Unsung Leicester craft visionary's legacy showcased by student exhibition 

The family of Leicester craft and furniture pioneer, Harry Hardy Peach (1874-1936), attended an exhibition curated by University of Leicester students showcasing his vast collection of craft objects.

Harry Hardy Peach founded Dryad Handicrafts in 1907. The Leicester-based company specialised in solid cane furniture and in 1912, produced deckchairs for the ill-fated RMS Titanic.

Based at 42 St Nicholas Street in Leicester’s city centre, the company became recognised for its good design and workmanship. 

During the First World War, the company supplied cane to injured soldiers being treated in what is now the University of Leicester’s Fielding Johnson Building to aid physical and mental recovery. 

Between 1907 and 1936, Harry Hardy Peach collected nearly 3,000 craft objects from Britain and around the world, now known as the Dryad Collection. Each item was selected as examples of quality craftwork and contemporary design. 

Peach started the collection in response to the disappearing of craft traditions across Britain in advance of industialisation in the early 20^th century. 

He was also an enthusiastic supporter of the University College when it was founded in 1921. Peach donated 1,600 books to what would become the University of Leicester and was a member of the Court, College Council and Academic Committee. 

Harry Hardy Peach’s grandson, Martin Peach, and great-grandson, Jan Nelder, attended the launch of an exhibition of the Dryad Collection curated by students from the University of Leicester’s MA Museum Studies. Currently displayed in the University of Leicester’s David Wilson Library, the Dryad Collection is on loan from Leicester Museums and Galleries. 

Jan Nelder said: “It was great to see current students making creative use of Harry Peach’s collection of craft items from many countries, probably a century after they were first assembled in Leicester. The stories and up to date connections they made were a good way to keep things relevant for all the current Leicester students to look at.”

Emily Short and Jason Lok, both MA Museum Studies students at University of Leicester, were part of the team that curated the exhibition.

Emily said: “We began looking at the Dryad collection in our Engaging Audiences module and were introduced to the wide range of handicraft objects collected by Harry Peach in order to create our own exhibitions with them. 

“I felt privileged to have the opportunity to show Harry Peach's family all of the wonderful displays in our exhibition. They were able to offer us some interesting insights into Harry Peach's life and told us some amazing stories that really opened my eyes to Harry Peach's goals with this collection. It was an honour to hear Martin Peach's (Harry's grandson) interpretations of the objects and listen to his feedback on our work. 

“My favourite item in the collection would have to be the indigo-dyed fabric from Nigeria. The fabric was beautifully crafted using highly-skilled techniques to create intricate patterns and I was fascinated to learn that this process is a traditionally female handicraft in Yoruba culture.”

Jason said: “It was a bit surreal to show the exhibition to Harry Peach’s family, as Harry Peach seemed like a fictional character to me before I saw his family in my own eyes, all I knew about him before then was through reading articles about him and his company. It was also very fulfilling to see his family impressed with our work, it really showed me the power of good storytelling. We were all already very happy with the exhibition. But showing it to Harry Peach’s family made everything extra worth it in the end.

“My favourite object in the collection is the photograph of wounded soldiers doing occupational therapy in the 5th Northern General Hospital, which is the Fielding Johnson Building in the University nowadays. I like this photograph because it shows a more gentle side of the WW1 veterans, and the fact that the photograph was taken in the University gave the contexts a nice little extra touch.”

The Stories from the Dryad Collection exhibition will be on display in the University of Leicester’s David Wilson Library until Sunday, 4^th May 2025.