Dorothy Larcher
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Dorothy Larcher | |
|---|---|
| Born | Dorothy Larcher 1884 |
| Died | 1952 |
| Known for | Textile Design |
| Partner | Phyllis Barron |
Dorothy Larcher (1884–1952) was an English designer of textiles, known for the printing workshops she shared with Phyllis Barron in Hampstead (1923–1930) and Painswick, Gloucestershire (1930–1940).[1]
Dorothy Larcher was born in St. Pancras, London, the daughter of William Gustavus Francis Larcher and Eliza Arkell Larcher.[2] She attended Hornsey School of Art, where she would later teach.[3] She learned about block printing textiles while traveling in India as a paid companion and assistant to British artist Christiana Herringham.[4]
Career
Larcher joined Phyllis Barron in a textile workshop in Parkhill Road, Hampstead, in 1923. From 1925 to 1927, Enid Marx was their apprentice. They produced custom-printed fabrics on commission, for decorators and fashion designers. Larcher's designs tended to be more organic than Barron's geometric prints. Their works were featured in a show called "Handmade Textiles and Pots" at Heal's Mansard Gallery in London.[5]
The couple moved their workshop to Hambutts House, Painswick in Gloucestershire in 1930. An outbuilding at their new location became a workshop with a large vat for indigo. The gardens were used to grow plants valuable to their work, either for dye-making or for visual inspiration. The workshop closed around 1940, in the face of wartime shortages.[6] Among their major commissions they provided hand-printed linen for the interior furnishings, including upholstery and curtains, of a new wing at Girton College, Cambridge in 1932,[7] and curtains for the choir stalls at Winchester Cathedral.[2] Larcher was a member of the Red Rose Guild.[8]
After their workshop days, Larcher painted nearly 40 floral studies.[3] Their textiles toured museums in the United States during World War II, as part of a larger exhibition by the British Council on contemporary British craftsmanship.[9]
