Friday 25 January 2013

Weaving a Clearer Picture of Luther Hooper in St Christophers' Church

A few days ago, after re-posting the pictures of Luther Hooper's work in St Christopher's Church, Haslemere, I came across some much clearer pictures from the same journal.  I did not realize that the darkness of the photographs was due to the online scanning of the Art Journal.  I happened to be looking at the Art Journal online at the Victoria & Albert Museum and their scanned copy shows much more detail, and makes the work look a lot more attractive.

I did not suspect that the 'raindrops' in the silk damask had little birds, and flowers(?) inside them. And now I see why they published the picture of the back of the curtains!


Portion of Silk Damask, Side Curtain to Altar,
St. Christopher's, Haslemere
designed by Luther Hooper
from Art Journal, February 1911

Portion of Silk Damask, Side Curtain to Altar,
St. Christopher's, Haslemere
designed by Luther Hooper
from Art Journal, February 1911


Curtain of Woollen Tissue, St Christopher's Church,
designed by Luther Hooper, woven by Percy C. Hooper,
from Art Journal, February 1911
Curtain of Woollen Tissue, St Christopher's Church,
designed by Luther Hooper, woven by Percy C. Hooper,
from Art Journal, February 1911


Reverse Side of Curtain (from above), Woven in pure cream mercerised cotton,
ornamented with green, blue and scarlet wool
Art Journal, February 1911

Reverse Side of Curtain (from above), Woven in pure cream mercerised cotton,
ornamented with green, blue and scarlet wool
Art Journal, February 1911


2 comments:

  1. I think the "flowers" in the Luther Hooper St Christopher altar side-hangings are pomegranates, which often occur in Christian iconography as symbols of Christ's resurrection. I would imagine the birds in the design are intended to be doves (they look a bit pigeon-ish) - either the dove of peace (from the story of Noah's Ark - though it ought to be carrying an olive branch) or to represent the Holy Ghost/Spirit, as it appeared at Christ's baptism by John the Baptist in the River Jordan.

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  2. Hi Alec, lovely to hear from you.

    Yes I'm sure you are quite right about the pomegranates. Sarah from the Weaving House has also shown me the error of my ways, pointing out that pomegranates were "often used with birds by artists and craftworkers during the Aesthetic Movement", William Morris' wallpaper being a good example.

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