From 1741 until 1760 more than 4,000 babies were left at the Foundling Hospital in England for adoption, the process was anonymous. At first, no questions were asked about child or parent, but a token was put on each child by the parent. These were often marked coins, trinkets, pieces of cotton or ribbon, verses written on scraps of paper.
‘Threads of Feeling' exhibition at the Foundling Museum in London will showcase these textiles, and the stories they tell us about individual babies, their mothers and their lives. The textiles are evidence of babies abandoned, many destined to die within a few days or weeks.
Heartbreaking but beautiful exhibition.
