Please complete the form to email this item.

Dress fabric - Freud (Freudian Slips Collection)

Freud (Freudian Slips Collection)

  • Object:

    Dress fabric

  • Place of origin:

    England, Great Britain (made)

  • Date:

    1987 (made)

  • Artist/Maker:

    Helen David (Designer)
    English Eccentrics (manufacturer)

  • Materials and Techniques:

    Screen-printed silk with acid dyes

  • Credit Line:

    Given by Gary Page

  • Museum number:

    T.8-2007

  • Gallery location:

    In Storage

  • Image in copyright

This textile was inspired by a psychological projective test of personality, developed by 20th-century Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach. In Rorschach's test the patient's interpretations of ten standard abstract inkblots are analysed. The patient is supposed to project his or her real personality into the inkblot via the interpretation. The fabric features portraits of historical personalities, including Austrian psychologist and psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, and abstract prints of inkblots and interpretations amongst vertical stripes.

Helen David founded English Eccentrics, named after Edith Sitwell's book, and produced hand-printed and hand-embroidered silk garments and scarves. Her work is influenced by her interest in travel, ecology and green issues, the women's peace movement, architecture, costume and nature.

Physical description

Screen printed silk with acid dyes featuring portraits of historical figures including the Austria psychologist and psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, abstract prints of inkblots and interpretations amongst pink vertical stripes. The interpretations include 'sibling rivalry between jellyfish; two fleas dancing a tango, this might seem predictable but it looks like a butterfly, it looks like an inkblot test invented by Rorcharch ... I wonder if they will catch on; the ghost of leonardo, a crab in a cardigan and it looks like another print by Helen Littman (David) to me'.

Place of Origin

England, Great Britain (made)

Date

1987 (made)

Artist/maker

Helen David (Designer)
English Eccentrics (manufacturer)

Materials and Techniques

Screen-printed silk with acid dyes

Dimensions

Length: 261 cm, Width: 97 cm

Historical context note

This textile was inspired by a psychological projective test of personality, developed by 20th century Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach. In Rorschach's test the patient's interpretations of ten standard abstract inkblots are analysed. The patient is supposed to project his or her real personality into the inkblot via the interpretation. The fabric features portraits of historical personalities, including Austrian psychologist and psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, abstract prints of inkblots and interpretations amongst vertical stripes.

Descriptive line

Screen printed silk with acid dyes, featuring portraits including Sigmund Freud, inkblots and pink vertical stripes, designed by Helen David for English Eccentrics, England, Spring/Summer 1987

Associated names

Sigmund Freud; Rorschach, Hermann

Materials

Silk; Dye

Techniques

Screen printed

Subjects depicted

Sigmund Freud

Categories

Textiles

Production Type

Mass produced

Collection code

T&F

Qr_O137923
Ajax-loader