Britain’s Balloon Madness: How English Potteries Responded to Contemporary Trends

A ceramic plate, predominantly in blue and white. The design in the center is of a hot air balloon, with a green balloon, two oars attached to the basket and a tiny person in it, soaring over a blue-and-white landscape of Asian-style buildings and palm trees. The border features swags of tiny blue Xs, with flowers hanging in the center of each. On the very edge of the plate is a grass-like pattern.

April 17, 2025

By Parker Thompson Sauntering out of Versailles: Science and Splendour at the Science Museum in London, I found myself with about 20 minutes to spare before our group moved across the street to the V&A. Having quickly made up my mind to indulge my inner child, I hurried over to Flight, the museum’s permanent gallery examining the history of aviation. Overwhelmed by the abundant hanging planes, I nearly missed the introductory cases which explore ...

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British Design: Museum of the Home

This is a photo of a period room in the Museum of the Home. In the center of the room is a double bed up positioned against a wall with curtains covering it. To the left of the bed is a wardrobe. Hanging on a hanger hooked around one of the wardrobe's knobs is a wedding dress. A small table covered with a tablecloth and with a violin laying on it is in front of the wardrobe. Hanging on the wall is a shelf with bottles and boxes on it. Closest to the viewer is a vanity, which is positioned on the room's left wall. The vanity has makeup strewn on it and a chair pulled up next to it. A cross and a painting of two swans hang on the wall above the vanity.

April 15, 2025

By Molly Martien In our British Design class, we visited several cultural institutions including historic homes and museums ranging from the Black Cultural Archives to Sir John Soane’s Museum to the Museum of the Home in the United Kingdom. Each site discussed and examined British design in various and unique ways. Out of all the sites we went to, the Museum of the Home in London was one of my favorite visits. Why? Below I will share several of my ...

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Moravian Ribbonwork Embroidery at the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts

April 14, 2025

Lauren Bradshaw, WPAMC '25 The Dianne H. Furr Moravian Decorative Arts Gallery at the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina contains over 150 objects created by Moravian settlers living in Wachovia between 1753 and 1850.1 This collection includes a variety of textile and needlework objects, several displaying the makers’ skills in ribbonwork, an intricate embroidery technique involving stitches in silk ...

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Shaping Studio Spaces

An octagonal room with yellow walls hung with pictures, marble columns, and a skylight.

April 11, 2025

Victorian Artists and their Home Studios By Ashley Vernon Cocooned in a leafy neighborhood in the west of London, the Leighton and Sambourne houses stand as testimonies of the two artists and their lives within the late Victorian period. Frederick Leighton (1830-1896) and Edward Linley Sambourne (1844 -1910) lived very different lives as artists, yet their legacies live on through museums dedicated to their homes. As intentionally designed combined ...

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