BBC Antiques Roadshow star unveils new book to celebrate famous family member: ‘Inspiration to women!’
Antiques Roadshow expert Clive Stewart-Lockhart has unveiled a new book celebrating the forgotten legacy of Betty Joel, one of Britain’s pioneering female furniture designers.
Despite her significant contribution to British design, Joel has largely faded from public memory since retiring from the business following her marriage breakdown in 1939.
Betty Joel, who is the great aunt of Stewart-Lockhart, began her design career without formal training in 1921, establishing Betty Joel Ltd with her husband David after the First World War.
The couple initially built a cottage at Hayling Island in Hampshire, where friends admired their furniture and requested similar pieces.
“She did try and do designs which made life easier for the woman in the house,” Stewart-Lockhart explained in a conversation with Michael Portillo.
He explained: “It’s been a long detective story, but I had a head start because I had her diaries and her diaries were written in the middle part of her working life.
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“That was a huge opportunity for me to understand how she thought and what she did and who she worked for.”
Speaking about where you can see her work today, the star said: “If you are not well in London, you end up at London Bridge Hospital, which is Saint Olaf’s house.
She is responsible for all the interior panelling and so on. Her firm did hundreds of doors and panelling in waiting rooms so it’s a rather wonderful building, actually she did the Daily Express lobby in Fleet Street as well.
“If you’re lucky, it’s one of those open London open house schemes.”
Stewart-Lockhart highlighted the uniqueness of her achievement, saying: “I think it’s very unusual that a woman in the 1920s and 30s ran a business using her name, not her husband’s name.”
Stewart-Lockhart revealed a personal connection to Joel, having met her when he was 16 despite family warnings “never to have anything to do with her”.
He knew her until her death in 1985, by which time “she’d long given up the business and really had nothing to do with it at all”.
A small exhibition of Joel’s work is currently on display at Olympia Auctions, featuring furniture, a clock, portraits and ephemera.
Much of the exhibition material comes from Stewart-Lockhart’s personal collection.
“It’s an opportunity to see things you might not see otherwise,” he said.
The V&A museum holds a dozen pieces of Joel’s work, though none are currently exhibited.