The Partridge Family of Barnstaple: Ethel Mairet, Fred Partridge and the Arts and Craft Movement

• 01 Sep 2022 - 29 Oct 2022
• 10:00 am - 5:00 pm
• Free
• Museum of Barnstaple and North Devon
• Homeware

This May - Oct, will see a new exhibition telling the little-known story of Barnstaple’s Partridge family who became influential members of the Arts and Crafts movement. The project explores the lives and work of Ethel, Fred and Maud Partridge, who were born and educated locally in the late nineteenth century and went on to become part of the artistic community of Ditchling, where their circle included Bernard Leach, Shoji Hamada, Eric Gill and many more. The exhibition brings together items from the Museum’s own Partridge Geology Collection with loans from national and regional museums including: examples of Ethel’s celebrated handmade textiles from the Crafts Study Centre and Ditchling Museum of Arts and Craft; jewellery created by Fred from the V&A, Fitzwilliam and Birmingham Museums; and a first edition copy of a book on Mediaeval Sinhalese art from the British Library.