It's all going on!

The first installment of Mrs Brown's Diary is now online! This unfolding story reveals the significance of the items that make up the 1950's dressing room which has been created through my collabortive project with Stoke Pottieres Musuem and Art Galley. The diary is your chance to find out who this character is; the first post covers her visit to the Grand Re-opening of the Theatre Royal in Hanley and introduces her relationship with George her husband, but just why is he so upset?

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Last Saturday was the official first day of  dressing room display and to mark the occassion a local burlesque performer called Lottie Applejack dressed in period costumes did a piece in the dressing room based around transformation which ties in well with my theme of artifice and the project's title, Making faces.

 

Photo by Craig Berry 

My project has also inspired other creative outlets! Members of City Voices writers group based in Hanley were invited by the museum to produce their own responses to the items from the Making Faces display and also other museum pieces from the same period picked out by myself. The result was a very ecelctic mixture of poetry and short stories. Here's two of my favourites which have really captured the essence of the objects and the era :

 

Rationed Reflections

Getting ready for a night of theatre,

A film, a dance, a romance.

Take night off from the week

For the war is still fresh in memory

In all young and old

And rationing still carried

But you do your best.

Improvement and alter the gown dress,

With ideas of the society magazines.

Pictures and varied types and varied tips,

From halls of Paris’s fashion houses,

To stars of West End and Hollywood.

A break from that time before,

And now a modern twist,

With compacts of small design,

Fit neatly into the purse,

Nylons from across the Atlantic,

Hard to find at this time.

Picture of the returning sweetheart,

Returned from the continent,

From aiding in Europe.

Soon the alarm will chime,

And it will be theatre time.

Martin Wilkes

A Rare Night Out

She sat before the mirror

Everything was to hand.

Powder puff and perfume

They made her feel so grand.

Her husband had bought tickets

For the Theatre Royal show.

Just a dab of lipstick,

Now she was ready to go.

“The taxi’s here, my darling”

Her husband called to say.

She hurried down to join him

Then they were on their way.

She wore the pearls he’d bought her.

Snd her high heels too.

She felt like a lady

Attending a posh ‘do’.

They didn’t have much money

So treats like these were rare

But oh, how good they made her feel –

Like dancing on air.

P.A. Sinclair © 2011

Set up day!

Yesterday was set up day at the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery in Stoke! After months of preparation and research, the collaborative project between myself and the museum has been put on display!

The final display has turned out to be extremely beautiful, thanks to the variety of original vintage pieces found in the museum's archives. It felt really satifying to see them all together for the first time and place them in the display, knowing that not only do they all have part to play in constucting my projects character they are also going to be viewed by the public after spending years in storage.

Each item had to be handled carefully (hence the fetching purple latex gloves). It took a bit of trial and error before everything looked right, but I had a rough idea where I wanted everything to be, plus not everything that had been chosen got used in the end. The space could only hold so many items and also I didn't want to clutter the display and compromise the hidden story with too many objects. 

Some items had been specially selected to be displayed seperately to focus on specific themes. This plinth for instance holds the original programme from the Grand Re-opening of the Theatre Royal from 1951. Around it are items from the character Mrs Brown's outfit.  The  display sets the scene for the rest of the dressing room and helps to illustrate what a posh event the re-opening was to the people of Stoke. I especially enjoyed putting these items together as the final outcome looks so good! (There will be a pair of opera glasses attached to this plinth so that you can zoom in on some of the smaller pieces on top of the dressing table!)

 

Stoke on Trent Museums What's on guide for February - March 2011

It took months of sourcing for the museum and visits and research for me to get to the day of set up. I've really enjoyed the project; It's allowed me to gain more knowledge about one of my favourite eras. I've learnt about social aspects, fashion, entertaiment and the local history of Stoke in the post war period!

But it doesn't end here! Whilst the project is on display I will be posting Mrs Brown's Diary on a brand new blog: http://mrs-browns-diary.blogspot.com/ . Here you will be able to find out the secret life of Mrs Brown, find out who she is and what the items in her dressing room mean to her.

Plus over the six months the dressing room is on display I will be continuing the project by interacting with the set, photo sessions and some new paintings based around Mrs Brown's story! Make sure you come along to view it all!

The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery,
Bethesda Street, Cultural Quarter,
Stoke-on-Trent, ST1 3DW
Telephone: 01782 232323
Minicom: 01782 232515
E-mail: museums@stoke.gov.uk

Open:  Monday to Saturday 10am - 5pm
              Sunday 2 - 5pm
Admission: FREE.

The lost Pleasure Palaces

I've been trying to find information and photos about The Theatre Royal in Hanley for my dressing room project. This collaborative work with Stoke Pottieries Museum and Art Gallery has been interesting for so many reasons; One of my favourite things has been finding out about the history of Stoke, a place one half of my family came from and partly still live.

I've been specifically looking up information about The Theatre Royal as the dressing room set will be focused around it's 'Grand Re-opening' which occured on 14th August 1951. The museum has an original programme from the night which is very impressive, all expensive cream card and gold embossing on it's cover. You can imagine just how exciting and important this night would have been to the people of Stoke. At a time when entertainment was so popular that it wasn't unusual for towns to have several cinemas and theatres, this grand re-opening would have been a social event not to be missed!

The term 're-opening' is important to remember. Only three years earlier a tragic fire destroyed the entire auditorium of the original theatre leaving only the perimeter walls standing. It is said that the Sadler's Wells Ballet Company who were performing there at the time lost almost the entire production; costumes, scenery, props and the whole collection of musical instruments. Whilst the flames consumed backstage the theatre manager, fearing the loss of important documents, dived into the burning building in his pyjamas and overcoat to save them!

It seems it wasn't just the manager who valued the Royal and what it held. In 1950 the people of Stoke handed a petition with over 50,000 signitures to the Minister of Works asking for permission to build a new theatre. This was post war Britian and building of any kind had to be essential to go ahead. However perhaps out of a sense of public feeling, permission was granted and, like the old legend, a new version of the theatre rose from the ashes.

It re-opened with much pomp and circumstance, the residents of Stoke donning their best outfits and evening wear to enjoy the opening ceremony performed by the The Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire. This was followed by a rousing production of 'Annie Get Your Gun' performed by Newcastle's Operatic Society. There were also several messages of good luck from well known stars of the time including Stoke on Trent's own Gertie Gitana, a music hall entertainer and  peoples favourite who was dubbed the Force's sweetheart during the first world war.

A press clipping for the night shows a group including officials and their wives and children standing next to a smiling cowgirl and cowboy holding huge bouquets. With such auspicious celebrations and so much support for the new venture it shocked and confused me to find out that by 1954 audiences had declined to such an extant that the building was sold off to Moss Empires. Perhaps the growing popularity of Television was to blame for this lack of interest?

Like many small town theatres and cinemas the Royal became a bingo hall for a number years. Evidence of simliar fates can be spotted in many locations if you look for them. In my home town for instance, the bingo hall by the bus station was once one of eight cinemas dotted about the little market town in the 1950's, but more of that later.

What I'm after now is a sense of the grandeur of the re-built Theatre Royal. The character, Mrs Brown, whose dressing room I am to construct and who 'attended' the re-opening event will have been caught up in the excitement and would have revelled in the newness of the building. But what was it like?

If you look for the Theatre Royal on the internet you will find a few outside photos of the frontage. I personally like this flyer from the museum archives which has a great sense of glamour and bustle, I imagine if they could have added huge Hollywood style floodlights pointing to the sky they would! I think this may have been before the re-opening as the building now does not have the pointed top just a flat roof, or it could be that during the theatre's varied history the facade changed as much as the place's purpose.

 

 

There is a wonderfully helpful facebook group page called 'I loved the Theatre Royal Hanley Stoke on Trent' where I have found several interior shots showing stage productions and backstage areas which have a certain amount of poignancy to them now. The best shots  I've seen for giving an idea of what it was like to be a visitor to the theatre show typical tiered red plush seating, stalls and cirlces and decorated relief work around the stage.

Photo copyright of Ian Grundy

 Photo copyright of Ian Grundy

After all this you might be wondering what happened to the Theatre Royal. Well it's fair to say it  has had a turbulant history what with fires re-openings and bingo, it then lay empty for a year before theatre enthusiasts re-opened it again in 1982. But that wasn't the happy ending the theatre deserved; The building closed again after going into liquidation in 1996 and most of it's original fittings and contents were auctioned off. Then just when it seemed there couldn't be any hope for the Royal in 1997 a millionnaire businessman, Mike Lloyd, bought the theatre and began a 1.2 million refurbishment completely rewiring the venue and replacing the seats in the stalls so that they could be removed for stand up rock and pop concerts. A new crest was even placed over the stage in full glory. The theatre held yet another re-opening that year with comedian Ken Dodd doing the honours. Hooray I hear you cry! But hold on, there's more...

Just when it seemd the Theatre Royal was well and truely back, Mike Lloyds' business empire collapsed along with his ownership of the building. In 2001 the council of Stoke on Trent gave planning permission for the building to be turned into a nightclub. The circle and stage have been destroyed, the seating ripped out and the theatre now functions as a bar for 'Jumpin Jaks'. I feel this is a sorry end for a place which inspired so much hope and promise in it's first reincarnation. What would Mrs Brown think?

Gone but not forgotten: 

During my research into Stoke on Trent's theatre, I couldn't help but be reminded about the rich history of cinemas and theatres around the places I live. As mentioned before these palaces still exist if you only look for them, their ghosts still haunt our towns;

 
This is Hulme Hippodrome in Manchester which opened in 1901, a theatre set in the square,  similar in design to the Theare Royal in Hanley. It also served it's time as a bingo hall during the 60's and although this magnificent building still stands it now largely unused, lost amongst the redevelopment and new houses of the area. It is on Manchester City Council's 'At Risk' Register.

This is another Theatre Royal, this time situated in Hyde Greater Manchester. This building holds particular personal interest to me as I remember seeing films there when I was little, even then it was mostly empty, but I loved sitting in the circle looking over it's velvet padded edge and feeling the vastness of the place. There is a painting by Harry Rutherford in Hyde Library's Rutherford Gallery which shows the building in it's glory days; chorus girls dancing on the stage and lime lights twinkling. (Is it suprising this my favourite painting in the gallery?).

In 2007 I attended an open day and along with a group of other intrigued people I took a stroll around the theatre's dark empty interior, a very affecting experience for many reasons I think you'll understand. You can take a virtual tour around the building HERE.

The theatre is now listed with plans for surveys towards restoration thanks to the efforts of  The Theatre Royal Onwards Team 

Another  theatre/cinema masquerading as something else. This Quality Save in Hyde used to be The Hippodrome. I've never seen it as anything but a supermarket but it's tell tale shape is a giveaway to a more glamorous past.

You can find out about the history of the building and the family behind it HERE.

It would seem  from looking at these photos that no-one appreciates the pleasure palaces of old these days, but that is where I can give this post a happy ending at last! 

Last year some of you may remember I visited the Plaza in Stockport. A classic example of an entertainment palace from a bygone era, but in this instance, it is a fully working cinema and theatre, showing vintage films and a variety of plays, pantomimes and music events. It is beautiful inside down to the last detail and a real pleasure to be inside. It proves that sometimes the old styles are the best, and sometimes there's nothing we need more then a break from the modern world.
 

Seeing stars...

I was back in Stoke on Tuesday to view some of the vintage branded product items that Stoke Pottieries Museum and Art Gallery holds in order to illustrate my dressing room set to the fullest extent.

Most of the branded products are housed within the social history collection rather than the decorative arts collection, and as it turns out have changed the direction of the project; No dressing table would be complete without the required beauty products and perfumes, and I origianlly wanted these products to reflect the refined character of the project's story. An upper class socialite of the late 1940's early 50's.

However the branded items in the museum are all very everyday and in turn reflect the ordinary working class and middle class women of Stoke! Of course! This was just one of the seemingly obvious things I've learnt whilst this project has unfurled.

No Channel or Givenchy here, but popular products all the same.
Tokalon, originally established before 1900 was relaunched in 1930's
and became a good seller for cosmetics and toiletries.

I was suprised and rather relived to find out that ladies of the era had
access to Tampax! A welcome if not very glamorous addition to the dressing room.

Perfumes and cosmetics of the 1940's and early 50's were produced in very
small sizes due to rationing. This bottle of Phul-nana fits into the palm of my
hand! Not the ostetatious larger bottles I'd envisiged

So cue a drastic change of class for my character. Instead of the femme fatale aristocratic type, she is now a much more accessable kind of girl. With Stoke's history revolving around it's potteries there is a chance she worked in something similar or perhaps as a shop worker. I have an inkling she might be married to a shop keeper and therefore be a little better off.

But I still want her to have glamour, I want the dressing room to evoke a vintage style that people will find intriguing and enjoy looking at and therefore encourage them to learn about the artifacts within. If the 'Dressing Table Gallery' taught me anything, it's that we love looking at other women's personal objects and 'oohing' and 'ahhing' over attractive belongings.

Being a girl limited means doesn't mean my character can't dream. Indeed the era of the 1940's and 50's was a time of escapism as the war years cast a gloomy shadow of limitation and loss over most of the country. This is where I see an opening for the glamour aspect. Popular pastimes included theatre going, a day at the races (dogs that is), the radio and the cinema.

Frank Sinatra and Katherine Hepburn were some of the major stars of the time thanks to
the films they appeared in.

The glorious silver screen was perhaps one of the most influential of pastimes. In 1946 there were 39 cinemas in the Stoke area! The wonderful website Stoke on Trent Film Theatre, states that as well as being a source of information about what was happening during and after the war courtesy of the newsreel, cinemas were cultural spaces in which, 'fantasies of escape to exotoic lands, and dreams of identifaction with idealised images could be given free rein' How wonderful!

It stands to reason that the glamour the stars of the time exuded set many trends back in their day and home made versions of the must have fashions took off. Hairstyles were emmulated and women would try their hand at improvising the make-up 'look' of their favourite screen siren. Where better to find these gems of information than in the contemporary magazines of the day?

A fabulous article called 'Keep it up!' not only highlights the female love of self decoration but the title touches on the importance of looking ones best during a time of national crisis and hardship. Check out the hairstyle in the top right! Lady Gaga eat your heart out! Incidentally all these women were stars of the day.

Cue my browsing a selection of Home Notes magazine from the late 1940's. A treasure trove of advertisments, beauty tips, short stories and recipes. You could say they were the Woman's Own of the past. The magazine reached a readership of 299,000 by 1952 and would have been a good source of information for the working class and middle class woman.

'Calling all career girls. it's practical feminine business sense to look like a sucess you
are going to be'

Deborah Kerr is labled with some of the most beautiful hair in the world
thanks to Lustre Cream Shampoo. It's worth noting the power of celebraty
was strong even then, and as an aspirational young woman the character
from my project would have been drawn to this kind of product.

'Try to wear fur somewhere near your face. It needn't be a mink coat.
The tiniest furry touch will flatter your skin and eyes!'

'Cocks Comb, or Cherry or Satin Red will give your lips a lovely winter glow'

My visit also allowed me to view some of the playbills and programmes of the area's many theatres and dance halls. It really highlighted how important social outings and entertainment was.

A beautifully classy cover for a theatre programme I couldn't help
but be drawn to especially as it shows a lady at her dressing table!

An amateur production programme from 1950

The marking sheet for an amateur dance test, 'Good footwork, hand
postition could be better'.

One of the photos I have put aside to be displayed on the dressing table shows a
couple dancing, to represent my character and her husband. Maybe they
went to a dance class like this one from 1951.

The Hanley Theatre Royal enjoyed a grand re-opening in 1951
were it boasted being, 'Enlarged, re-built and entirley modernised'!

Really it seems the change in direction has opened up a whole new range of possibilities for my character. In fact I quite like her now, I suppose I can relate to her love of entertainment and need for glamour. She avidly follows the films, has a keen sense of fashion in which she's eager to emmulate her favourite stars and enjoys music and the theatre. But she does all this without the advantage of pots of money and free time. Like many of us she does what she can, but oh how she loves to dream!

Her dreamy outlook on life also opens up many possiblites about her relationship with her husband, her friends and her past, all things I hope to leave open to interpretation through the postioning and choice of items within the finished set. She seems to be rounding up nicely, perhaps it's time to give her a name...

Stories through drawing workshop

If you are in Stoke this Saturday I am running a workshop at the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery as part of the Big Draw. The workshop is all about stories and drawing and will encourage you to explore your ideas in new and fun ways!

There will of course be a burlesque slant, so if you love gorgeous vintage items, you're in for a treat!

The workshop will run twice during the day so choose your time:

10am-12.30pm
1.30pm- 4.00pm
£5
Booking essential

See the museum's website for booking details.

A second skin

Gilda takes off her gloves

'Mother said you could always tell a lady by her hands' whined Suellen in 'Gone With the Wind' as she looking longingly at her own dirty fingers and ragged nails. (Poor Suellen, she had it hard after the civil war!)

Gloves played a huge part in everyday society for many centuries defining a 'Lady' and her worth. Pretty pink pale hands untouched by sun and hard work marked you out as upper class and civilised.

Gloves, for women at least, continued to play a huge role in dress and couture after the Second world war, and there was even a glove ettiquette as outlined by Lady Bagot in the introduction to her clothing exhibition; 'Long evening dresses were worn on all formal occassions with long white gloves'. Although she quite daringly rebelled against this rule by wearing pink kid elbow gloves with many of her evening ensembles!

There is something so tactile and alluring about gloves. When not being worn simply as a device to keep warm, they also elevate the wearer to someone untouchable and unable to touch making them different and intriguing!

In her 1946 film Rita Hayworth played her defining role as Gilda, a sizzling temptress who knew how to use her gloves to captivate an audience and her man. In fact the best striptease I have ever seen was performed by the elegant Dirty Martini. The audience were spellbound and completely silent as they watched her inch her long gloves slowly down her full arms pulling each finger loose seductivley with her teeth. She removed all her clothes after this but it was the act of removing her gloves and freeing her hands which stayed in my mind and entranced me the most.

All these thoughts were racing around the back off my mind when I viewed the gloves housed in Stoke's Potteries Museum and Art Gallery for my collaborative project. The immense number of ladies gloves they have was overwhemling but oh so bewitching!

Peeling back the tissue paper to uncover each enchanting pair was a joy; Mitts, gauntlets mittens and muffs. How intiguing to think they once graced a lady's hands, for evening entertainment, lunchtime engagments and dangerous liasons? Needless to say gloves will feature in my dressing room set adding to the overall story.

It seems the meaning and symbolism about gloves faded as they became less and less necessary from the 60's onwards. As with many things the romance has evaporated. But I know there are still a few glove afficiandos out there who have supreme respect for the hand coverings which single out a lady from the rest of the crowd. I often have enjoyed donning a pair of half length leather beauties for a night out and the attention they have got me!

But to illustrate how powerful gloves could be in their heyday here is a nice little anecdote told to me by the Museum's Collections Officer:

If a gent really liked a girl he would show his affections by giving her a gift of gloves. The gloves would have to reflect her in some way and couldn't be too racey! As gloves were part of everyday wear they were quite a personal item to buy and the man had to be thoughtful in his choice.

If the lady reciprocated his affections she would show this by wearing the gloves to church the following Sunday. What a compliment! But if she didn't like the man or wished to discourage him, she would wear mittens instead.

So next time you see a woman in a pair of gloves (excluding the rubber and woolly kind) show her the respect those gloves demand, she is a lady after all!

The fictional Wife

The many gentlemen candidates for 'The Husband'

I was back in Stoke last Tuesday continuing my collaborative project with Stoke Potteries Museum and Art Gallery.

I am using the Decorative Arts collection at the museum to create a dressing room set. It is my intention that every item of clothing, every object and placement will help to illustrate a story. Like looking at a crime scene it will be the viewers job to piece the clues together and come to a conclusion. To find out more and see where my ideas came from see some of my older posts.

Tuesday's visit was all about photographs. After rifling through handbags, cosmetics, jewelllery and accessories all of which are housed in the museum's extensive Decorative Arts collection, I am now looking for more personal touches to anchor the narrative. I was looking for photos to represent the main character and owner of the dressing room her husband and also various other pictures of events and loved ones to add interest and back story.

Lady Bagot studio portrait 1953

I've been hugely inspired by Lady Bagot of Staffordshire who donated a splendid collection of her clothing and accessories dating from the 1940's-1970's (more of this to come). The character I want to portray will be a socialite like Lady Bagot and high profile. I'm basing the dressing room set in a 40's 50's era as it represents a particular glamour that is hard to beat in later decades. Fortunately many of the artifacts I've already sourced for the set fit into this time slot too.

The photographic collection at the museum is divided into dates and catagories with many photos donated by the local people of Stoke. Myself and Carol, a volunteer at the museum, began by pulling out a huge file each, titled 'Women 1900-1950' and proceeded to whittle down likely candidates for my 'Lady' character.

It was so much fun and a real eye opener to see peoples everyday lives portrayed; everything from working class terraces to formal portraits. We found many interesting individuals like the rather serious looking old lady in a very uncomfortable black dress (a widow?) who was corseted up to the eyeballs. She was doing her best Queen Victoria impression (unwittingly) with the legend 'Auntie Lisem Filch in the garden' inked along the bottom of the photo.

I also found it very affecting to see black and white images of single women sitting staring out to the viewer then turning the paper over to see' Mother' inscribed on the back. This was once someones beloved parent, now an anonymous figure among many others stacked into a museum basement.

In fact all the photos were very special, right down to the out of focus slightly fuzzy ones, because they all captured a moment and person in time from Stoke's past. Yet hardly anything is known about who or what or even exactly where they portray.

The 'men' section was equally fascinating. One photo of a whiskered overall wearing chap even had a descriptive story on the back; ' Taken in the yard, just got in. Just come in from work not washed. Feeding Hope's Cat. Dollie is shadow'.

As we worked our way through the decades the photos began to peter out. Why? The invention and mass distribution of digital cameras. As more people embrace the technological age old school print outs are being fazed out. It makes you wonder how historians in the future will understand our world when archives will no longer be a physical thing you can handle and compare.

Domestic servant circa 1899 taken from the Stoke on Trent Collections Explorer

From amongst the holiday snaps, studio portraits and informal pictures, we managed to create a subtle narrative of a woman, married to a rather staid formal looking gentlman. There is a picture of them dancing at a soiree and a lovely shot of her with her pekinese dog. Somewhere in her life, maybe before her marriage, there is evidence of a performance background and a relationship with a sailor. The autographed photo of him signed 'your's very truely' and the fact she has kept it in her private boudoir could hint at something more? That is up to the viewer to decide when the set is complete and I am looking forward deciding how to display the photos in a natural personal way which will evoke the life of my fictional character.

Handbag time capsules

Continuing my research for my collaborative project with Stoke Potteries Museum and Art Gallery I sent a request for items including handbags to Laura the Documentation Assistant. Today I found this email in my inbox,

'Angela, our volunteer, and I looked through some of the handbags yesterday. There are some lovely ones and some with narratives that I thought you may like. Many of them had built-in mirrors in and a few had combs. I am attaching photos, but may have to send them in batches. 3609/3610 belonged to Lady Bagot and we found some old Harrod's toothpicks inside it.

3626/3627 apeared to have some sort of net hair/ bun knot inside it. 3632/3633 had a library card inside, although the date may be a little later than you were thinking. Quite a few of the bags had an odd button in, like this.

3651/3652 had a perfume bottle, lipstick holder and some other type of case inside.

3671 - 3678 are all of the same case, which was a vertiable treasure trove, with a manicure set, notebook and pencil, name and address card, torn up note(s?) and a section for blank telegrams!'

I found all these items really interesting and full of potential for a backstory. I like the fact that these handbags have obviously been left untouched for years even decades before their contents have been rediscovered. As mundane as they might seem I feel excited to be part of unearthing the objects from these time capsules.

The thing which intrigued me most is the torn up note. What did it say? Why was it torn up? and why was it kept in a handbag? It's questions like these which feed into my interest with belongings and narrative and will definately have some place in my work with the museum.

No sh*t Sherlock!

I really enjoyed the updated series of Sherlock Holmes recently shown on the BBC. While reading an article about it in the Gay Times of all places I was intigued by this description of the set for Holmes' flat

'The kitchen has been deployed as a lab, with the table covered in jars and stuff the production team has found on eBay, authentic things. This probably explains the authentically old smell. There’s a silver box with test tubes and a syringe. We’re on set for the crime-fighting duo’s first encounter so it’s explained that ‘there aren’t bullet holes in the wall yet’. Blimey. If you’re wondering whether that familiar tobacco pipe will be putting in an appearance, we spotted a box of NicoBud patches scattered with the piles of gun magazines and unanswered correspondence with a knife in it. '

This is exactly the kind of thing I am now looking at for my 'set' which I am planning to be displayed at Stoke Pottery Museum and Art Gallery for our collborative project. Well, when I say exactly, syringes and test tubes aren't really my thing, but, I am really interested in how items are put together to create a character or back story. I like the fact Sherlock's inquisitive nature is illustrated through his weird collection of belongings and his short temper is explained through nicotine patches and a stabbed message!

Upon my last visit to the museum I was able to view and photograph some of the many interesting historical items from the decorative arts store (see Treasures of the past ) which I am going to use to construct a dressing table/room. Not only do I want to display these beautiful objects but I want to show them in a way that will illustrate a story. I am using 'artifice' as my main theme, as I want to explore not just the moment of transformation a woman undergoes in her boudoir but also the true character behind the public facade.

In my last post about Stoke I mentioned how a room can be read like a crime scene. So with that in mind I decided to look a little further into crime scene investigation and I found an interesting paper with the snappy title, 'Crime scene and physical evidence awarness for non-forensic personnel'.

'Wherever he steps, whatever he touches, whatever he leaves, even unconsciously, will serve as silent evidence against him... This evidence does not forget, it is not confused with excitiment of the moment. It is not absent because human witnesses are. It is factual evidence. Physical evidence cannot be wrong. Only it's interpretation can err. Only human failure to find it study it and understand it can diminish its value'

Kirk Paul
Crime Investigation
John Wiley and Sons, Cananda Limited 1953

So how do you interpret physical evidence?

'Typically the recognition of physical evidence starts by observing the scene. Based on initial observations and taking into consideration the context of the case, possilbe scenarios, the nature of the incident, as well of characteristics of surface that may bear potential evidence'

I think it would be interesting to apply this information to one of my favourite photos from the Dressing Table Gallery focusing on the evidence and possible scenarios that could make up the individual's personality and circumstances.

How would Sherlock begin?. The most important thing Holmes does is to focus acutely on every detail and turn something commonplace and anonymous into something singular and significant. He then combines this with social and moral assumptions to produce his deduction. There is a great article called Sherlock Holmes ~ Modernist though, modernist cities & the solving intellect where you can read him doing just this.

So here goes:

I'd say this was a female aged between 23-30, who lives in a shared house. She is creative and inqusitive, and leads a busy lifestyle. She always has more than one project on the go and likes to keep busy. Family is very important to her as are friends. She is gregarious and slightly sentimental, but also can be scatty brained and forgetful.

Here's how I came to that conclusion:

The perfume featuring the cute character is aimed at young women in a 20-30 age bracket .
The amount of objects crammed into one area suggests space is an issue, which leads me to think given social assumptions, that she must live in a house with other people, so she only has one room.
I think she must be a busy person due to the haphazard way her belongings are placed down, suggesting she is always on the go. Someone who spent more time at home would have more time to display and maintain their belongings. Also someone who is active most of the time and has such a range of items stuffed together may be forgetful and easily loose things.
The ornamental figurines don't particularly fit with the other objects, so make me think they must be a gift or inherited from an older person, so family is important to her.
I think she likes to try out different looks and styles and enjoys sewing because she has a good supply of perfume and beauty products and there is a tape measure on the bed post.
Some items such as the fabric bee and frog ornament lead me to believe she may be setimental and these represent different moments in her life.

This has been a good challenge for me and this line of thought will definately feed into my work with Stoke Museum. I'd love to know how accurate I've been so I'm going to to try and find out from the person who took this photo....If anyone has a different analysis please let me know!