Date
Category

Inspired by botanical motifs from historic and contemporary works of art, Soane’s collaboration with needlework artist Viola Shackleton speaks to Britain’s enduring fascination with flowers.   

Shackleton’s botanical needleworks are grounded in her childhood. Born to creative parents, her mother is a ceramicist and her father an Irish garden designer. With these artistic influences, it was time spent with her maternal grandmother that shaped Viola’s practice most. “We were always doing creative things together,” Viola says. Aged just 9 years old, her grandmother taught her to sew and embroider. “We chose cotton threads from the local haberdashery and embroidered little cotton handkerchiefs with floral iron on transfer designs she had collected over the years. It was in my genes!” she says. After studying at Central Saint Martins, Shackleton honed her craft at the Royal School of Needlework, graduating in 2012. 

A mutual obsession with animals, in particular camels and whippets, led to the collaboration between Soane’s founder Lulu Lytle and Shackleton. “I have admired Viola’s extraordinary skill, patience and meticulous approach to her practice since I first saw her work,” says Lulu. “When we trialled Viola’s design as a weave, we really felt that this rather literal approach didn’t do justice to her original embroidery, and so we decided to print the design digitally. This enabled us to maintain the essence of the very fine threadwork without in any way competing. When printed on the dark velvet ground, ‘Violas’ is far less expected and enhances the great depth and richness of Viola’s work.” 

The launch of ‘Violas’ is Soane’s first foray into printed velvets. The fabric’s indigo pile is strewn with jewel-toned violas – their highly saturated colours making the design particularly versatile. The floral forms are inspired by Shackleton’s preparatory drawings for her embroidered artworks, while the exuberant, almost abstract size of the blooms mirror the long floating stitches of her large-scale needleworks. The choice to contrast the flowers against a rich, dark ground is an homage to the work of another British artist fascinated by flowers, Mary Delany (1700-1788), whose pioneering botanical collages made with coloured papers on black card were a frequent reference point in creating the collection.   

From first gallery left to right: Viola Shackleton; Dark Pink Pansy by Viola Shackleton; Yellow Pansy by Viola Shackleton; White Peony by Viola Shackleton; Forget-Me-Not by Viola Shackleton; Viola Shackleton’s needleworks; Viola Shackleton – Violas – Original – Velvet upholstered on bespoke Soane sofa; Viola Shackleton – Violas – Original – Velvet upholstered on bespoke Soane sofa; Viola Shackleton – Violas – Original – Velvet; Detail – Viola Shackleton – Violas – Original – Velvet

To make an enquiry please use our Contact us form