About

Soane Britain holds an exhibition of paintings by the artist Charlotte Johnstone. After a visit to Soane’s Leicestershire rattan workshop, Charlotte was struck by the physicality of the making process, drawing similarities between the act of weaving and playing an instrument, which inspired her to capture these moments in her portraits of the weavers.

‘It felt like the Soane symphony, all of the craftspeople working harmoniously together like an orchestra,’ says Charlotte. ‘They were so wonderful to watch — the movements they were making — their arms, their hands, and with such dexterity. I spent a while just observing. One person looked as if they were conducting, another holding the back of a chair as if he was strumming a guitar, someone else plucking the rattan like a harp. Everybody had their own instrument but all combined, and in the end, coming together like a wonderful musical piece.’

As one of Britain’s most prominent champions of local craftsmanship, it is the cross-collaboration of its makers which sets Soane apart. From rattan weavers to cabinet makers, saddlers to precision engineers, Soane collaborates with around 40 workshops across the UK.

Charlotte’s portraits of Soane’s craftspeople sit alongside the fabric and wallpaper designs on which she has collaborated with Soane for their most recent launch.