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Design
Campbell, Florence - Enlarge image
Design
- Place of origin:
England (made)
- Date:
ca. 1940-1955 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Campbell, Florence (Mrs) (maker)
- Materials and Techniques:
This design was intended to be transferred to a handbag painted in a technique that Florence Campbell derived from traditional German penwork. The designwas applied to the handbag by painting in various coloured paints, mixed with an adhesive substance called Instanta. Miniscule clear beads were then applied to the wet paint to create a shimmering textured surface.
- Credit Line:
Given by Mrs M. Wood
- Museum number:
E.13-2014
- Gallery location:
Prints & Drawings Study Room, level D, case FD, shelf 3
'Waldybags' was the name given to a particular type of luxury handbag sold by the firm H. Wald & Co. after the Second World War. They were characterised by and unusual decorative technique by which minuscule glass beads were applied to painted decoration, creating a glistening, textured effect. These handbags were popular with the British royal family. Although the firm is synonymous with this style of decoration, the decorative technique was in fact developed and executed by Florence Campbell, a Jewish-German immigrant who married a Scottish engineer and moved to England in the 1940s. She expanded her skills in German pen work, a popular past time for young women in Germany, to encompass a range of decorative objects including household items and shoes, as well as bags. The work was initially carried out solely by Mrs Campbell. Later she taught the technique to her niece, Joan Ashley-Biggs, and then the latter's daughter, Margaret Wood, who continued to design and paint Waldybags until the late 1970s.
