Design for Waldybag
Design
ca. 1940-1955 (made)
ca. 1940-1955 (made)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
'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.
Object details
Categories | |
Object type | |
Title | Design for Waldybag |
Materials and techniques | This design was intended to be pained onto a handbag using a technique that Florence Campbell had developed from the traditional craft of German penwork. Her painted bags were popularised by the company H. Wald and Co. and known as 'Waldybags'. |
Brief description | A bag design on paper by Florence Campbell (c.1886- c.1970) |
Physical description | A design for a painted handbag on transparent paper. The paper is folded in half to represent the two sides of the bag, with an identical design on each side. The design is evocative of Japanese decoration and consists of spiders' webs and cherry blossom. On one side of the design the blossom is coloured with pink pencil. The design is drawn in black ink with very small amounts of silver glitter applied in places. |
Dimensions |
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Credit line | Given by Mrs M. Wood |
Subject depicted | |
Association | |
Summary | '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. |
Collection | |
Accession number | E.8-2014 |
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Record created | November 19, 2013 |
Record URL |
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