The peacock, with its iridescent blue feathers and flamboyant tail, is an iconic symbol of the Aesthetic Movement, which appears widely in paintings, jewellery and textile designs of the late nineteenth century. This quirky pincushion may lack the sinuous grace of his Victorian predecessors, but I’m sure that he will prove a useful sewing companion. The ‘eyes’ on his sequinned tail are cut from Liberty’s ‘Caesar’ Tana Lawn, the contemporary reworking of ‘Hera’, Arthur Silver’s 1887 peacock feather furnishing print.
This project can be found in issue 150.