Dorothy Larcher

Dorothy Larcher was born in London and attended Hornsey School of Art. She became interested in textile printing whilst travelling in India, where she saw blockprinters at work. On her return in 1923, she joined forces with Phyllis Barron (1890-1964), with whom she shared a studio at Parkhill, Hampstead until 1930. They used a variety of printing techniques, cutting blocks from wood or lino and printing onto cottons, linens, velvets and silks for furnishing and dress. They made positive prints with natural dyes and also used the discharge (bleach) method. After 1930 they introduced synthetic dyes to their production. In their designs, Barron worked mostly with geometrical patterns and Larcher with plant motifs. They produced work for exhibitions and commissions, receiving prestigious orders from the Duke of Westminster, the architect Detmar Blow and the Dean and Chapter of Winchester Cathedral. In 1930 they relocated to Hambutts House, Painswick, Gloucestershire, where they converted outbuildings into a workshop and dyehouse and set up a large indigo vat. Three assistants were regularly employed. They ceased printing in c.1940, due to wartime shortages of materials; Larcher took up painting flower studies and Barron turned to local parish affairs.

[See: http://www.vads.ac.uk/learning/learndex.php?theme_id=cscu1&theme_record_id=cscu1barandlar&mtri=cscu1text]