Jump to Content

Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Guide to the Lea Van Puymbroeck Miller Papers, 1944-1958
BANC MSS 89/199 c  
View entire collection guide What's This?
Search this collection
Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Collection Summary
  • Information for Researchers
  • Administrative Information
  • Biography
  • Scope and Content

  • Collection Summary

    Collection Title: Lea Van Puymbroeck Miller Papers,
    Date (inclusive): 1944-1958
    Collection Number: BANC MSS 89/199 c
    Creator: Miller, Lea Van Puymbroeck
    Extent: Number of containers: 1 box Linear feet: .4
    Repository: The Bancroft Library.
    Berkeley, California 94720-6000
    Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
    Abstract: Primarily correspondence concerning her weaving and exhibitions, her contributions to periodicals on weaving and textile arts, and her search for newly developed fabrics as weaving materials.
    Languages Represented: English

    Information for Researchers

    Access

    Collection is open for research.

    Publication Rights

    Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], Lea Van Puymbroeck Miller Papers, BANC MSS 89/199 c, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

    Administrative Information

    Acquisition Information

    The Lea Van Puymbroeck Miller papers were transferred to The Bancroft Library from the Lowie Museum of Anthropology in December 1988, after being received there from the California Academy of Sciences.

    Biography

    Lea Van Puymbroeck Miller was born in Oswego, Oregon, on May 2, 1898 of Belgian parents. She received a BFA and MFA from the University of Washington in 1924 and 1934, and at various points between and after these degrees worked privately with a number of sculptors and designers. Before coming to the University of California, Berkeley, Miller taught art and design in Seattle high schools and at the University of Washington.
    Subsequently Miller became better known as a weaver, specializing in gauze techniques, stimulated by an interest in Peruvian textiles derived from the research of Lila O'Neill. She was interested in the utilization of new, synthetic materials in her weaving, adapting them to the gauze techniques in which she specialized. She exhibited her works extensively and won an impressive number of awards, recognizing her importance in developing and extending modern weaving design and technique.
    Miller's career at the University of California began in 1941, when she was appointed as a Lecturer in the Department of Decorative Art; she retired as full Professor in 1965 from the Department of Design, College of Environmental Design. She was apparently an enthusiastic teacher and also served as a student adviser in the College of Letters and Science. Lea Van Puymbroeck Miller died on December 13, 1979.

    Scope and Content

    The Lea Van Puymbroeck Miller Papers consist almost entirely of correspondence, and represent only a portion of her career, mainly from about 1945 to 1958, although most of the correspondence is concentrated in the 1949-1953 period. Major topics are her weaving and exhibitions, her contributions to periodicals on weaving and textile arts, and her search for newly developed weaving materials. There are a few letters which deal with her work as a student adviser and one folder, at the end, contains a small number of personal and family papers.