Lace bark

There is, she says, incredibly little in collections in Jamaica. "Written information is almost non-existent and definately not very in depth so what can be read from remaining objects is really important.

"Sadly the craft is extinct and the tree is rare due to overuse. Whilst I was in Jamaica we managed to find one family who could show us how to harvest the material and had been involved in the trade in the 80's (much later than we thought). Amazingly they are keen to get the craft going again and we found people in Kingston who wanted to buy the material but there are huge issues of sustainability as there is no replanting system and the whole tree was being felled to harvest the bark."

Emily will be speaking about the project at the Textile Society's Annual AGM/conference in November.