Leather panel, from the Magpie and Stump, designed by Charles Robert Ashbee, made by Bill Hardiman, Essex House (Mile End), 1893-1894

The panel is designed to be placed vertically and the main motif is a tudor rose on a stem rising up from the centre of the bottom edge with the flower head placed in the centre of the upper half of the panel. Below the tudor rose, on the left is a smaller flower head, probably a sunflower, on a stem rising from behind the base of that for the rose. Another stem rising from the same point on the bottom edge curves up below the sunflower head and splits into three as it passes over the stem for this flower. The upper one of these three stems curves over to the left below the tudor rose, ending in a leafy spray on the left hand edge of the panel. The middle stem of the three passes behind the stem of the tudor rose and curves up, with broken branches, to the top left hand edge of the panel. The right hand stem of these three curves up the right hand side of the panel and encloses the tudor rose, dividing into further stems on the left of the flower head, two of which curve down to the bottom of the panel, ending in leafy sprays on either side of the base for the three main stems.

Given by Messrs Wates Ltd

This is part of a set of leather panels, made by Bill Hardiman of the Guild of Handicraft for the staircase hall of the Magpie and Stump. C.R. Ashbee, who founded the Guild, designed and built this house on Chelsea Embankment for himself, his mother and sisters, in 1893-4. The panels were stitched together to cover the back wall of the hall, against which the first flight of the staircase was placed, and the complete design shows magpies with foliage and flower heads.

In 1966 the Museum was given the opportunity to remove the leather panels from the house before it was demolished.

This leather panel is part of a set originally designed and made as wall coverings for the staircase hall in the Magpie and Stump. When put together the panels show a design of magpies with foliage, echoing the name of the house. The architect and designer, C.R. Ashbee designed and built this house on Chelsea Embankment in 1893-4 for himself, his mother and his sisters. The leather was modelled by Bill Hardiman, a member of the Guild of Handicraft, founded in Mile End, London by Ashbee in 1888. Members of the Guild lived and worked together on metalwork, jewellery, furniture and books. Hardiman, who joined the Guild in 1890 and left in 1906, became the chief modeller for metalwork but also worked on leather panels for upholstery and for wall coverings.

W.16-2008