My mother was a talented homemaker at a time when that was a skill to take pride in. Between the 1950s and through to her elder years, her ‘can-do’ efficiency manifested in understated domesticity. She was not fortunate to receive a complete school education, however, she was highly capable, a natural artisan – as adept and learned from the school of experience. My mother honed that skill in Dominica, as a young woman deftly managing her household, assisting her parents, while caring for her young children and being that elder, female sibling.
And as to be expected, the typical *West Indian front room we’ve come to know became a feature. My mother was a dressmaker, she made rugs, soft toys and the filigree crocheted doilies adorning the ubiquitous radiogram, the display cabinet, and the coffee table. She made yarn antimacassars for the upholstery. My mother attended adult education classes to ‘better herself’ and later, she even discovered an interest and fascination with architecture, influenced by my design student days.
Looking back, my parents were not fortunate to have such a space as a dedicated front room in the early days. Settling into London’s Notting Hill, they were part of the social and immigrant his/herstories of Caribbean people. The demographic of Notting Hill was not what it is today; nor it’s buildings, with their well-ordered stuccoed facades. These crumbling buildings, punctuated by post-war derelict sites, were the only housing accessible to our people – coinciding with the Peter Rachman era – a notorious landlord. Housing ranged from a shared room for an entire family to partially contained flats, all in poor condition – with a shared bathroom between multiple households.
Fast forward to the late 1960s, the situation improved to enable that prized front room to be realised.
A depiction of a West Indian Front Room (M McMillan) on permanent display can be found at the Museum of the Home, in East London.
Information about Michael McMillan’s work can be found HERE and HERE
Jean Joseph, November 2024
Dominica-born and proud!
If you are interested in Jean’s art please visit the WEBSITE
