I was watching Professor Amanda Vickery's excellent programme 'At home with the Georgians', my favourite era, relaxing and enjoying the finely decorated houses when this part stopped me in my tracks and reduced me to tears.
A book of textile tokens from the Foundling Hospital in London.
These were poignant scraps of fabric that were provided by the mothers of children when they were forced to leave their children at the hospital.
They were cut in half, one half kept by the mother, the other left at the hospital. If the mother wanted to reclaim her child, the scraps of fabric known as tokens were checked to see if they matched exactly.
The token was a tiny piece of patchwork made from precious scraps of silk and embroidered with a heart before it was cut in two. This boy, Charles, was lucky because his mother did find the means to reclaim him eight years later. The percentage of happy endings was alas very small.
I haven't been able to stop thinking about this since. I always find myself wondering about the lives of the people who owned the textiles that I find, so I thought I would share it with you.
If you want to know more there is an excellent article here
There is also a book that I have ordered although it isn't in stock at the moment.
These were poignant scraps of fabric that were provided by the mothers of children when they were forced to leave their children at the hospital.
I haven't been able to stop thinking about this since. I always find myself wondering about the lives of the people who owned the textiles that I find, so I thought I would share it with you.
If you want to know more there is an excellent article here
There is also a book that I have ordered although it isn't in stock at the moment.
Threads
of Feeling: The London Foundling Hospital's Textile Tokens
1740-1770
By John Styles
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