The tale of Digory Isbell’s lost rebus talisman, block-printed in our Dorset workshop on a laundered C19th hemp sack, with raised and recessed patches, and rustic stitchery. The work is beautifully floated within a handmade, glazed frame; the moulding, slip and mount are sprayed in fine layers of ‘Salon Drab Dead Flat’. Accompanying the work is its poignant backstory, conceived by Cameron, typed on paper and enveloped. It reads:
In mid 18th Century England, the literacy rate was around 60% for men and 40% for women. In other words, 4 out of 10 adult males and 6 out of 10 adult females would have been illiterate.
This rebus-inspired talisman - rebuses are devices that combine the use of illustrated pictures with individual letters to depict words or phrases - is the work of an illiterate or semi-illiterate parent. It reads: ‘FEAR NOT MY SON’ using just two letters, an ‘F’ and an ‘M’, alongside images of an ear, a knot, an eye and a sun. It’s a creative gesture overflowing with not only love, but ingenuity.
Talismans or tokens such as this were often pennies which had been defaced and re-inscribed - sometimes roughly, sometimes skilfully - with personal messages. This particular talisman, possibly worn around the neck, was created to embolden the young man. But why? Was he to be one of the Cornish diaspora, compelled to seek work far from home? Was he in a hazardous occupation - a tin miner or, perhaps, a fisherman - and needed protection? Was he a victim of impressment (the taking of men and boys into naval service by force)? Given the nature of the imagery, perhaps his fate was altogether a darker one - was he going to the gallows?
Whatever perils awaited young Digory, the beauty and power of this talisman would have given him strength. It is no surprise that he wept at its loss.
Dimensions - Width: 85cm Height: 104cm
Artist: Cameron Short | Stitcher: Janet Tristram | Writer: Cameron Short
