Design and Art Australia Online

bookbinder, was one of the first professional craft bookbinders in Australia. She established her Sassafrass Bindery in the Dandenongs (Vic.) in the early years of the century. She was a handsome, dark-haired woman, who had trained at Melbourne’s National Gallery School in 1905-06, and under the leading craft bookbinding firm of Sangorski & Sutcliffe in London. Her work dominated the bookbinding sections of the exhibitions of the Arts and Crafts Society of Victoria from its inception in 1908 until 1923 and, as one of very few practitioners of the craft, she was frequently called upon for demonstrations and for advice to those wishing to take it u

In 1910 Chapman wrote an article for the Working Men’s College (now RMIT) magazine in which she outlined her theories, revealing a close familiarity with the work of William Morris’s firm in England and a strong understanding of and allegiance to his philosophy of craft. Chapman’s work was collected by an Australian patron of Morris’s firm, Mrs Barr-Smith of Adelaide ( see Erlistoun Mitchell). In 1907 Chapman entered the Women’s Work Exhibition in Melbourne and won two first prizes; she was chosen to create the binding for the souvenir book of the exhibition which was presented to its patron, Lady Northcote.

Writers:

Miley, Caroline Note: Heritage biography.

Date written:

1995

Last updated:

2011