In 1884 Cliffe Castle’s owner Henry Isaac Butterfield held a grand ball at his home. The event was described in several newspapers at the time. Guests were expected to wear white at the event. It was described in the French style as a Bal Blanc.

These two dresses belonged to the Clapham sisters. The sisters lived with their family at Eastwood House, another grand Keighley mansion.

The dresses are made from silk brocade and ivory lace. As the dress code stipulated white or cream, the style of the dress or the texture of its material became more important; both have a floral pattern. The lace used at the collar and cuffs echoes the material of the skirt.

These dresses are good examples of the fashion for slim fitting, slightly trained evening wear that briefly became popular in the mid 1880s.  The bodices of the dresses are called cuirasse, named after the piece of the armour the shape resembles.

They are very similar in style. One dress has a much lower neckline – we think that this may have belonged to the elder of the two sisters as it was generally expected that younger women should dress more demurely.

The act of wearing an item of clothing can sometimes cause damage– perspiration can stain or its acidic nature begins to weaken the material.  Fabric also grows more fragile and brittle with age. Conservation of these dresses is soon to take place thanks to support from the Regional Museums Hub.

Don’t adjust your screens – this particular embroidery is multicoloured although we describe it as Blackwork. It is called Blackwork because traditionally a black thread was used to sew these designs. It is a type of counted embroidery sewn on even weave material such as linen. It uses simple stitches to form complex patterns.

The technique was traditionally believed to have come to England with Henry VIII’s Spanish wife Katherine of Aragon. Because of this connection another name for it was Spanishwork .There are earlier references to it in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales dating from 1380, over a hundred years before her arrival.

her smock was white and embroidered in front and  behind  with coal black silk and embroidered also on the inside and outside of the collar

When sewn correctly, it shows the same pattern on both sides of the material . The technique was used as an alternative to lace for trimming clothes, particularly in the Tudor and Stuart periods.

This particular sampler would be used as a reference piece. Each band is comprised of a different pattern or design. You can see roses, thistles, oak leaves and acorns. You can even spot some animals.

Before paper patterns became common or affordable, an embroiderer would use a piece of material on which to sew a record of stitches and designs. Creating these band samplers was a way of recording their own personal reference material.

Many of these designs would be inspired by nature and larger pieces often had stylised knot gardens or mazes as a framework.

This particular sampler dates from approximately 1650-1680 and is over 300 years old.

It is currently on display at the Manor House Museum and Art Gallery until the 22^nd of January.

It is always an exciting time in the museum when we install a new exhibition. We recently opened a new exhibition at Bradford Industrial Museum called Steampunk (for those unsure as to what Steampunk is, I refer you to an earlier blog post.) Nearly 300 people attended the opening and it was thrilling to see visitors not only excited by the weird and wonderful Steampunk exhibits, but also by the pieces from our permanent collection alongside.

Tucked away in our military display, alongside a Blunderbuss and a gun disguised as a walking stick, is a green ‘cockade’ (or large feather decoration to you and I!) worn at the Battle of Waterloo on the 18^th June 1815.

This ‘cockade’ was donated in 1948 by Mr Petty of Keighley who inherited it from an ancestor.  It is displayed next to a uniform whose design refers to the same battle. This red-worsted tunic was worn by a local man from Skipton when he served as Sergeant in the Grenadier Guards.

Before Waterloo, the Grenadiers were called the 1^st Regiment of Foot Guards. After the battle they were renamed as the Grenadier Guards because they defeated Napoleon’s most feared soldiers, the French Grenadiers named after the grenades they used during the conflict.

Twenty-three thousand British Troops and forty-four thousand allies from Holland, Prussia and Belgium under the command of the Duke of Wellington fought seventy-four thousand French troops commanded by Napoleon. Despite being outnumbered, the Duke of Wellington was successful in leading his armies to victory.

Waterloo was the final Battle in the Napoleonic Wars that had lasted for over twenty years.  Napoleon was sent to the island of St Helena in the South Atlantic where he died in 1821, whilst The Duke of Wellington returned to Britain and later became Prime Minister in 1828.

There are many more treasures from our collection displayed in the Steampunk exhibition. Entry to the exhibition is free but not for the faint hearted!

Steampunk: 10 December 2011 – 7 May 2012

http://www.bradfordmuseums.org/whatson/event_detail.php?ID=368

This winter Bradford Industrial Museum will play host to a veritable imaginarium of costume, contraptions and curiosities with an exhibition of Steampunk material.

Steampunk began in the 1980s as a sub-genre of punk. It embraces the inventive spirit of the Industrial Revolution, where steam power was paramount, together with the style and panash of Victorian England. Over the past 30 years British Steampunk has evolved to include any era deemed to be of national pride. At a Steampunk event, alongside reworked Victorian costume, you will see pithe helmets, World War 2 veterans and the quintessential English dandy strolling around enjoying a cup of tea with fellow creatives.

Steampunk embraces so many influences that it is near impossible to define in just words. I find pictures much more succinct!

Opening in December, Bradford Industrial Museum will be exhibiting a collection of Steampunk exhibits from local artists and positioning them alongside pieces from our permanent collection. The exhibition aims to cast a new light on our collection asking visitors to imagine they are in a world of Steampunk. Perhaps that shiny steam engine is not all it seems… perhaps, just perhaps, it’s a time machine!

As part of the exhibition we are working with the Steampunk community encouraging them to interact with our collection and produce pieces for the exhibition. I recently attended Asylum; a Steampunk convention held in Lincoln. Asylum plays host to thousands of Steampunkers with a varied programme of events and activities. What has struck me about the Steampunk community is their warmth and friendliness.  At first the masks and corsets can seem a little intimidating but when you strike up a conversation each participant I have met is eager to tell you about their passion.

And, when asked kindly, the Steampunk community are generally happy to be photographed!

The Steampunk exhibition opens at Bradford Industrial Museum on 10th December

Please see the exhibition page for more details http://www.bradfordmuseums.org/whatson/event_detail.php?ID=368

It is not every day we allow our visitors to do some spray painting at Cartwright Hall but as we have Mohammed Ali’s amazing graffiti art displayed in Gallery 5 we knew we’d have to make an exception.  A group of 10 of our Young Ambassadors* came along to meet the man himself and get some tips from a graffiti expert.

The day began with a tour by Mohammed of his exhibition, Breaking Down the Wall, accompanied by a talk on his views on graffiti art. He talked about the reputation graffiti art has as being about vandalism and a lack of consideration for others property. For him it is important to express creativity whilst respecting the law.

After lunch it was time to get outside and get cracking with some spray cans. Mohammed put up a red wall against the side of his graffiti cube located outside Cartwright Hall. The group used their own stencils which were inspired by the textile collections of Bradford Museums and Galleries to create a fantastic work of art.

Thank you to all the people who contributed to the final piece and to Mohammed for his invaluable expertise. At the end of the day we all stood back proudly to admire the work we had come together as a group to create. The Young Ambassadors responded fantastically to our collection creating some beautiful designs.

The final piece of artwork is on display in our Animated room at Cartwright Hall.

This project was funded as part of Precious Cargo, Stories of the World, one of the projects for the Cultural Olympiad, London 2012.

*For more information on the Young Ambassadors see the Precious Cargo blog -http://preciouscargobradford.tumblr.com/ and http://www.bradfordmuseums.org/education/young.php

Breaking Down the Wall continues at Cartwright Hall until 16 October 2011