The Dryad Furniture Showroom in Leicester was founded in 1907 by Harry Peach, a businessman who was interested in craft and design. He sold cane and wicker furniture, and during the First World War donated materials for wounded soldiers to make baskets as occupational therapy. This was so successful that he opened a handicrafts section in his showroom to sell cane and other craft materials to schools. He also had temporary exhibitions of items he collected from around the world, intended to inspire and educate.
Dryad Basketry: A Global Collection features some items bought by Peach on his travels; others were given to him by missionaries, colonial administrators, educators, and private dealers. The exhibition was curated and researched by Maria Chiara Scuderi as part of her PhD project at the University of Leicester.
Bavarian willow skeined work
Between the two world wars Peach regularly visited Germany, developing relationships with artists, museums, dealers, and educators. The exhibition includes some particularly fine willow skeined pieces that he acquired there.



African coiled baskets
Throughout the 19th century and up to the Second World War, missionary exhibitions and pageants in Britain and Europe displayed items such as utensils and textiles to represent (or misrepresent) “exotic” native cultures. Some pieces were available for sale, allowing collectors such as Peach to to buy objects from across the world.
These included some beautiful coiled baskets from across Africa.





Plaiting from Ceylon
One of the highlights for me was a collection of exquisitely plaited cigarette cases from Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), made with dyed palm leaves.





Sarawak baskets
Charles Hose was the colonial administrator of Sarawak (now part of Malaysia) from 1884 to 1905 and part of Peach’s network of contacts. While in post he gathered a large collection of ethnographic and natural history items – many are now in collections held by the British Museum, the University of Cambridge, and National Museums Liverpool.
Like the Ceylonese cigarette cases, the geometric plaited patterns appealed to Peach, and Hose loaned him some objects for a Dryad handicrafts exhibition.





Pima baskets
Peach bought two Pima baskets on a trip to Tuscon, Arizona. He was fascinated by the culture and basket designs of the American Southwest, and by then basketmaking had become a way for Native American basketmakers to earn a living.


Dryad Basketry: A Global Collection runs at Leicester Museum and Art Gallery until 9 March 2025.