Fortified by a large slice of coffee cake... in fact every entry for today should read fortified by a large slice of cake (yum to the orange and lavender cake at Somerset House). I must have been walking close to the Foundling Museum for years and just missed it, but rectified that today for this lovely and poignant exhibition - which continues untl March.
The original Foundling Hospital was established after a prolonged period of struggle by a sea captain - Captain Coram - in the18th century. Coram was appalled by the way children were disposed of on the streets like rubbish by desperate or uncaring parents. The original hospital has been demolished and the area now a green space -Captain Coram's Fields - no entry for adults without a child. The interior was carefully preserved and reassembled close by.
Hogarth's portait of Captain Coram. Hogarth was a strong supporter and encouraged artists of the day to donate artworks - the Hospital became the first public art space in London - displaying works by Gainsborough, Reynolds and other top artists of the day - it was a PR success. Handel composed music for the Hospital and the Messiah was performed there, he left a fair copy of the score to the Hospital.
Many of the parents forced to leave their children were deeply caring and fully intended to retrieve them when circumstances improved. Tiny momentoes or scraps of fabric were halved one to be kept with the child and one to stay with the parent to aid identification in later years. 5000 scraps of fabric are pinned in the ledger books, each one the life of an abandoned child. Thousands of children passed through the Hospital (there are 250 metres of ledgers) - few were ever retrieved.
Florella Burney's tiny scrap has been reprinted by the London Printworks Trust - see below. Florella was never retrieved and although named by her mother, she would have been renamed by the Hospital.
This collection represents the largest collection of 18th century everyday textiles available to textile historans.
The original Foundling Hospital was established after a prolonged period of struggle by a sea captain - Captain Coram - in the18th century. Coram was appalled by the way children were disposed of on the streets like rubbish by desperate or uncaring parents. The original hospital has been demolished and the area now a green space -Captain Coram's Fields - no entry for adults without a child. The interior was carefully preserved and reassembled close by. 
Hogarth's portait of Captain Coram. Hogarth was a strong supporter and encouraged artists of the day to donate artworks - the Hospital became the first public art space in London - displaying works by Gainsborough, Reynolds and other top artists of the day - it was a PR success. Handel composed music for the Hospital and the Messiah was performed there, he left a fair copy of the score to the Hospital. 
Many of the parents forced to leave their children were deeply caring and fully intended to retrieve them when circumstances improved. Tiny momentoes or scraps of fabric were halved one to be kept with the child and one to stay with the parent to aid identification in later years. 5000 scraps of fabric are pinned in the ledger books, each one the life of an abandoned child. Thousands of children passed through the Hospital (there are 250 metres of ledgers) - few were ever retrieved.Florella Burney's tiny scrap has been reprinted by the London Printworks Trust - see below. Florella was never retrieved and although named by her mother, she would have been renamed by the Hospital.
This collection represents the largest collection of 18th century everyday textiles available to textile historans.
Post Title
→London - The Foundling Museum.
Post URL
→https://guidice-galleries.blogspot.com/2010/11/london-foundling-museum.html
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