“When my mother died two years ago, I inherited a large collection of family archives, photos and memorabilia, which I have been slowly sorting through. One of the most striking things I found was an unsigned letter sent to my grandmother during World War I, from someone serving on the Western Front. It was probably from George Eddington, my grandmother’s first cousin, who was killed at Ypres in October 1917, but I can’t know for sure. The letter enclosed a silk ribbon of the type used for service medals, and a red poppy of the type which grows in France and Flanders and which became a symbol of the sacrifices of that war (“In Flanders fields the poppies blow / Between the crosses, row on row.”) It had been folded away in a box for nearly a century, which served to preserve it amazingly well. I wanted to display this remarkable piece of family history, but without risking the letter fading or the flower crumbling away. So I have had the letter, ribbon and flower professionally conserved, mounted and framed, so that I can hang it without risk of damage. This work was done by Erina McCann of Tiaki Objects Conservation (who was recommended to me by Nick Henderson). Erina also prepared a report which details the conservation process. I recommend her work to anyone who has objects like this in need of conservation.”
— Adam Carr, Private Collection, WWI letter, blue medal ribbon and pressed flower
