Pearl Binder

Pearl Binder, Lady Elwyn-Jones (pronounced /ˈbaɪndə/,[1] 28 June 1904[2] – 25 January 1990[3]) was a British writer, illustrator, stained-glass artist, lithographer, sculptor and a champion of the Pearly Kings and Queens.

Pearl Binder
Born(1904-06-28)28 June 1904
Salford, England
Died25 January 1990(1990-01-25) (aged 85)
Brighton, England
NationalityBritish
EducationCentral School of Art and Design
Known forWriting, illustration
Spouse(s)
​
(
m. 1937; died 1989)

She was a legendary character who had a lifelong fascination with the East End of London, where she settled in the 1920s. In 1974 she became Lady Elwyn-Jones, when her husband the politician and lawyer Elwyn Jones was appointed Lord Chancellor and made a life peer, taking the title Baron Elwyn-Jones.[4]

Early life

Pearl "Polly" Binder was born in Salford, Greater Manchester. Her father was Jacob Binderevski, a Jewish Russian-Ukrainian tailor[3] who came to Britain in 1890 and shortly afterwards became a British citizen. Her mother's name, origins and profession are not recorded in any of the artist's biographies.

Career

Binder moved to London after the first world war and studied art at Central School of Art and Design. In this time Binder drew scenes from everyday life in London that she made into lithographs. She published a series that illustrated "The Real East End" by Thomas Burke, a popular writer who ran a pub in Poplar at the time. Binder's illustrations are an intimate, first-hand portrayal of grimy London life in that era.[5] In 1933 Binder was one of the founders of the left-wing Artists' International Association.[6][7]

In 1937 Binder was involved in the earliest days of television broadcasting for children.[4] Also in 1937, she co-presented Clothes-Line with the fashion historian James Laver. This live six-part series was the first television programme on the history of fashion. As she did not give birth to her daughter Josephine until 6 January 1938 – less than a month after the last episode transmitted – Pearl Binder could well have been the first heavily pregnant woman to appear on television.[8]

In the course of her life Binder travelled extensively in Russia and China, designed a musical,[9] designed costumes for a theatre company, wrote stories for children, designed a Pearly mug and plate for Wedgwood and instigated and executed a series of armorial windows at the House of Lords.[10]

Family life

In 1937 she married Elwyn Jones. They had three children: fashion historian Lou Taylor,[8] poet Dan Jones, and the children's author Josephine Gladstone[8], whose books she illustrated. After her death, her son-in-law, Joe Taylor recalled, "She was a woman who had great concern for others, especially women - she was a very keen supporter of women's rights", always keeping the name Pearl Binder next to her husband's name on the plaque outside their flat.[3]

Death

Binder died in Brighton on 25 January 1990 aged 86, seven weeks after the death of her husband.[3][11]

Publications

As illustrator
  • Hobson, Coralie (1926). Bed and Breakfast. London: Bodley Head.
  • Sieveking, L. de Giberne (1927). All children must be paid for. London: The Bodley Head.
  • Austen, Jane (1929) [First published 1817]. Persuasion. New York: Walter McKee - The Bath Edition.
  • Skelton, John (1928) [First published 1550]. The Tunning of Elynour Rumming. London: Fanfrolico Press. OCLC 650452028.
  • Driberg, J. H. (1930). People of the Small Arrow. London: Routledge.
  • de Nerval, Gérard (1932) [First published 1855]. Aurélia. Translated by Aldington, Richard. London: Chatto and Windus. OCLC 2329231.
  • Burke, Thomas (1932). The Real East End. London: Constable.
  • Radclyffe, E. J. D. (1932). Magic and Mind. London: A & C Clack.
  • Godfrey, Philip (1933). Back-Stage, A Survey of the Contemporary English Theatre from Behind the Scenes. London: George Harrup. OCLC 488314978.
  • Coppard, A. E. (1934). These Hopes of Heaven. London: Blue Moon Press.
  • Lindsay, Jack (1935). The Romans. London: A & C Black. OCLC 6888705.
  • Malnick, Bertha (1938). Everyday Life in Russia. London: George Harrup. OCLC 681481050.
  • Glanville, Stephen (1953). The Egyptians. London: A & C Black. OCLC 869405326.
  • Marquand, Josephine (1964). Chi Ming and the Tiger Kitten. New York: Franklyn Watts.
  • Ordish, George (1967). Pigeons and people. London: Dennis Dobson. OCLC 561856801.
  • Marquand, Josephine (1969). Chi Ming and the Lion Dance. London: Dobson. ISBN 9780234779927.
  • Marquand, Josephine (1970). Chi Ming and the Writing Lesson. New York: Franklin Watts. OCLC 69143.
  • Gladstone, Josephine (1974). Chi Ming and the Jade Ear-ring. London: Dobson. ISBN 978-0234774908.

As author and illustrator
  • Binder, Pearl (1935). Odd Jobs. London: G. G. Harrup. OCLC 558092306.
  • — (1936). Misha and Masha. London: Gollancz.
  • — (1942). Russian Families. London: A & C Black. OCLC 181846291.
  • — (1953). Muffs and Morals. London: George Harrap. OCLC 1450338.
  • — (1958). The Peacock's Tail. London: George Harrup. OCLC 558092313.
  • — (1959). Look at Clothes. London: Hamish Hamilton.
  • — (1961). The English inside out; an up to date report on morals and manners in England. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. OCLC 1347857.
  • — (1972). Magic symbols of the world. London and New York: Hamish Hamilton. ISBN 9780600025450.
  • —; Ordish, George (1972). Ladies Only. Dobson. ISBN 978-0234776971.
  • — (1974). Treacle Terrace. London: Dennis Dobson. ISBN 978-0234775141.
  • — (1975). The Pearlies : a social record. London: Jupiter Books. ISBN 9780904041187.
  • — (1977). Treasure islands : the trials of the Ocean Islanders. Blond and Briggs. ISBN 9780856340710.
  • — (1986). Dressing up, dressing down. London: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 9780043910122.
    • — (1988). Doresuappu doresudaun. Translated by Suginome, Yasuko. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten. ISBN 978-4000014960. – Japanese translation of Dressing up, dressing down
  • — (1986). The Truth About Cora Pearl. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN 9780297785903.
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References
  1. Plomley, Roy and Elwyn-Jones, Lord Frederick (17 February 1984). Desert Island Discs: Lord Elwyn-Jones. BBC. Event occurs at 38:24. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
  2. "Pearl Binder", BFI.org.uk; accessed 11 February 2018.
  3. "Death of Lady Elwyn-Jones". Glasgow Herald. 27 January 1990. p. 5. Retrieved 2 June 2014.
  4. "Binder, Pearl". Horniman Museum and Gardens. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  5. "Pearl Binder, artist & writer". SpitalFields Life. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  6. Paul Jobling and David Crowley,Graphic Design: reproduction and representation since 1800. Manchester, New York: Manchester University Press, pg. 128; ISBN 0719044669
  7. "Drawing Russia – The Work of Artist Pearl Binder in the 1920s and '30s". Pushkin House. 11 April 2018.
  8. Taylor, Lou, Establishing Dress History, chapter 2 (Manchester 2002); ISBN 0-7190-6639-5
  9. "Pearl Binder (Lady Elwyn-Jones), artist and much more". Tyne & Wear Archives and Museums. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  10. "Pearl Binder (Biographical details)". British Museum. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  11. "Jones, (Frederick) Elwyn, Baron Elwyn-Jones (1909–1989)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004.
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