Pearl Binder

The Right Honourable The Lady Elwyn-Jones
Born	Pearl Binder Salford, England
Died	Brighton, England
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SpouseTemplate:Pluralize from text	Elwyn Jones, Baron Elwyn-Jones ​ ​ (m. 1937; Template:Error-small 1989)​ Template:Pluralize from text
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Relatives	Dan Jones (son)

Pearl Binder, Baroness Elwyn-Jones (pronounced /ˈbaɪndə/; 28 June 1904 – 25 January 1990) was a British writer, illustrator, stained-glass artist, lithographer, sculptor and a champion of the Pearly Kings and Queens.

Binder was a well-known character who had a lifelong fascination with the East End of London, where she settled in the 1920s. In 1974, she became Lady Elwyn-Jones, when her husband, the politician and lawyer Elwyn Jones, was appointed Lord Chancellor and made a life peer, taking the title Baron Elwyn-Jones.

Early life

Pearl "Polly" Binder was born in Salford in Greater Manchester. Her father was Jacob Binderevski, a Jewish tailor who came to Britain in 1890 and shortly afterwards became a British citizen. Her mother's name, origins and profession are not recorded in any of the artist's biographies.

Career

Binder moved to London after the first world war and studied art at Central School of Art and Design, with a focus on lithography. In this time Binder drew scenes from everyday life in London that she made into lithographs. She published a series that illustrated "The Real East End" by Thomas Burke, a popular writer who ran a pub in Poplar at the time. Binder's illustrations are an intimate, first-hand portrayal of grimy London life in that era. In 1933 Binder was one of the founders of the left-wing Artists' International Association.

In 1937, Binder was involved in the earliest days of television broadcasting for children. That year, she co-presented Clothes-Line with the fashion historian James Laver. This live six-part series was the first television programme on the history of fashion. As she did not give birth to her daughter Josephine until 6 January 1938 – less than a month after the last episode transmitted – Binder could well have been the first heavily pregnant woman to appear on television.

In the course of her life, Binder travelled extensively in Russia and China, designed a musical, designed costumes for a theatre company, wrote stories for children, designed a Pearly mug and plate for Wedgwood, and instigated and executed a series of armorial windows at the House of Lords.

Personal life

In 1937, she married Elwyn Jones. They had three children: fashion historian Professor Lou Taylor, artist and activist Dan Jones, and the children's author Josephine Gladstone, whose books she illustrated. After her death, her son-in-law, Joe Taylor recalled, "She was a woman who had great concern for others, especially women - she was a very keen supporter of women's rights", always keeping the name Pearl Binder next to her husband's name on the plaque outside their flat.

Death

Binder died in Brighton on 25 January 1990 aged 86, seven weeks after the death of her husband.

Publications

As illustrator

• Hobson, Coralie (1926). Bed and Breakfast. London: Bodley Head.
• Sieveking, L. de Giberne (1927). All children must be paid for. London: The Bodley Head.
• Austen, Jane (1929) [First published 1817]. Persuasion. New York: Walter McKee - The Bath Edition.
• Skelton, John (1928) [First published 1550]. The Tunning of Elynour Rumming. London: Fanfrolico Press. OCLC 650452028.
• Driberg, J. H. (1930). People of the Small Arrow. London: Routledge.
• de Nerval, Gérard (1932) [First published 1855]. Aurélia. Translated by Aldington, Richard. London: Chatto and Windus. OCLC 2329231.
• Burke, Thomas (1932). The Real East End. London: Constable.
• Radclyffe, E. J. D. (1932). Magic and Mind. London: A & C Clack.
• Godfrey, Philip (1933). Back-Stage, A Survey of the Contemporary English Theatre from Behind the Scenes. London: George Harrup. OCLC 488314978.
• Coppard, A. E. (1934). These Hopes of Heaven. London: Blue Moon Press.
• Lindsay, Jack (1935). The Romans. London: A & C Black. OCLC 6888705.
• Malnick, Bertha (1938). Everyday Life in Russia. London: George Harrup. OCLC 681481050.
• Glanville, Stephen (1953). The Egyptians. London: A & C Black. OCLC 869405326.
• Marquand, Josephine (1964). Chi Ming and the Tiger Kitten. New York: Franklyn Watts.
• Ordish, George (1967). Pigeons and people. London: Dennis Dobson. OCLC 561856801.
• Marquand, Josephine (1969). Chi Ming and the Lion Dance. London: Dobson. ISBN 9780234779927.
• Marquand, Josephine (1970). Chi Ming and the Writing Lesson. New York: Franklin Watts. OCLC 69143.
• Gladstone, Josephine (1974). Chi Ming and the Jade Ear-ring. London: Dobson. ISBN 978-0234774908.

As author and illustrator

• Binder, Pearl (1935). Odd Jobs. London: G. G. Harrup. OCLC 558092306.
• — (1936). Misha and Masha. London: Gollancz.
• — (1942). Russian Families. London: A & C Black. OCLC 181846291.
• — (1942). Misha learns English. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books (PP25). OCLC 1238560327.
• — (1953). Muffs and Morals. London: George Harrap. OCLC 1450338.
• — (1958). The Peacock's Tail. London: George Harrup. OCLC 558092313.
• — (1959). Look at Clothes. London: Hamish Hamilton.
• — (1961). The English inside out; an up to date report on morals and manners in England. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. OCLC 1347857.
• — (1972). Magic symbols of the world. London and New York: Hamish Hamilton. ISBN 9780600025450.
• —; Ordish, George (1972). Ladies Only. Dobson. ISBN 978-0234776971.
• — (1974). Treacle Terrace. London: Dennis Dobson. ISBN 978-0234775141.
• — (1975). The Pearlies : a social record. London: Jupiter Books. ISBN 9780904041187.
• — (1977). Treasure islands : the trials of the Ocean Islanders. Blond and Briggs. ISBN 9780856340710.
• — (1986). Dressing up, dressing down. London: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 9780043910122.
  • — (1988). Doresuappu doresudaun. Translated by Suginome, Yasuko. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten. ISBN 978-4000014960. – Japanese translation of Dressing up, dressing down
• — (1986). The Truth About Cora Pearl. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN 9780297785903.

External links

• "Pearl Binder: from the East End to Hong Kong and North America". Seven Stories.
• "Backstage at the Archives: Cataloguing Pearl Binder". Seven Stories.
• Artwork by Pearl Binder at the Ben Uri site