Exhibition 'Calm During the Storm: Wartime and the Embroiderers’ Guild' in Central Art Gallery
EMBROIDERY has been proven to have a calming and therapeutic effect in times of stress, and never more so than in wartime.
“Calm During the Storm”, which is about to open at Tameside Central Art Gallery in Ashton, features items stitched by convalescing soldiers, their wives and mothers, and others touched by conflict.
Embroidery kept them occupied, soothed their anxieties and even allowed them to display their patriotism.
The earliest exhibits are sweetheart pincushions. There are also silk postcards, made on a hand-embroidery machine. These were sold to servicemen to send to loved ones back home.
From the Second World War there are needlework kits produced by Briggs and Co, under the Penelope brand, which were sold specifically for use by HM Forces. The work by disabled ex-servicemen is particularly poignant.
Some items were bought by the Embroiders’ Guild at car-boot sales, antique fairs and auctions, although these often came with no information. We can only guess who stitched them and what their stories were.
Magazines such as Stitchcraft feature in the exhibition as they published hints and instructions for making the best of wartime restrictions and encouraged knitting for the forces. Transfer designs were very popular, and magazines published patriotic designs for women to create at home.
Contemporary pieces also feature, such as a response to the Afghan War by Cobie Erskine and works by Lisa Earley, Fiona Rainford and Charlotte Sewell.
Embroidery from Tameside’s Manchester Regiment collection has been added to the display for its Ashton showing.