Child's smock, embroidered in wools, worn by the artist Helen Saunders as a child, England, 1880s

Child's smock-dress of off-white wool flannel, embroidered on its front, collar, shoulders and sleeves in gold wool thread.

Given by Brigid Peppin

This smock was worn by the artist Helen Saunders (1885-1963) and her elder sister Ethel (1883-1971) when they were children growing up in West London. According to the donor, it was embroidered by the Saunders sisters’ mother, Annie (nee Paley, 1860-1951).

A smock is a traditional English garment which was widely worn by men and boys in rural areas, particularly by agricultural workers, until the late 19th century. They were often embroidered with symbols or patterns which were indicative of their work. Smocks are made from squares and rectangles of fabric, which makes a paper pattern unnecessary in their construction and eliminates wasting fabric in cutting curved facings. The wearing of smocks in rural areas declined through the nineteenth century, but the style was adopted by the Aesthetic and Arts and Crafts movements and used to inspire fashionable dress for girls.

Helen Saunders (1885-1963) was a painter associated with the Vorticist movement of the early 20th century. She was born in Ealing and attended the Slade School of Art 1906-07, and later the Central School of Art and Crafts. Saunders was among the first British artists to adopt a non-figurative style, and was a signatory of the Vorticists’ manifesto in 1915, but in her later career she steered away from the avant-garde. The V&A holds two of Saunders’ drawings (see CIRC.277-1967 and P.14-1977) and three of her works are held by Tate.

B.3-2018