Made London is always well worth a visit and this time I found knifemaker Grace Horne exhibiting her work here for the first time.
Each of her pieces has a story, being much more than just functional. The travelling mortician’s kit below came about after receiving a commission from a mortuary technician to reproduce their favourite cadaver needle.
These scissors, called Twisted Seamstress, form part of her collection of “Sordid Objects of Decadence & Domesticity”: in Victorian times, many gentlewomen had to find work and some, whilst calling themselves seamstresses, were in fact prostitutes out on the streets. Carrying a weapon for self-protection was illegal but “tools of the trade” were permitted, inspiring Grace to develop the idea of these fetishistic scissor-daggers. 
The silk shears below were designed specifically to cut fine, delicate fabrics and are the first scissors she made. Visit Grace’s site for more information about her work. 
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