The Norfolk Heritage Collection

Norfolk Museums and Archaeology Service are delighted to announce the first of a new range of products for sale, based on the Museum's collection. The Norfolk Heritage Collection has been designed by Sue Foster, a local textile artist, designer and weaver, working closely with the museum's curatorial and merchandising staff. The collaboration is the result of a long-cherished dream to promote and poplarise the vibrant colours and patterns to be found in our 18th century woven textile pattern books. The cushions are digitally produced, and filled with Norfolk Feather Company feathers. They are available to buy in a range of patterns and sizes at the Bridewell shop and Caslte Museum and on-line from www.strangersofnorwich.com.

Recent Research

The Norwich Textiles project has now been running for some ten years. Every so often, a door suddenly opens upon an exciting new line of enquiry for research into the industry.

Starting work as an independent researcher in Strangers' Hall, Dr Michael Nix, formerly Research Manager for Transport at Technology at Glasgow Museums, hadn't anticipated on his first morning discovering such an exciting find. Cathy Terry, the Curator of Social History, suggested he first go through the research files of individuals connected with textiles manufacture in Norwich, created by Thelma and Alan Morris. Within an hour he came across a list of holdings of Norwich pattern books in the Winterthur Museum in Delaware, U.S.A. The initials 'ICH' immediately caught his attention. John Christopher Hampp, an importer of continental medieval stained glass in the early nineteenth century, is central to his research project. Principally a Norwich master weaver, Hampp was born in Marbach in the Kingdom of Wurttenburg in 1750 and Chases's Norwich directory records him living in Redwell Street thirty-three years later. He later moved to St Giles' Broad Street where, a naturalised Englishman, he died in 1825. His memorial slab can be seen in St Giles’ Church.

Dr Nix was soon in touch with Jeanne Solensky, Librarian of the Downs Collection at the Winterthur Library and Linda Eaton, the John L. and Marjorie P. McGraw Director of Collections and Senior Curator of Textiles at the Winterthur Museum, and received very quick and helpful responses as well images of textile swatches and Hampp's initials stamped on the leather binding. The initials and name are confirmed in a contemporary shipping agent's account book.

The pattern book is described in the Winterthur Library swatch book collection listing as a "Norwich worsted pattern book" of about 1794 and contains about 2,000 swatches of "variously coloured and patterned worsteds, described as 'satins' and 'satinets'". The entry continues: "A few titles in German appear, but the numeration is written in an English hand. The original backboard has 'ICH' stamped on it in gold". The entry is now being updated.

Norwich Pattern book to feature in the BBC History of the World in One Hundred Objects

An Ives and Basely textiles despatch book from the 1790s is to feature in the Radio Norfolk series showcasing Norfolk's most important artefacts, as part of BBC/ British Museum's project ' The History of the World in One Hundred Objects'. The volume will be displayed at Strangers' Hall museum for a special live broadcast from the museum on Thursday October 28th. The importance of the collection to the understanding of the growth of industry and trade in the 18th century will be explored, and recent work to conserve the precious volumes will be showcased. A special event for families, based on designing a modern-day pattern card will also run on the day.

Norfolk Museums & Archaeology Service holds the definitive collection of Norwich pattern books, which are some of the earliest of their kind in the country. These precious volumes preserve a working record of the Norwich Stuffs industry, and so help show why Norwich became ' The Chief Seat of the Chief Manufacture of the Realm' by the mid- 18th century, recording goods despatched to the four corners of the globe. Carefully constructed and containing literally hundreds of individual samples of locally made worsteds, they are works of art in their own right that continue to provide inspiration today.

A small selection of items from the collection will be on show at Strangers' Hall until November 26th, 2010 ( opening hours Wednesdays to Saturdays, 10.30am - 4pm)

NUCA 2010 MA SHOW

Norwich University College of the Arts will present its MA Degree Show in its St Georges building Friday 10th to Tuesday 14th September. The exhibition, which is open to the public between the hours of 10am and 4pm (except on Sunday) will provide an opportunity to view the final work of the University College's graduating postgraduate students from 10 MA courses, including the leading MA in Textile Culture.

Great Exhibition Shawl for Carrow House

Carrow House has recently been able to add a truly magnificent example to its collection of Norwich Shawls, thanks to the generosity of the Costume and Textiles Association and to the V& A Purchase Grant Fund.

It was made by major Norwich manufacturer Towler & Campin, as a showpiece to exhibit at the Great Exhibition, 1851, and features a pivoting design in red and green, with great swags and sprays of both realistic and imaginary flowers. This was fashionable, especially in France, from 1849 into the 1860s. The exuberant decoration shows the influence of the Vegetale style, which was in vogue from 1849 to 1851. Woven with a warp of silk and a worsted weft, this is Norwich weaving at its finest, and exemplifying the luxury end of the market for which Norwich was renowned.

Where did Norwich weavers live? And what were hand-looms in Norwich actually like?

Many people have expressed an interest in finding out more about the weavers' houses, workshops and equipment. So very few original buildings remain, and we are not aware of a single surviving l hand-loom. Now visitors to this site can find out more thanks to a new piece of work carried out by Alan Morris. Alan has constructed a scale model of a four poster loom using information built up over years of research. The model is used to illustrate an article written jointly by Thelma and Alan Morris, Housing for Master Weavers, Journeyman Weavers and their Looms. We are pleased to make this available to mark the first anniversary of the Norwich Textiles web-site.