Furnishing Fabric
ca. 1805 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Object Type
For the first 20 years of the 19th century, the finest and most expensive printed furnishings were polychrome woodblock-printed cottons, the technique used here. This fabric might have been used for curtains or upholstery. In this period it was particularly fashionable for the different furnishings used in a room, including window curtains and upholstery fabric, to match or complement each other.
Places
Bannister Hall, near Preston, Lancashire, where this fabric was probably printed, was the leading works for woodblock furniture chintzes and set the fashion for other factories. Printing was carried out for London linen-drapers, such as Richard Ovey of Covent Garden, who from 1790 to 1831 was the leading London merchant for 'furniture prints'. He commissioned designs from skilled artists and sent them to Lancashire or to Carlisle in Cumbria to be printed.
Design & Designing
The design of this cotton is very similar to one produced at Jouy, in France, in 1788, which was printed on a white background. This English fabric may be copying the Jouy design, or they might both have taken their inspiration from the same Indian source.
For the first 20 years of the 19th century, the finest and most expensive printed furnishings were polychrome woodblock-printed cottons, the technique used here. This fabric might have been used for curtains or upholstery. In this period it was particularly fashionable for the different furnishings used in a room, including window curtains and upholstery fabric, to match or complement each other.
Places
Bannister Hall, near Preston, Lancashire, where this fabric was probably printed, was the leading works for woodblock furniture chintzes and set the fashion for other factories. Printing was carried out for London linen-drapers, such as Richard Ovey of Covent Garden, who from 1790 to 1831 was the leading London merchant for 'furniture prints'. He commissioned designs from skilled artists and sent them to Lancashire or to Carlisle in Cumbria to be printed.
Design & Designing
The design of this cotton is very similar to one produced at Jouy, in France, in 1788, which was printed on a white background. This English fabric may be copying the Jouy design, or they might both have taken their inspiration from the same Indian source.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Furnishing fabric of block-printed cotton in blue on a red background. The pattern includes a design of 'Indian' chintz. |
| Brief description | Furnishing fabric of block-printed cotton, designed for Richard Ovey, printed at Bannister Hall, Preston, ca. 1805 |
| Physical description | Floral pattern on red with pencilled blue. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Gallery label | British Galleries:
The design and colouring of this fabric was inspired by imported Indian chintzes. Its colours were built up with a series of wood blocks carrying madder colours with different mordants (a fixative). Blue and green (blue over yellow) were added by painting or 'pencilling' indigo.(27/03/2003) |
| Credit line | Given by Miss Josephine Howell |
| Object history | Probably printed at Bannister Hall, Lancashire |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | Object Type For the first 20 years of the 19th century, the finest and most expensive printed furnishings were polychrome woodblock-printed cottons, the technique used here. This fabric might have been used for curtains or upholstery. In this period it was particularly fashionable for the different furnishings used in a room, including window curtains and upholstery fabric, to match or complement each other. Places Bannister Hall, near Preston, Lancashire, where this fabric was probably printed, was the leading works for woodblock furniture chintzes and set the fashion for other factories. Printing was carried out for London linen-drapers, such as Richard Ovey of Covent Garden, who from 1790 to 1831 was the leading London merchant for 'furniture prints'. He commissioned designs from skilled artists and sent them to Lancashire or to Carlisle in Cumbria to be printed. Design & Designing The design of this cotton is very similar to one produced at Jouy, in France, in 1788, which was printed on a white background. This English fabric may be copying the Jouy design, or they might both have taken their inspiration from the same Indian source. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | CIRC.496-1956 |
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| Record created | December 15, 1999 |
| Record URL |
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