Tokens of the Foundling Museum

A visual exploration into the stories behind the Foundling Museum, London. The intention behind the work was to document and visually communicate the stories of the Foundling Hospital, an establishment Founded in the 18th century to take in babies at risk of abandonment in London. During this time child mortality was very high as thousands of babies were being abandoned every year by desperate parents facing extreme poverty. My books and accompanying prints intend to investigate the stories of the mothers who gave their babies to the care of the hospital between the 1740’s and 60s who left ‘tokens’ as a sign of love and means of identification with the hope they would one day be able to return to reclaim their child through the context of the tokens they left behind.