Hunting for a treasured painting

English Dance and Song Winter 2017

EDS, the magazine of the English Folk Dance and Song Society, is the world’s oldest magazine for folk music and dance. First published in 1936, EDS is essential reading for anyone with a passion for folk arts. The following sample article is copyright. You are welcome to share it in the format supplied and accompanied by this title page, but you may not reproduce it, in full or in part, by any other means.

Hunting for a treasured painting

We’re on the hunt to see if anyone knows where the original of this Playford picture might be, if it still exists. Mike Wilson-Jones, a volunteer at the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library looking at the Society’s archives, discusses what we know so far.

This fantasy painting, a map of sorts, depicts places around London – and a few much further afield, such as Newcastle and Edinburgh Castle – linked to Playford dances. The places and people named in the picture are taken from dances in Sharp’s country dance books (Chelsea Reach, St Martin’s, Hyde Park, A Trip to Kilburn, Nancy’s Fancy, Hunsdon House).

We know that the original painting was created in 1930 by Elsie Matley Moore, a well-known artist and stained glass colourist. In 1949, she and her brother acquired a property called Greyfriars in Worcester. The care of Greyfriars was transferred to the National Trust in 1966. EFDSS member Liz Stanton, a volunteer at Greyfriars, was alerted to the existence of the painting whilst pursuing her interest in Matley Moore and got in touch to see if anyone knew more about where the original could be.

Why did Matley Moore create this painting? It’s possible that she was inspired by the work of artist Bernard Sleigh, and in particular by his work An Ancient Mappe of Fairyland, produced in 1920 in a very similar style.

We know that Matley Moore used to dance with the Malvern and Worcester groups, where she would have acquired her knowledge of the Playford dances, the core of the repertoire at the time. A small box in the bottom right hand corner of the painting indicates that it was created for the English Folk Dance Society (EFDS). However, there are no records of it having been commissioned by EFDS, or received or shown at Cecil Sharp House. There are a number of recollections that an article about the picture was written by the Society – but there is no evidence in any of the Society’s publications.

It would appear that the picture was copied and posters were sold to dance clubs during the 1940s. There are people who have been tracked down with a copy of the ‘map’, all of which are slightly different – for example, some have a border, some are without one. John and Heather Rose acquired their copy in 1989 from a house clearance sale in Banbury; Jill Price of Worcester was given hers from a friend who was emigrating; Brian Heaton, former EFDSS staff member, was given his copy by Grace Meikle, teacher at EFDSS’ East Surrey branch and his predecessor as EFDSS organiser in the south east region. Grace told Brian that it had hung in the office in Croydon. Print copies have also been sold at Halsway Manor.

However, this is where the trail runs cold – and we need your help.

Do you know any more about the origins of this picture, or do you have copies of any of the posters said to have been printed about it? Perhaps if you live(d) in the Worcester area – or what used to be the EFDSS western area – it might bring back a memory? Since the picture never seems to have appeared at Cecil Sharp House, maybe it was displayed nearer to where the artist created it?

If you can throw any further light on this fascinating picture, please contact the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 020 7485 2206.