I belong to a local Textile History group. We often have guest speakers, but it's also a platform for many of our members to give presentations on topics of interest and/or research. I gave a presentation last night! I had read about a textile exhibition in London from the London Foundling Hospital's archives. It's a fascinating story. The exhibit was curated by John Styles. There is a fabulous online slideshow, and also a short news clip from the BBC that tells about this wonderful archive of 18th century textiles. This blog is a great source of information as well! I was also able to purchase a companion book that was written about the exhibit - entitled Threads of Feeling. Go here for ordering information!
From the back cover... "When mother's left babies at London's Foundling Hospital in the mid-eighteenth century, the Hospital often retained a small token as a means of identification, usually a piece of fabric. These swatches of fabric now form Britain's largest collection of everyday textiles from the eighteenth century. They include the whole range of fabrics worn by ordinary women, along with ribbons, embroidery and even some baby clothes. Both beautiful and poignant, each scrap of material reflects the life of a single infant child and that of its absent parent. The enthralling stories the fabrics tell about textiles, fashion, women's skills, infant clothing and maternal emotion are the material of Threads of Feeling."
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