Dyeing and Tissue-Printing by W. Crookes, F.R.S. is one of many books on textile manufacture that have the Byrdcliffe bookplate. Another in my collection is How to Make Rugs by Candace Wheeler, which bears Ralph Whitehead’s signature as well as the Byrdcliffe bookplate. Candace Wheeler is such a towering figure that she warrants an entire post of her own. But there were many other prominent fiber artists at Byrdcliffe.
Legend has it that when Ralph Whitehead was refused a place in William Morris’ weaving studio, he built one of his own in the wing of White Pines known as the Loom Room. Ralph was candid about his shortcomings, writing to Jane, “Morris will not take me as a pupil… he thinks tapestry is too difficult for me which by my own confession I have no artistic faculty, I agree.” But he did transform himself into a creditable weaver, and weaving and textile-making quickly became part of the warp and weft of Byrdcliffe life.
Byrdcliffe had many other talented textile artists, including Helen Buttrick and H. Stuart Michie.
However, by far the most memorable was Marie Little.
Marie Little lived at the Looms and was as memorable for her personality and lifestyle as her textiles. According to Anita Smith’s Woodstock: History and Hearsay, “Little had studied music in Italy, where her poplar-like figure and quavering voice were much admired…[At Byrdcliffe] she vibrated to refinements that common folk ignored… [Her guests] dared not move from the seat allotted to them because they knew they had been placed there to see the graceful branch of an apple tree against the mountain… If she had a trifle to eat she might serve it on a leaf…as though it were ambrosia from a chalice.”
Miss Smith, herself a main line Philadelphian turned herbalist and folklorist, paints Little as perhaps a bit mad. But how much madder is it than Jane swooping out to the fields to offer the workers home-brewed mead on a sweltering summer day? Or Ralph building an entire Loom Room, despite his admitted lack of a vocation. Perhaps a touch of madness is the only reason anyone lives here in Byrdcliffe.
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