Ethel Mary Partridge
| Ethel Mairet | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Ethel Mary Partridge 17 February 1872 Barnstaple, Devon, England |
| Died | 18 November 1952 (aged 80) Ditchling, East Sussex, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Other names | Ethel Coomaraswamy |
| Known for | Hand loom weaving designer |
Ethel Mary Mairet RDI or Ethel Mary Coomaraswamy (17 February 1872 – 18 November 1952) was a British craft hand loom weaver who is regarded as someone who influenced the development of the craft during the first half of the twentieth century.
Ethel Mary Partridge was born in Barnstaple, Devon, in 1872. Her parents were David (a pharmacist) and Mary Ann (born Hunt) Partridge. She was educated locally and in 1899 she qualified to teach piano at the Royal Academy of Music. She then took up work as a governess until she met the rich geologist and later art historian Ananda Coomaraswamy.
Her life is seen as a series of contradictions.
She married Ananda Coomaraswamy on 19 June 1902 and her Anglo-Ceylonese husband began conducting a mineral survey in Ceylon. When she returned to England in 1907 Ethel and her husband's investigations into Ceylon crafts was published. Her husband met Alice Richardson when she visited to meet her friend Philip Mairet in 1907.
Until 1910 they lived in Broad Campden where the arts and crafts architect Charles Robert Ashbee had established a community of artists and craftspeople. This Guild and School of Handicraft included Ethel's brother Fred Partridge who was a craft jeweller and now the brightly dressed Ethel. During the time they were based at Ashbee's Norman chapel near Chipping Campden she and her husband visited India where they added to the textile collection they had begun whilst in Ceylon. Ethel complemented the collection of textiles by also learning how to weave by hand. Her husband was openly having an affair with Alice Richardson and because he wanted a child he suggested that he should take two wives. Ethel found this unforgivable.
...
Wikipedia