Artist
Stuart Kent Harper
Women's Tulip Hat
Date1940-1950s
DimensionsOverall: 6 x 37 x 18 cm
Credit LineGift of Mrs. Phyllis M. Harper, London, Ontario, 1995
Object number1995.018.006
Label TextDesigner and milliner Stuart Kent Harper made this sculptural wool felt hat in the 1940s or 1950s. Born in Malahide Township, Ontario, in 1907, Harper graduated from Queen's University in Commerce and Administration, majoring in General Business and Foreign Trade. After a course at the New York School of Fine and Applied Art, he entered the design world in Paris where he did a year of research and free-lance work. He then returned to New York and opened a shop that also served him as a laboratory. Focusing on the language of line, form, and colour, Harper created fashions that connected design to the individual. Following service overseas with the American Forces in the Second World War (1939-1945), Harper pursued architectural studies at Tulane University in New Orleans. These studies prepared him to collaborate with architects and engineers in industrial design. Ultimately, Harper moved to London around 1950, working in the city until 1970. He operated a business on the southeast corner of Dufferin and Adelaide Streets.
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