Hi-
I'm a librarian in Northern California. I'm hoping that some
needlepoint expert who reads this list may be able to help us
identify a needlepoint designer who worked in London around
the time of World War II.

One of our libraries is about to mount a needlepoint exhibit, and
two of the pieces were designed by this man. The owner of the
pieces, who met the man when she was about 5 years old during World
War II, thinks his name was something like Pontrenoli and that he
may have been Italian. (At any rate, she remembers him as a
"foreigner" which to her at that age would have been anyone who was
not white anglo saxon British.)

She remembers visiting his studio while he was designing a piece for
her mother to work. It was fabric to cover a fenderstool (a long,
narrow bench to place before the fire) and he would say "What would
you like here?" and then draw what she wanted onto the canvas and
color it.

He was sufficiently noted as an artist that he was not drafted into
the army during the war. Instead, he did his national service as an
artist, drawing pictures of the destruction from the bombs in London.
She thinks he was killed near the end of the war or shortly after
its end.

If anyone has any information about who this man is, we would be
very grateful to hear it. Even the correct spelling of his name
would be a great help. Please respond directly to me at the email
address listed below.

Thank you for reading this and for any responses,
Jean Hewlett
North Bay Cooperative Library System,
55 E St., Santa Rosa, CA 95404 U.S.A.
Phone: 707-544-0142 ext.14
Fax: 707-544-8411
Email: [log in to unmask]