Textiles

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Since its opening in 1845, The Glasgow School of Art has been connected to textile design and production.

During the 19th and early 20th centuries the School aimed to train local designers to produce patterns for the textile industry in Glasgow and the West of Scotland. In the 1890s, the School's embroidery department was established and soon became famous for the Glasgow Style pieces its staff and students produced (examples of such work are housed in the School's collections).

Jessie Newbery (1864-1948), the first head of this department, encouraged her students to study historical designs and textiles in order to understand different embroidery techniques and to use these items as a source of inspiration for the development of new original work. This teaching ethos continued to be used in the 20th century during which time the School also developed courses in textile printing, weave and knit.

A large number of the items in the School's collection are related to The Needlework Development Scheme (1934-1962). This scheme, sponsored by J & P Coats of Paisley, collected examples of embroidery from a variety of geographical and historical areas and made them available for use by educational institutions and embroidery groups. The scheme aimed to encouraging greater interest in needlework, and to improve the standard of embroidery techniques and designs. When the scheme ended, its collections were disseminated to a variety of organisations. The Glasgow School of Art received 125 items dating from 1652-1961 and originating from Britain, Europe and Asia.

Amongst other items of note in the School's collections are weave sample books from Donald Brothers Ltd, Dundee and examples of work by Kath Whyte (1909-1996), GSA's former Head of Embroidery, and her students.

Related publications:

Liz Arthur, Textile Treasures at the Glasgow School of Art;

Liz Arthur, The Unbroken Thread: A Century of Embroidery at Glasgow School of Art;

Thomasina Beck, Glasgow Girls: Women in Art and Design 1880-1920;

Kathleen Whyte, Design in Embroidery;

R.Oddy. Embroideries from Needlework development scheme;

J. Taylor, The Glasgow School of Embroidery in 'The Studio';

Needlework development scheme, Contemporary Embroideries;

Margaret Swanson, Needlecraft in School;

Margaret Swanson; Needle craft for Older Girls;

Margaret Swanson, Needle craft and Psychology;

Margaret Swanson and Ann Macbeth, Educational Needle craft.

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S2

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Textiles

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Textiles

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Textiles

34 Archival description results for Textiles

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German weave notebook

This item was damaged in the fire in GSA's Mackintosh Building on 23rd May 2014 and was conserved in 2018-19. The digital images attached to this record are of stencils which were loose inside the front cover of the book, and not pages of the book itself.

*Not available / given

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German. On white silk with woven spot design. Embroidered with silk, black cotton and metal threads in cross, four-sided, running, back, fly, satin stitches, couching and French knots. Shades of brown and oragne with naive figures and sacred emblems. The stylised figures and text are similar to those on the Hungertuch (Hunger cloth) Lenten cloth also made by the Munster school in the late 1920s. This was inspired by the 1623 Hungertuch Lenten hangings in Telgte, near Munster.

*Not available / given

Travel Report

This report details student Pamela Mitchell's experiences when she traveled around Europe for three months upon receiving a travelling scholarship at The Glasgow School of Art in 1959. Mitchell was a student at the School between 1955 and 1959 and studied Textiles. She received the Haldane Travelling Scholarship which was a cash sum of £75. She visted the cities of Copenhagen, Hamburg, Basle, Milan, Venice, Florence, Ravena, Porto Garibaldi, Ferrara, Verona and Paris. The report is coherantly laid out with details of the time spent in each of these cities.

Mitchell, Pamela

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