Sheepskin Chic
BARNARD, Mary; Roland HAUPT and Maurice AMBLER (photographers). The Sheepskin Book. London: [Wm. Hodge & Chilver for] Brocklebank Productions. [c. 1949–51.]
8vo. Publisher’s green cloth, spine lettered in gilt, in the unclipped illustrated dust-jacket by Pearl Falconer (priced 7s. 6d. net to front flap); boards slightly sunned at head, spine ends lightly bumped, two small nicks to front cover with old adhesive repairs to interior, short closed tear to rear cover; slight spotting to half-title and to interior of jacket and to a few pp.; else a near-fine copy; pencilled annotations to front flap; offered with several contemporary patterns and advertisements by the Sheepskin Shop (see below).
First and only edition, very rare, of this charming book of sheepskin patterns produced for the Sheepskin Shop on Oxford Street, with fashion photography by Roland Haupt, darkroom technician and photographic assistant to Lee Miller and Cecil Beaton during the Second World War.
Haupt operated from London’s Vogue darkroom, processing and printing highly important negatives sent by Miller and Beaton from the front, including photographs from Dachau. Described as the ‘first of its kind’, Barnard’s work is ‘entirely devoted to Sheepskin’ and extensively illustrated with over seventy photographs, patterns, and designs to guide readers in the making of ‘thirty-one beautiful articles for yourself, your family, and your home’, including gauntlets, mittens, and gloves; umbrella handles; chair coverings; moccasins, mules, and ankle-warmers; ‘the Sheepskin Oompa’, a small stuffed toy to be dangled over a child’s cot or hung from the rearview mirror of a car; a sheepskin ‘pocket for your feet’ intended for long train or coach journeys; and ‘Sheps’, an original design for suede-backed sheepskin peep-toe slippers devised by the author.
Unfortunately, little is known about Mary Barnard, who was also responsible for designing and editing the Sheepskin Book. It was produced at the instigation of Harry Woolf, joint managing director of the dyers and dressers of skins George Rice Ltd; the skins from which the various articles were made were provided by the Sheepskin Shop on Oxford Street.
Offered with several contemporary patterns from the Sheepskin Shop.
No copies traced in the US. OCLC finds three copies only, at the National Library of New Zealand, National Library of Wales, and University of the Arts London; Library Hub adds one more, at the University of Leicester.
SKU: 2083242