Title: The Lady of the House
Collection: Maison de Papier
Garment: Woman's dress
Size: Life-sized
Materials: FSC accredited paper tablecloth, cartridge paper, tissue paper, cardboard, embroidery thread
 
This piece is inspired by dresses from the Victorian era (1830s - early 1900s), the words of Mary Campion (below) and the past and present residents of the Elizabethan mansion Danny House, Hurstpierpoint, Sussex
 
It is “…”in the silence of the sleep time, when we set our fancies free," that our imaginations are busiest with the unwritten history of the past, when the dark outline of the house is silhouetted against the evening sky, and only the long windows filled with light; or when the moon rises over the downs to the east, making the sentinel elms cast long shadows like delicate lacework across the green to the house, then, "when the air of solemn stillness holds," the spirits of the past come forth and hold high revel. Past inmates rise before us from the days of the plume and ruffle to the days of the hoop and crinoline. For those who lived and loved within its walls never leave it; and herein lies the charm of association, of personality, in an old house. They come to us, these far-off airy visions of the past of dainty ladies and splendid gentlemen, like a soft sentiment of romance, intangible, half real, like the whiff of lavender from a long-closed drawer." 
 
an extract from an article written by Mary G. Campion, titled  Danny and written for The Country Home magazine in the early-mid Twentieth century.