Exhibition Review - Birds

One of the unexpected outcomes from the covid pandemic has been the increased use of electronic media by the world’s museums to showcase exhibitions which have suffered from the various lockdown closures. The Bucks County Museum in Aylesbury is home to the Embroiderers’ Guild’s outstanding textile collection and has an exciting exhibition in the Guild’s dedicated gallery there.

Museum Curator Will Philips has produced a short You Tube video of the current exhibition entitled “Embroidered Birds: A Fantastic Collection from The Embroiderers’ Guild”.

The exhibition was compiled by Dr Annette Collinge, the author of the Guild’s impressive series of Embroidered Treasures books, the second of which highlighted the many different techniques used to create embroideries featuring birds.

Will’s video is not an exhibit by exhibit look at the embroideries, but there are panoramic views of the gallery to give tantalising glimpses of the displays. pieces.

He is not an embroiderer so there is little technical discussion of the stitches or techniques. The first embroidery Will highlights is one of the smallest framed pictures in the exhibition - a deep blue, generic but characterful bird stitched on a bright yellow background, incorporating feathers and net.

Bird by Mairi McIver in 1960

His next choice is also from the 1960s but Cockerel by Alison Liley is an example of embroidery as art, using a painterly approach with the stitches and patterns to produce a convincing, striking depiction.

Will admits that the his next item may not be the most refined piece but it is an example of embroidery as therapy.

It is a small blue purse with two cheerful little birds in split stitch on the front, created under the auspices of the Disabled Soldiers Embroidery Industry. This was a charity established during World War I to provide employment and recovery for injured servicemen, creating small domestic items as well as larger scale works for churches and civic buildings, such as the altar frontal in a private chapel in Buckingham Palace.

The first is a 20th century bright red Mola, a reverse appliqué panel where the design is created by cutting into the underneath fabric layers. Molas are made to be worn in blouses by the Kuna Indians of South Panama.

The penultimate exhibit is an exquisite example of 19th century metal and silk thread embroidery from India. What makes this cover so special is the incorporation of beetle wings to add iridescent sparkle to the fabulous peacock depictions.

Watch video Will’s video ends with an embroidery which exemplifies the “less is more” principle with a small, painted silk panel from 19th century Japan. Three dark blue crows are satin stitched onto a cream background giving a brilliant feeling of motion from such a simple design. Although this is a personal selection of only a very few of the exhibits, I think this video gives a great overview of the stunning embroideries held within the Embroiderers’ Guild Collection and I very much hope to be able to get to the gallery to see which pieces would make it into my personal selection.