Eclarté Collection

Full description

In 1939 Mollie Grove and Catherine Hardress established their studio in Queen Street, Melbourne and the following year their textile company eclarté Pty Ltd. They aimed to improve the standard of industrial weaving through hand-weaving techniques and to provide the public with original, well-designed goods. The business name was derived from clarté (French for “Enlightenment”), prefixed by an “e” for excellence.

Catherine Hardress began her career as an Art Instructress at Swinburne Technical College’s Girls School in 1919. In 1923 she was granted leave to study at the Slade School of Art, London, graduating in 1925. On returning to Melbourne, she continued to teach Fine Art at Swinburne until 1934, when she returned to London. There she worked as a costume designer and was eventually appointed designer for the Tunbridge Repertory Theatre in Kent.

Mollie Grove first met Hardress while studying for a Diploma in Applied Art at Swinburne Technical College. In 1933, after completing her studies, Grove began teaching art and craft at Methodist Ladies’ College. In 1935 she travelled to England, enrolling at the London Central School of Arts and Crafts. While in London she completed a Diploma of Weaving with the London School of Weavers and became apprenticed to an analytical chemist, with whom she studied dyeing.

Reunited in London in 1935, Grove and Hardress shared a studio until 1939. They then travelled back to Australia via Europe, exploring their interests in textiles, art and craft teaching, and theatre design along the way.

In March 1940 they held the first exhibition of their hand-woven tweeds, dress fabrics, furnishing materials, rugs and accessories at the Hotel Australia; it was opened by the Prime Minister, R. G. Menzies. eclarté’s business soon flourished. Their handwoven fabrics were sold through department stores such as David Jones, Georges and Henry Bucks. In 1951 they opened a new and modern weaving mill in Dandenong.  They received important commissions for furnishing fabrics from architects and designers including Robin Boyd and Frederick Romberg, Roy Grounds and Fred Ward. They designed and wove textiles for Ormond and St Hilda’s Colleges at the University of Melbourne, the John Batman Hotel in Melbourne, commissions in Canberra included the Academy of Science and the Prime Minister’s Suite.

From 1958, Grove and Hardress focused exclusively on furnishing fabrics and secured a two-year commission to design furnishings for the Reserve Bank in Sydney. As they prepared for this major project, however, negotiations collapsed when the Bank failed to formalise the agreement, and the order was awarded to another textile firm. This left Grove and Hardress in severe financial difficulty, and eclarté was liquidated in 1962.

The collection comprises four separate donations, 0004.2019, comprises five boxes of material, Box 1 includes photographs, correspondence, media clippings, Box 2 tufted rug samples and woven textile pieces, boxes 3,4 and 5, yarns. 0005.2015 comprises textile length; 0001.2017 comprising 12 boxes of material, that hold dyed wool and yarn samples, index cards, client specifications and staff records.  0002.2018 comprises four boxes of material that hold various threads, including cotton, linen, jute, wool samples, spools, and notes relating to the threads.  0004.2019 comprises five boxes of material, Box 1 includes photographs, correspondence, media clippings, Box 2 tufted rug samples and woven textile pieces, boxes 3,4 and 5, yarns. Inventories are available for each donation.