LEANING BOARDS

20th century tailors accumulated so much cloth little thought was worth being given to how it was stored in-shop. Bolts were piled as high as gravity would allow against walls and on top of long tables. Sadly our collection - small as it is - can be housed much more simply on the boards above, designed to display our shirtings (above) and suiting.

Built from a 2-by-2 ply frame to support the weight of shelving, around which thin strips of ply shelving were slotted, the boards were then blue dye-washed before being french polished until they reached a rich red colour. They are free-standing, their weight supported entirely by deep groves cut in the gypsum plaster blocks below.