John Styles (1)

This little book is full of scraps of fabric, ribbons, embroidery and other textile tokens that were left in the mid 18th century at the London Foundling Hospital. They were intended such that the mother could identify the child if she was ever in a position to reclaim it at a later date. very few did, the figures are heart rending. Only one of the fabric samples shown in this book was where the mother had reclaimed the child. The survey is relatively brief, but thorough and systematic. It discusses cloth types, their usages and why certain types of fabric predominate in the collection. These are not, in fact, the very cheapest materials, but those of printed coloured cottons linens and similar. Then it discusses ribbons (including how to sex a baby by the ribbons on its hat, has nothing to do with colour), embroidery and the portions of baby clothes that were left as tokens. It is very interesting and manages to walk a fine line between being sentimental and academically dry.… (mer)