"Children of Other Nations," by Bess Bruce Cleaveland
Line Drawings
Chapter 6
Bess Bruce Cleaveland is the woman responsible for having created a packet of line drawings which feature “Children of Other Nations To Color.” These approximately 6” x 9” light cardboard papers present ten images of children from the following countries: (French) Alsace, Holland, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Japan, China, Russia, Switzerland, and Scotland. They are all dressed in native costume.
The pattern, sold in a brown paper envelope, was produced by Garden City Educational Co., Chicago, Illinois, in 1919. The front cover states this:
The world war has brought us nearer to other nations and this new series of drawings by Miss Cleaveland will help to acquaint children with the child costumes of nations about which they hear so much. (World War I)
A quick online search for more information about the artist behind the line drawings reveals a person whose life, in many ways, parallels that of Kate Greenaway. Bess Bruce Cleaveland (1894-1966) never married. She loved to sketch children and would frequently go to the park in order to take photos that she would use later in her sketches.1 Like Greenaway, she worked primarily in pen and ink (for educational publications which she illustrated), and in watercolor (for book illustrations).
She was an “amateur naturalist” and gained great renown for her depictions of animals and birds. She lived alone with her aged mother, just as Greenaway had made her home with her father. Neither artist ever married.
For your viewing pleasure and interest, we have scanned some of Cleaveland's ten pattern designs, beginning on the next page. Online patterns for a different series of drawings that feature, “Children of the World,” (adaptable to Redwork), can be accessed at the SewTerific website:
http://www.sewterific.com/images/RWRoundtheWorld/
1 “She Loves to Draw Children,” an article by Robert S. French (Columbian Dispatch, June 1925.) http://www.cplwcho.org/spotlight_1004.html
Victoriana
Victorian Chromolithograph Card, Collection of Patricia Cummings
The above Victorian card, shown in its original size, has no markings on it to indicate the name of the artist whose work it is. The figures of children are certainly reminiscent of Kate Greenaway, but her style became so well-known, this card may have been made by an imitator. The idyllic scene romanticizes childhood and makes us all wish that we had experienced the joy depicted on cards such as this one.
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©Copyright 2006/2007. Patricia and James Cummings, Quilter's Muse Publications, Concord, NH. All Rights Reserved. Please enjoy the designs contained in this pages, and make lots of fun projects, but we ask only one thing, PLEASE DO NOT REPRODUCE THE DESIGNS FOR SALE. Thank you.
If you have any questions, please contact us at: pat@quiltersmuse.com