Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level D , Case FD, Shelf 3

Design

mid 20th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This is a shoe design by Florence Campbell, a Jewish-German immigrant who moved to England in the 1940s. She was skilled in German penwork, a popular pastime for young women in Germany in which intricate patterns are created with pen and ink, and began transferring her designs to a range of decorative objects including shoes, bags, compacts and cigarette cases. She developed an unusual decorative technique by which minuscule glass beads were applied to painted decoration, creating a glistening, textured effect. After years of freelance work, selling her designs to various London stores, she took a role with the handbag manufacturer H. Wald & Co., designing and executing beaded designs for their signature 'Waldybags'. She also worked for the shoe manufacturer Rayne in the 1950s, and may have designed this shoe for them.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
ink and pencil drawing on transparent paper
Brief description
A design for a painted shoe by Florence Campbell, Great Britain, mid 20th century
Physical description
A preliminary design on transparent paper for a the painted toe of a woman's shoe. The design is in black ink and shows some pencil under-drawing. The decoration is a floral pattern consisting of stylised sunflowers.
Dimensions
  • Height: 21.8cm
  • Width: 24.8cm
Credit line
Given by Mrs M. Wood
Production
This design is a preliminary drawing that would then be worked up into a design painted onto the toe of a woman's shoe.
Subject depicted
Association
Summary
This is a shoe design by Florence Campbell, a Jewish-German immigrant who moved to England in the 1940s. She was skilled in German penwork, a popular pastime for young women in Germany in which intricate patterns are created with pen and ink, and began transferring her designs to a range of decorative objects including shoes, bags, compacts and cigarette cases. She developed an unusual decorative technique by which minuscule glass beads were applied to painted decoration, creating a glistening, textured effect. After years of freelance work, selling her designs to various London stores, she took a role with the handbag manufacturer H. Wald & Co., designing and executing beaded designs for their signature 'Waldybags'. She also worked for the shoe manufacturer Rayne in the 1950s, and may have designed this shoe for them.
Collection
Accession number
E.6-2014

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdNovember 19, 2013
Record URL
Download as: JSON