National Trust Heritage Festival Exhibition 2023 – Textiles of Lithgow: Handmade to Factory Industries

To celebrate 5the shared stories theme of this years National Trust Heritage Festival, Eskbank House Museum has developed an exhibition of textile related collection objects including samplers and embroidery, underwear and handbags, blankets and quilts, tools and machinery. The exhibition will feature the nationally significant Sutton/Leake Crazy Patchwork quilt, handmade by members of the Leake family in Pennsylvania, USA and bought to Australia by David Leake in 1924, for his daughter Emma Sutton  (nee Leake) to celebrate the birth of her first child, Jean Hutchinson ( nee Sutton), b. 1921. Other objects related to Emma Sutton and the family, that are on display, include hand embroidered pillow cases, a handmade evening bag and another beautiful evening bag with a tortoiseshell handle. Continuing the textile theme are many objects from the Lithgow Wool Mills, including Andrew Brown inscribed books presented to the school children, corsetry from the Berlei Factory and many handmade and repaired items.

Visit Lithgow City Council, Eskbank House Museum and Seven Valleys Tourism websites for information and details of specific Textile Workshops and Shared Stories guest speaker events happening during the festival and Eskbank House Museum Facebook page for ongoing highlights of the exhibition.

For more information visit:  eskbank.lithgow.com

Email:  eskbank@lithgow.nsw.gov.au