| ‘STRAY FIELD’ - ‘Pingle Bag’ III |
Like its kin, this bag is made from remnants of agricultural hemp sacks. Its name, ‘Stray Field’, suggests a piece of land stuck out on a limb, a field that’s strayed from the rest, an outlier. However, after some digging, we discovered it had eerier connections. It is a reference to the idea of a field containing portals to other worlds: doors which could lead the rural worker permanently astray, the wayfarer to become disoriented and lost.
With this interpretation in mind, fragments of stencilled type have been incorporated and read, intentionally, either sideways or upside down. Strange symbols - also original embellishments - add to the sense of mystery. The bag’s patchwork rear is a tumbled collage, while the front is composed of two hemp shards, a larger panel and a peasant patch, with a couple of stencils reading the correct way round: the word ‘feld’, meaning ‘field’ in German, and the date, 1944. Our signature - an earthbound and celestial plough within a double border - sits purposefully off-kilter.
In the spirit of our ‘Pingle Bags’, we’ve added a field-found artefact befitting its name, or the meaning behind the name; in this case, an early, crowned Janus-head escutcheon (the decorative plate surrounding the keyhole of a door) cast in verdigris bronze. Janus was the Roman god of doorways and transitions, and his double-faced head looks towards both the past and the future. The escutcheon is stitched to the bag’s front, slightly askew, and framed by a patch.
Other features include a robust, antiqued brass zip; Irish linen lining in brown and blue stripes; an internal patch pocket; and an adjustable leather strap, repurposed from two British Army Pattern belts, dated 1941 & 1943, with original brass hardware. We’ve revived the strap with a blend of wax, tallow, and oil.
Dimensions: H 26cm x L 39cm x W 6cm
Created by artists Janet Tristram & Cameron Short in our rural workshop.
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