We don’t have an image of this object online yet. V&A Images may have a photograph that we can’t show online, but it may be possible to supply one to you. Email us at vaimages@vam.ac.uk for guidance about fees and timescales, quoting the accession number: T.403-1972
Find out about our images

Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level C , Case 3H, Shelf 18

Design

1762 (designed and made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This design is a preparatory technical drawing for a patterned silk. It belongs to a group commissioned by a silk manufacturing partnership active in Lyon, the most prestigious centre of the silk industry in Europe from the 1660s onwards. The partnership was called L. Galy, Gallien et cie from 1761 until the beginning of 1771 and it was one of Lyon's 400 manufacturing concerns mid-century. It kept good records, noting on the back of the designs the number of the design and minimal instructions on how it should be woven.

This design was for a patterned silk with a satin background, approximately 54 centimetres wide. It would have had this motif repeated across the width at least twice. In Lyon, manufacturing regulations dictated the widths in which such silks might be woven.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
painted in gouache on copper engraved ruled paper
Brief description
for woven silk, 1762, French; Galy Gallien, flowers in red floral compartments
Physical description
Mise-en-carte or draft for a woven silk, in gouache painted on paper 8 en 12, on the back the name of the firm and the date, and the name of the fabric, and key to how to weave it. Pattern of flowers in red floral compartments.
Dimensions
  • Height: 22.5cm
  • Width: 54.3cm
Style
Production typeDesign
Marks and inscriptions
L. Galy, Gallien et compe. 18 fev 1762 No. 674 satin en soye de 8 en 12, 21 dix[ain]es à Répétition (This inscription indicates who owned the design, which had probably been designed by either an inhouse or freelance designer.)
Translation
L. Galy, Gallien and co. 18 February 1762 No. 674 Satin with coloured silks on 8 & 12 paper, 21 dezines in the repeat
Object history
Made for the firm of L.Galy, Gallien et cie., this and the other designs of this type were passed down through the partnership. They subsequently came into the hands of a designer called Robert Ruepp of 7 rue Bergère in Paris, who exhibited silks at the Great Exhibitions in Paris in 1900 and in 1925. They subsequently came into the ownership of Sir Frank Warner (of Warner and Co.) and then in 1972 into the collections of the V&A.
Production
made for the firm of L. Galy, Gallien et cie., silk manufacturers
Subject depicted
Summary
This design is a preparatory technical drawing for a patterned silk. It belongs to a group commissioned by a silk manufacturing partnership active in Lyon, the most prestigious centre of the silk industry in Europe from the 1660s onwards. The partnership was called L. Galy, Gallien et cie from 1761 until the beginning of 1771 and it was one of Lyon's 400 manufacturing concerns mid-century. It kept good records, noting on the back of the designs the number of the design and minimal instructions on how it should be woven.

This design was for a patterned silk with a satin background, approximately 54 centimetres wide. It would have had this motif repeated across the width at least twice. In Lyon, manufacturing regulations dictated the widths in which such silks might be woven.
Bibliographic references
  • Lesley Ellis Miller, 'Mysterious Manufacturers: Situating L. Galy, Gallien et Compe. in the Eighteenth-Century Lyons Silk Industry', Studies in the Decorative Arts, Vol. IX:2, Spring-summer 2002, p. 90
  • Natalie Rothstein, Silk Designs of the Eighteenth Century, Thames and Hudson, 1990, p. 249
Collection
Accession number
T.403-1972

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
Download as: JSON