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Lettice Sandford (Designer), Alec Coker (Maker)

This corn dolly, described as a ‘fish fan’, was designed by Lettice Sandford and made by Alec Coker. It consists of a central band made of woven corn stalks to which a fan of corn ears is attached (a ‘Welsh fan’). On top of this is a plaited band to which a fringe of corn ears is attached (a ‘Shropshire fringe’).

1 corn dolly: corn

MERL miscellaneous note Greta Bertram, 20 August 2013 – The 'Coker Collection' of corn dollies was bequeathed to the Museum by Alec Coker, who devoted his retirement from 1965 until his death in 1986 to spreading knowledge of and teaching the craft of corn dolly making. He first became interested in the craft when working at the BBC when he encountered dollies as props on the set of ‘Lorna Doone’ in the 1930s. ‘Corn’ is a term for the family of grains which includes barley, oats, wheat and rye. ‘Corn dolly’ is a wide-ranging term which includes figures, love tokens, crosses, Scandinavian star designs, and Far Eastern shrine dolls made from ‘corn’ straw. Techniques used in the craft include tying, plaiting, weaving and marquetry. The corn dolly was originally an object used in rites and rituals, and in many parts of the world it was believed that the ‘Corn Goddess’ lived in the crop and died when it was harvested. Images of the Goddess, or other talismans, were woven from the last sheaf to be reaped and carefully preserved to ensure an abundant crop the following year. By the twentieth century, corn dollies had lost their ritual associations, and from the 1950s there was a concerted effort to preserve the craft of corn dolly making., MERL 'Handwritten accession' form (Institute of Agricultural History) – ‘Description: Fish Fan // Corn stalks woven together form the central band. Attached to this are corn ears forming a fan. On top of this structure is a plaited band from which the attached corn ears form another fringe. // Dimensions: 39cm x 23cm // Associated information: Made by Alec Coker based on a design by Lettice Sandford. It combines a Shropshire fringe and a Welsh fan. // References: L. Sandford. Strawwork and Corn Dollies p.50 // A. Coker’s Collection List of Corn Dollies no.14’