Mary Schoeser

While Archivist for Warner & Sons Ltd (1982-90) and since January 1991 on a freelance basis, I have participated in textile and wallpaper restoration and interpretation projects for the National Trust, English Heritage, Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Biltmore House (North Carolina) and the 78 Derngate Trust, Northampton. Specific projects range from the 18th and 19th century interiors of Danson House, Calke Abbey and Brodsworth, to the
C R Mackintosh house in Northampton and the 1930s' interiors at Eltham Palace. During and since that time I have curated over 25 exhibitions and written or contributed to 18 catalogues on contemporary and historic arts, most recently discussing textiles in Beyond Bloomsbury: Designs of the Omega Workshops 1913-1919 (Courtauld Gallery 2009). Other publications range from 30-odd essays in books such as The History of Western Textiles (Cambridge University Press 2003) and the textile entry in Encyclopedia of the Modern World (Oxford University Press 2008), to over 85 articles and reviews for periodicals including Dress, vol. 34 of which contains ‘A Secret Trade: plate-printed textiles and dress accessories, c.1620-1820' (2009). My most recent of 18 books are Rozanne Hawksley: Offerings (Ruthin Crafts Centre/Lund Humphries 2009) and Sanderson: Quintessentially English Design (Thames & Hudson 2010). Editing, examining up to PhD level, and broadcasting have also been undertaken, including a webcast (www.wellcomecollection.org). Giving several conference papers annually, recent among these are the Selz Endowed Lecture at Bard Graduate Center, New York (February 2009) and a contribution to the Owen Jones Study Day at the Victoria & Albert Museum (September 2009). Awards and fellowships include the 1995 UK Reading Association Award for significant contribution to the English language (for Why Leggings are Lycra, Longman 1994), a 2005-6 Gill Fellow residency at Winterthur, Delaware, and a travel award from CSM to present a paper in Stockholm, which led to its publication in New Discoveries, New Research...(Nordiska Museet, Stockholm, 2009). I hold an MA from the Courtauld Institute (dress/textiles specialization), a PGDip Museum Studies (California State University, distinction) and a BSc in design and its history (University of California, magna cum laude).

Schoeser's research is directed towards the practical application of history as it informs current practice in heritage, arts and educational environments, and is divided into three strands:
1. establishing both the appropriate design and means of production of textiles and wallpapers for the renovation of historic interiors and furniture, within agreed budgetary and interpretive parameters; this requires familiarity with the entire range of current possibilities, whether new (eg, digital recreation of woven wallcovering for Ightham Mote, NT, Kent, 2006-7), "off the shelf" (eg, textiles and trimmings for the new Pump Room curtains - with their construction established through my research - Bath City Council, 2005-6), commissioned power-weaving (eg, 78 Derngate, 2002-3 - see website - and, 2006-7, Scotney Castle, NT, Kent), or craft-based (eg, hand-block printed wallpaper for Danson, Bexleyheath, a project managed by English Heritage, 1996-2005 and published by Nordiska Museet in 2009);
2. assessing and contextualizing archival material (see the Whitworth Art Gallery's Wardle pattern books on line at http://www.whitworth.manchester.ac.uk/collection/recentprojects/wardle/e..., including essays on getting fabrics to the consumer and the research value of textile business archives);
3. lecturing, writing and curating on both historical and contemporary material, with a focus on the location of innovation (eg, an historical overview of innovation through conservation, entitled ‘Waste Not, Want Not' for the Textile Forum South West's conference, Textile Footprints - ethics, investment and meaning in textiles, March 2009, an installation being developed via TFRC with Rozanne Hawksley for Autumn 2009 and an exhibition celebrating 150 years of Sanderson at the Fashion & Textile Museum, London, opening March 2010).