Object Type
This furnishing fabric has been printed using engraved copper plates. The introduction of copper-plate printing in the 1750s encouraged new possibilities in the development of printed textiles design, allowing a fineness of detail and delicacy of drawing which had not been achieved in earlier woodblock-printed textiles. It also allowed much larger pattern repeats, which made it particularly suitable for bed hangings.
Places
Robert Jones's factory at Old Ford, Middlesex (now London), where this fabric was printed in 1769, was one of the leading textile printing works in England at that time. The importance of the factory can be assessed by the advertisements for the sale of its premises and equipment in 1780. These show that the printworks occupied 67 acres and the assets included '200 copper plates and 2,000 blocks and prints, most of which are esteemed patterns calculated for a general course of foreign trade'.
Materials & Making
The fabric is a fustian, woven with a linen warp and cotton weft, as British law prohibited the production of all-cotton cloth at the time it was printed. (The legislation was brought in originally to protect the wool and silk industries.) In 1774, under the influence of developments in the home production of cotton pioneered by the textiles industrialist Richard Arkwright (1732-1792), the previous ban on printing all-cotton fabric was finally removed.
Physical description
This group of textiles comprises a large curtain, two smaller lined pieces, and four lined valances, which would originally have formed part of a set of bed hangings. The ground is a mixed fabric with linen warp and cotton weft printed in purple with madder from two engraved copper plates. Other colours have been added by woodblock, except for the blue done by pencilling. One plate depicts a scene of a shooting party of four men, resting by a large pedestal supporting an urn, in a landscape, with dogs and dead game; the other depicts a fishing party of two women and two men sitting next to a ruin at the edge of a lake. Both scenes have the inscription 'R. IONES & Co Iany. 1st 1769' on the masonry; the fishing party scene also has the inscription 'R.Iones & Co Old Ford'.
Pattern repeat height 81.5 x width 36.5 inches (207 x 92.7 cm).
All of the pieces except the main curtain are lined with plain woven undyed cotton, with blue threads in selvedge visible in one place, therefore woven between 1774 and 1811. Width of lining cotton 78 cm.
[Furnishing fabric] The curtain has a centre seam, with the pattern nearly but not perfectly matched either side. There are slightly more than two repeats of the pattern in its height. The fishing party and the shooting party both appear twice.
The curtain underwent conservation in 1972, when its lining was unpicked and it was mounted on adhesive net.
[Textile] Valance, comprising three sections of the design seamed together, the two main figure groups and another narrow part of the fishing party group. It is lined with plain cotton, and bound with linen tape. It retains its glazed finish.
[Valance] Valance, with the shooting party and the top of the fishing party, seamed together. Lined with plain cotton. Two seams, and three narrow linen tapes attached in vertical lines to the lining. There is linen braid round each edge, and rusted nail holes along the top edge. A 19th or 20th century wool fringe is attached to the lower edge.The valance retains its glazed finish.
[Piece of fabric] Panel with the shooting party scene roughly centered. Selvedge on left edge, cut right edge.Lined with plain cotton. One vertical seam in lining, and a length of narrow linen tape stitched down it in another vertical line. The edges of the printed textile are turned in under the lining. There are a number of small holes in the front of the textile, where the edges have been sewn down through the lining to secure them.
[Furnishing fabric] Panel with the fishing party approximately centred. Selvedges intact at each side. Lined with plain cotton, One vertical seam in lining, and a length of narrow linen tape stitched down it in another vertical line.The edges of the printed textile are turned in under the lining. There are a number of small holes in the front of the textile, where the edges have been sewn down through the lining to secure them.
[Valance] Valance, with the shooting party approximately centred. Lined with plain cotton. The edges of the printed textile are turned in under the lining at each edge, and crudely oversewn on three sides. There is a small section of linen tape remaining, but most has ben removed from the edges, leaving a lighter mark underneath. The valance retains its glazed finish.
[Valance] Valance, with the fishing party to the left of centre; a fragment of the same scene attached at the right end. Lined with plain cotton. Two seams, and two narrow linen tapes attached in vertical lines to the lining. The edges of the printed textile are turned in under the lining at each edge, and crudely oversewn at top and bottom edges. There is linen tape remaining on the right edge, but it has been removed from the other edges, leaving a lighter mark underneath. The valance retains its glazed finish.
Place of Origin
Old Ford, England (made)
Date
1 January 1769 (designed)
Artist/maker
Robert Jones & Co (printer)
Materials and Techniques
Linen and cotton, printed from engraved copper plates and wood blocks with pencilled (painted) blue
Dimensions
[Furnishing fabric] Height: 237 cm left side, Width: 190 cm top, Height: 241.5 cm right side, Width: 189.5 cm bottom
[Valance] Height: 49 cm excluding fringe, Width: 193 cm
[Piece of fabric] Height: 110 cm, Width: 93 cm
[Furnishing fabric] Height: 122 cm maximum, Width: 93.5 cm
[Valance] Height: 50 cm, Width: 96.5 cm
[Valance] Height: 49.5 cm, Width: 126 cm
Object history note
This group of textiles was purchased from antique dealers Messrs. J Kyrle Fletcher, 79 High Street, Newport, Monmouth (see Museum file MA/1/F773). Mr Kyrle Fletcher wrote to the museum on 8 September 1934 offering them : "we have had sent to us for disposal a very fine curtain of old English chintz decorated in coloured copper plate design...This curtain which is roughly 8 feet by 10 feet is arranged in 6 groups each of which is signed and dated."
A second letter mentions "our clients were asking for 30 guineas for the curtain, and we advised it being offered to the Victoria and Albert Museum at a lower price which we fixed" (the museum paid £24). There is no further reference to provenance.
When the textiles arrived they were described as "1 chintz curtain (in 4 parts)". It was agreed that the acquisition should be shared between Textiles and Circulation Departments : minute on file from Mr Wace, Keeper of Textiles : "I would suggest that of the main curtain two widths be reserved for Textiles and one width for Circulation, and the valance should also go to Circulation". Reply from Mr Kennedy of Circulation :" We shall be glad to have one width and a valance. I suggest to Mrs Clayton that a small photograph be taken of the whole curtain before it is divided, so that it can be shown with the sections which we shall to make for purposes of circulation [sic]."
Therefore it seems that the large curtain with six scenes was divided up, and now comprises T.140, Circ.112 and Circ.112a. One of the original three valances must also have been divided, as there are now four pieces of valance (T.140 a&b, Circ.112 b&c). It is likely to be the two Circ numbered pieces, as only one valance was reportedly sent to Circ.
A piece of the same design is in the Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Paris.
Historical context note
The ground is a mixed fabric with linen warp and cotton weft, as the textile was printed while legislation was still in place banning the production of all-cotton textiles in England. This legislation was repealed in 1774.
Descriptive line
Textile by Robert Jones, Old Ford, plate-printed cotton and linen, English, 1769
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Hefford, Wendy, Design for Printed Textiles in England from 1750 to 1850, V&A, 1992, pl.12-13.
Exhibition History
English Chintz : English Printed Furnishing Fabrics from their Origins until the Present Day (Victoria and Albert Museum 18/05/1960-17/07/1960)
Labels and date
British Galleries:
Robert Jones was a leading English textile printer during the 1760s and 1770s. This example indicates the high quality of his production. It was printed using a combination of techniques. Two separate engraved copper plates made the design. Colours were added by wood block, and indigo blue 'pencilled' or painted in with a brush. [27/03/2003]
Techniques
Plate printing
Subjects depicted
Ruins; Landscapes (representations); Fishing; Dogs (animals); Urns; Shooting; Follies
Categories
Textiles
Collection code
T&F
