A Gallimaufry of the Seasons (2018.9)
Catalogue Record
Collection
Maker
Angela James
Title
A Gallimaufry of the Seasons
Made in
Osmotherley
Date
2017
Description
A 21 page book in a bespoke oak case. Using both modern and traditional materials, the maker ‘re-designed’ a medieval book of the seasons. The chosen subject matter, agriculture, was an important subject for medieval man and woman. Taken from the notebook the maker kept when observing the natural world, the gallimaufry of words in the book suggest the changing seasons. The first letters are rubricated and the breaks between groups of words are illuminated. The heavy tracing paper introducing each season has a quality and ‘rattle’ not unlike vellum.
Prior to the acquisition, the work was shown in Designing English at Bodleian Library, Oxford (December 2017 to January 2018) and COLLECT 2018 at the Saatchi Gallery, London (21 to 25 January 2018).
Prior to the acquisition, the work was shown in Designing English at Bodleian Library, Oxford (December 2017 to January 2018) and COLLECT 2018 at the Saatchi Gallery, London (21 to 25 January 2018).
Materials and techniques
The pages were composed on a lap-top computer, printed on an ink-jet printer and illuminated with gold leaf. The tracing paper pages were printed from the maker’s own photographs taken in her garden, illuminated with gold leaf and hand-coloured. The folds of each section have white sheepskin guards and the book is sewn on double raised cords using herringbone stitch.
Cords are laced into the boards and pegged with the perspex rods, sanded level with the board surface.
Case made of quarter sawn oak connected with white sheepskin joints and lined with suede. White sheepskin ties.
Other than the computer and printer, the equipment used were the standard tools for bookbinding and woodwork.
The 50+ years seasoned oak was part of a deconstructed cabinet.
Cords are laced into the boards and pegged with the perspex rods, sanded level with the board surface.
Case made of quarter sawn oak connected with white sheepskin joints and lined with suede. White sheepskin ties.
Other than the computer and printer, the equipment used were the standard tools for bookbinding and woodwork.
The 50+ years seasoned oak was part of a deconstructed cabinet.
Dimensions
width (Book): 18.5cm
length (Book): 26.2cm
depth (Book): 2cm
width (box): 21cm
length (box): 28.3cm
depth (box): 4cm
Object number
2018.9
Category
Credit
Purchase of ‘A Gallimafry of the Seasons’ (2017) supported by a donation from an anonymous donor.
Maker's statement
This piece has combined several aspects of my work over the years, from the early period when I worked at the Cockerell Bindery on the conservation of early manuscripts and early printed books and learned about vellum, paper and the structure of early books, then moving to the Eddington Bindery where I had the opportunity to do design work as well as binding (my major subject at art school was Printed Textiles). I then set up my own practice and over the years was able to drop most of the bread-and-butter work and concentrate on design binding for commissions and exhibitions. The artist books began when I was awarded an Arts Council Research and Development grant, so A Gallimaufry was a culmination of all my past experience, so to speak.
Inspiration for this piece came from the initial brief from the Bodleian Library to redesign the Mediaeval book. My past experience of working with such books also came into play and then my own nature observations and life in the country were the third factor.
Like all such projects, there was a great deal of trial and error and wasted paper and doubts that it was ever going to come to anything. It took three months to make and it became more and more difficult to be objective about it. I think, when it was finished, I was pleased with the result – so often it needs another person to see it to convince me that I had achieved what I had set out to do.
Angela James, March 2018
Inspiration for this piece came from the initial brief from the Bodleian Library to redesign the Mediaeval book. My past experience of working with such books also came into play and then my own nature observations and life in the country were the third factor.
Like all such projects, there was a great deal of trial and error and wasted paper and doubts that it was ever going to come to anything. It took three months to make and it became more and more difficult to be objective about it. I think, when it was finished, I was pleased with the result – so often it needs another person to see it to convince me that I had achieved what I had set out to do.
Angela James, March 2018