Dr Ella Hawkins
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ellamchawk.bsky.social
Dr Ella Hawkins
@ellamchawk.bsky.social
4.3K followers 230 following 22 posts
Design, Shakespeare, biscuit art. Senior Lecturer in Research & Innovation at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. Book: Shakespeare in Elizabethan Costume (Bloomsbury Arden Shakespeare). She/her.
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ellamchawk.bsky.social
William De Morgan was the Arts & Crafts movement’s most brilliant and prolific ceramic artist.

This biscuit (cookie) set is inspired by some of his many tile designs. 🍪
Nine square biscuits arranged into a square to look like a panel of old tiles. The biscuit set features an array of designs in shades of blue, green, red, and cream. On the top row, there are: a striking blue deer with purple-red spots; a symmetrical leafy design with a vivid blue flower at the centre; and a glazed relief of a lion and a lioness facing in opposite directions against a patchy rust-red background. The middle row includes: a stylised green line drawing of a galleon ship on choppy waters; two flowers on a rich blue background; and a design densely filled with small green leaves and pomegranates. The bottom row features: a monochrome design with small red leaves and flowers; a symmetrical design with spirals, leaves, and flower shapes in shades of blue; and a glazed biscuit with a Tudor rose and leaves in spruce green against a rich blue background.
August 15, 2025 at 8:16 AM
ellamchawk.bsky.social
Today is National Biscuit Day, and it’s about time that I populated this account with biscuit (cookie) sets from the past few years. Here are some of my favourites. 🧵

First up, a set inspired by the delicious designs of William Morris and John Henry Dearle.
A set of eight rectangular cookies arranged on a square white plate against a dark wooden background. Each cookie is inspired by a wallpaper design by Morris & Co. The patterns represented feature different floral and leaf shapes in shades of baby blue, soft pink, leafy green, mustard yellow, cream, and dark grey.
May 29, 2025 at 7:05 AM
ellamchawk.bsky.social
’Tis the season for a biscuit set inspired by Victorian scrapbooking. 🍪

These festive scraps come from two scrapbooks in the Powerhouse Collection, both thought to have been compiled by children between 1880 and 1890.
A collection of 18 biscuits of different sizes and shapes. In the centre is a large rectangular biscuit with rounded edges, painted with a snowy church scene. Flanking that biscuit are two large roses in shades of yellow and magenta. At the top corners of the set are two tiny teacups: one features spindly text that reads 'Think of me when far away', and the other says 'With fond love for thee'. The other biscuits in the set include: small butterflies in vivid shades of red, blue, yellow, and orange; leaves; a duck; a Basset hound; tiny figures in historical dress; a water mill scene; a decorative oval with a short verse titled 'Remember me'; and a bouquet adorned with a banner that reads 'Wishing you a Happy New Year'.
December 20, 2024 at 9:22 AM
ellamchawk.bsky.social
Centuries ago, many astronomical books included moving parts to help readers interpret the world around them.

This biscuit recreates a diagram from Sacrobosco’s ‘De Sphaera’ (c.1550). It could be used to calculate the changing length of daylight hours through the year. 🍪
Two biscuits stacked on top of one another, designed to look like a rotating diagram from an early modern astronomical book. The lower biscuit is circular and features a series of horizontal lines and tiny numbers in an early modern font. The top biscuit is roughly in the shape of boat: the 'mast' area reads 'zenith'; the main body of the shape features tiny figures in historical dress holding astronomical instruments and a Latin motto reading 'Nulla dies sine linea'.
December 5, 2024 at 9:04 AM