Matt Sewell for the V&A
Strawberry Thief
Nuthatch
Little Owl
I am honoured to reveal the three new wooden birds exclusive to the V&A Shop inspired by the Museum’s collection.
Playing on Sewell’s recent projects concerning British bird watching and his
personal passion for it, he was drawn to the V&A archives. Here he took inspiration
from William Morris’s furnishing textile Strawberry Thief, 1883 housed in the
textile collection, based on the infamous thrushes which frequently stole
strawberries from the kitchen garden of Morris’s countryside home. Little Owl and
Nuthatch were both spotted in the earliest hand coloured book of English birds,
The Natural History of Birds by Eleazar Albin published between 1731–8. Found in
the National Art Library, the title comprises 306 hand coloured etchings divided
into three volumes.
Each bird is handmade and painted by Sewell from reclaimed wood and FSC
accredited pine and comes in a hand printed nesting box customized for the V&A.
Available only at the V&A Shop or online here, here and a thieving thrush here
