Contemporary Makers: CLF 2022 Auction: Lady’s Pocket by Heather Schneider

The creative women of the CLA have made this year’s fundraising auction a pleasant exploration of often underappreciated aspects of early American life. For this year’s live fundraising event, artist Heather Schneider has created what many of us take for granted in the modern world: a pocket.

Schneider’s pocket will work well at a living history event or as a delightful addition to your home collection. The pocket is based on an original 18th century design which can be found in the Bankfield Museum in Halifax, England. A student of history, Schneider quotes from the book The Pocket, A Hidden History of Women's Lives: "The motif of some pockets certainly confirm the emotional associations of the pocket as a repository of a woman's sentimental attachments, whether secret or not. The heart as a sentimental motif was popular in all settings and media....A number of surviving pockets bear heart motifs.”

This entirely hand-sewn pocket is made with a white linen front; the crewel work was executed using wool yarn. The front crewel work panel is backed with white linen; the back pocket panel is a checked linen. The pocket is trimmed with a burgundy wool twill tape. The linen tape used to secure the pocket on the waist was loomed and donated by Judy Wilson, an interpreter at Pricketts Fort who specializes in weaving and dying.

Schneider brings a lifelong interest in history to her craft. “I began reenacting 35 years ago when I met my husband,” she explains,” over time, I concentrated on life on the colonial frontier and cultivated an interest in foodways and hearth cooking.” Schneider regularly teaches at living history events at sites including Fort Niagara, the Fort LeBoeuf Museum, and Pricketts Fort.