th Century, which ran along the breadth of Cheapside in the autumn and featured a number of prominent Clothworker businesswomen: www.citywomen.hist.ac.uk.

A major project this year was an exhibition celebrating our 500 th Master (Sir Jonathan Portal Bt, in the chair for 2019-20), which was intermittently displayed at the Hall for our members and guests. Much research behind the scenes went into the writing and production of a series of exhibition panels to communicate, illustrate and celebrate the lives and notable achievements of some of the 499 Past Masters be they merchants, cheesemongers, politicians, geographers, scientists, or bankrupts. The project uncovered a great deal of new information about previous Masters, rescuing them from obscurity, and will be of longterm benefit to us both internally and in the assistance we provide to researchers. A digital slideshow of the banners will be available on The Company’s new website (expected to launch in July 2020).

The Company is keen to ensure the furtherance of knowledge and skills transfer. Accordingly, we welcomed two volunteers during the course of the year. Anne Courtney, a UCL student on the MA programme for Archives Administration, spent two weeks cataloguing papers relating to the Royal Commission on Livery Companies in the 1880s. Freya Barrett, a history undergraduate and aspiring museum professional, was given a week’s work experience assisting with research, displays and data entry using CALM, our collections management software. We plan for Freya to augment her hands-on experience in 2020.

BOOKBINDING

Bookbinding is an endangered craft that we have supported for more than 12 years.

We are slowly building up a collection of designer bookbindings, and in 2019 took delivery of five newly completed bindings by Jo Bird, Pamela Richmond, Sue Doggett, Ann Tout – all seen in previous Clothworker membership magazines – and, most recently, Rachel Ward-Sale.

Rachel’s startling binding is of The Revelations of St John the Divine, a

ARCHIVES & COLLECTIONS

limited edition work by the Old Stile Press with illustrations by Natalie d’Arbeloff. A particularly challenging commission, as the book’s pages open in a concertina fashion, Rachel conceived a triptych box-binding structure to safely encase the text block. The design is inspired by the imagery of Christ crucified – with grey onlays in the form of crosses adhered to the hand-dyed leathers – surrounded by ash and flames in sprinkled, impressed and pared back gold leaf. This is a reference to her home town, Lewes, and its famous annual bonfire.

All our bindings are displayed in a prominent position in the Entrance Hall, attracting the attention of members and guests alike. We currently have three books out on commission with eminent bookbinders, with another three commissions soon to be initiated. VISITORS’ BOOK

On occasion, our core collections are supplemented with acquisitions of unique works of art.

In 2019, we initiated a commission to create a second Great Twelve Visitors’ Book, which was the gift of John Coombe-Tennant (Master 2018-19). The completed binding was featured in the Clothworker (no. 21), but the project began with a series of intricate pen-and-ink drawings of architectural details in Clothworkers’ Hall by the artist Emma Bashforth; Emma’s drawings are now featured throughout the Visitors’ Book.

Emma said: ‘I had the privilege of producing a series of pen-and-ink illustrations for the Visitors’ Book. They depict some of the wonderful architectural details at the Hall.

‘I toured the Hall with Jessica Collins, and together we carefully selected 11 architectural features to focus on – including Cedric, the carved golden ram, and other striking decorative plasterwork, gilding and carvings adorning the ceremonial rooms. Each drawing took 12 to 15 hours to complete.

‘Although I often work on other pen-and-ink commissions, I spend most of my working life as a freelance archivist. I began working for The Company in 2008, on ROLLCO (Records of London’s Livery Companies Online). Since then, I have worked intermittently in the archives on various freelance cataloguing and indexing projects.

‘I was delighted to be selected by the Collections and Archives Committee to undertake these drawings, and it was a pleasure to renew my connection with The Company through this commission.’

This page: Portrait of Emma, and her illustration of ‘Apollo’ for the Great Twelve Visitors’ Book.

Facing page: Rachel Ward-Sale’s designer binding of The Revelations of St John the Divine. © 2019, Leigh Simpson.

This page: Miriam Hanid’s Loving Cup under construction, commissioned to celebrate the first Lady Master, Dr Carolyn Boulter (2017-18).

ARCHIVES & COLLECTIONS

SILVER

We had an exceptionally busy year in relation to curatorial activities, dominated by commissions and outreach related projects. In the spring, Yusuke Yamamoto and Miriam Hanid began work on their loving cup commissions for The Company. They were able to present their designs and early progress during our London Craft Week event at Clothworkers’ Hall last May.

Yusuke is a Japanese silversmith based in Wales, who has previously worked with Hiroshi Suzuki, maker of our wonderful set of three hammered vases (the gift of Paul Wates, Master 2003-04). His teasel-inspired loving cup was selected for the commission to celebrate our 500 th Master.

The elegant bowl of his loving cup was hand raised from a single sheet of silver, hammered inside and out to give a textured effect, with small areas of added gold leaf ‘nunome’ onlay enlivening the surface further. The cup was completed in excellent time for Goldsmiths’ Fair last September and made its first appearance at Clothworkers’ Hall at the Court and Livery Dinner in October. Miriam Hanid is an award-winning young designer silversmith based in Suffolk, whose work already features in many public and private collections including that of HM Queen Elizabeth II. Her ‘cascade’ loving cup takes its inspiration from textiles – the design is based on a cascade of draping and flowing cloth, which swirls around the form of the cup.

Miriam relished the opportunity to push her chasing skills to the limit during the commission and collaborated with the silversmith Jenny Edge to design and fabricate elegant but robust hand-chased handles that spiral around the cup and stem. The piece is currently awaiting hallmarking and a final polishing before its first appearance at the Hall. It was chosen to celebrate the second recent milestone for The Clothworkers’ Company – the election of our first Lady Master (2017-18).

Our plate collection has also swelled further this year with the acquisition of a fine silver gilt 18 th -century two-handled cup and cover made by Abraham Portal, a pupil of de Lamerie. It has been gifted by the present Master, Sir Jonathan Portal Bt, who is a distant descendant of the maker, as his Master’s gift to The Clothworkers’ Company. SUPPORTING TALENT

We have acted as a patron of the arts for many centuries and continue to foster talent and nurture skills in selected areas today.

In addition to commissioning contemporary silver, we make an annual grant to Bishopsland Educational Trust to enable students to purchase raw materials and essential tools, which will assist them in their careers long beyond the end of their formal studies.

Bishopsland is a unique oneyear residential workshop for emerging silversmiths, providing masterclasses in craft techniques coupled with essential training in marketing and business skills. Prominent alumni include Rod Kelly, Jane Short, Hiroshi Suzuki, Theresa Nguyen, Angela Cork and Miriam Hanid, all of whom feature (or are soon to feature) in our growing plate collection.

We recently supplemented our funding to Bishopsland to provide further financial support to those students remaining on site during the coronavirus pandemic, in order to help them complete their studies.

In bookbinding, we fund prizes in the Open Choice category of the Designer Bookbinders competition, which consistently

ARCHIVES & COLLECTIONS

attracts high quality bindings from talented makers.

We are the sole funder of bursaries to enable deserving binders to attend training masterclasses jointly organised by Designer Bookbinders (DB) and the Society of Bookbinders; we have now made two grants towards the Transferring Design initiative, a scheme devised by DB to deliver introductory and bespoke bookbinding training to students on allied courses at UK art colleges and universities, both as a means of skills transfer and to encourage new talent to consider entering the craft.

We are also a founding partner of the Royal Collection Trust’s Queen’s Bindery Apprenticeship Scheme (QBAS). The scheme is now in its fourth year, with six apprentices gaining unparalleled experience in a wide range of binding skills in the Royal Bindery at Windsor and on placements around the UK. All now possess or will shortly complete their initial City and Guilds qualifications (levels 1-3) in bookbinding, and the most experienced apprentice is now considered to be highly employable, such is the quality of the training received.

PUBLIC EVENTS

We were delighted Miriam Hanid and Yusuke Yamamoto could participate in our London Craft Week event, in a follow-up to

2018’s successful series of weaving masterclasses with weavers from Dovecot Tapestry Studio.

The Making of a Silver Commission was curated in collaboration with Contemporary British Silversmiths (CBS), and comprised of a series of silver demonstrations by both Miriam and Yusuke, a behindthe-scenes tour of the plate vault for leading collectors and curators in the world of silver, and a lunchtime discussion on the commissioning process with insightful commentary from both silversmiths, led by Angela Cork, chair of CBS. We had 117 visitors on the day, and we were delighted to learn that both silversmiths received new commissions as a result of this exposure.

Our plans to host a bookbindingthemed London Craft Week event in May 2020 in collaboration with the Queen’s Bindery Apprenticeship Scheme were sadly cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic; however we hope to be able to participate in the event again in May 2021.

In addition to the London Craft Week event, we also welcomed 1,252 members of the public to Clothworkers’ Hall on a single day in mid-September, when we threw open our doors for another successful London Open House weekend.

This page: Yusuke Yamamoto’s Loving Cup, commissioned to celebrate the 500 th Master, Sir Jonathan Portal Bt (2019-20).

Facing page: QBAS apprentice sewing book sections. © 2019, Royal Collection Trust.