Kettle holder, stitched canvas, made by Llewellyn Evans, Kenya, 1925.

A stitched kettle holder made from canvas. Depicts different coloured squares moving towards the edge of the object. The middle is pink, then blue, then a different shade of pink and a canvas colour. There is a slight tear to one of the corners showing the material underneath. The back is plain grey with the cream stitching showing through.

Given by Ann Skelton

This kettle holder was made by Llewellyn Bramwell Lewis Evans in 1925, when he was 8 years old. He was born in Kenya and went to Nairobi School. His family lived in Kent for a short time before returning to Kenya. He had a sister called Margaret, who was younger than himself. His father managed a farm at Makuyu before moving to his own dairy farm near Nyeri. His mother ran a nursing home on the farm. Llewellyn was known as 'Billy' as a child then always 'Bill' afterwards. He lived to the age of 90 and emigrated with his family to Wales in 1960. There, he managed a branch of a security firm before working with one of his greatest interests, antiques. In his later years he ran his framing business and was still doing some commissions until he was about 85. He was a talented artist, selling some of his paintings, and could turn his hand to several crafts. The chair was donated to the Museum by his daughter, Ann Skelton.

This decoratively stitched kettle holder were made by an 8 year old boy at school in 1925 in Kenya. This object was made at the same time as a small cane chair which has a strong object history with a hand written label attached to the chair, telling us that the child received a packet of sweets as a reward for making the chair and was pleased with the result. The chair and kettle stand were given to his mother as a gift as the end of term.

The maker of the objects, Llewellyn Bramwell Lewis Evans (born 1917), was a talented artist and sold some paintings during his lifetime, as well as managing his fathers farm near Nyeri.

B.322-2010