The Material Heart: Front Line to Home Front

The Material Heart: Front Line to Home Front

This fascinating display reveals two rare private collections of pin-stuck cushions dating from before and during the First World War (1914-18). Commonly known as ‘sweetheart pin cushions,’ they were in fact mostly made for mothers, often as Christmas gifts, by soldiers serving on the front line during their leisure time or while convalescing from injury.

Available in kits, the heart forms were decorated with pins, along with military insignia, images of monarchy, tiny objects, photographs and embroidered designs, some with deeply personal and symbolic meanings. Some Victorian cushions, made in various shapes, were crafted from red uniform cloth. Many would become treasured memorial objects.

The Material Heart: Front Line to Home Front is created by Amy de la Haye and Simon Costin and is the first display dedicated to these compelling items of British folk art. The collections belong to Simon Costin, Director of the Museum of British Folklore and the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic and subject specialist and private collector Alessandra Curtis.

_{Photography by Felix Reitze de la Haye}

The display will be accompanied by a programme of Museum talks – be amongst the first to know about these events by signing up to the Fashion and Textile Museum Mailing List.

About the curators and contributors

Amy de la Haye is Professor of Dress History & Curatorship at London College of Fashion; contributor to SHOWstudio and serves as curatorial consultant for the Museum of British Folklore. Formerly a fashion curator at the Victoria & Albert Museum, Amy is collaborating with the Fashion and Textile Museum as a guest curator of a series of displays in the Museum’s Small Gallery. The Material Heart is the first in this new series.

Simon Costin is an internationally respected art director and set designer renowned for the conceptually ambitious nature of his editorial and catwalk designs. He is also a museum curator and the director of the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic and the founder and director of the Museum of British Folklore.

Alessandra Curtis is a British-Italian folklorist, with a background in archaeology. Drawing on a wealth of social history, she explores the forgotten meanings attached to every-day items that tell stories of ordinary people, often overlooked. Her interdisciplinary research aims to contribute to the emerging field of material culture of emotions. 

As part of the project students from Newham College, working with University of the Arts London, have developed a creative response to the display around the theme of message making. Some examples of their work will be exhibited.

This display in our Small Gallery runs alongside the exhibition Paint! Pattern! Print! that explores the textiles of Susan Collier and Sarah Campbell. To find out more about Paint! Pattern! Print! and to book tickets click the button below. Entry to The Material Heart is free with a main exhibition ticket.