Design
- Place of origin:
Spitalfields, England (designed)
- Date:
- Artist/Maker:
Leman, James, born 1688 - died 1745 (designer)
- Materials and Techniques:
Pencil, pen and ink and watercolour on laid paper
- Credit Line:
Purchased with the assistance of The Art Fund and the National Heritage Memorial Fund
- Museum number:
- Gallery location:
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The design on the bottom right shows a central stripe of orange volutes enclosing a semi-circular segment, on either side of which are floral stripes with narrow stripes similar to the central one. This design is thought to be from about 1711.
James Leman was born in 1688 into a weaving family of Huguenot descent. In 1702 he was apprenticed to his father, Peter, and lived with his family in Stewart Street, Spitalfields in London. Leman's inscription on the design states that it is made for his father Peter Leman, showing that he drew it while still an apprentice.
This design is from an album that contains 97 designs for fine silk cloth. A constant supply of fashionable new designs from which to create new lines was required, so patternmakers and master weavers like Leman supplied a wide range of designs for different weavers. The album contains some of his work from the period 1706-1716.
Physical description
There is a central stripe of volutes on either side of which are floral stripes with narrow stripes similar to the central one on either side.
Place of Origin
Spitalfields, England (designed)
Date
ca. 1711 (designed)
Artist/maker
Leman, James, born 1688 - died 1745 (designer)
Materials and Techniques
Pencil, pen and ink and watercolour on laid paper
Marks and inscriptions
'This pattern a 900/8 thred dam: bro: & flush - The binders taken out of [the] sattin and warpd alone ev'ry 4th thred. This pattern 450 cords No. 8 & 10 [-44 Dez. 2 sim[ples?]]
For my Father P: Leman. J. Le. The following direction is to warp the [sattin] and binders of this figure note that in the stripes where the gold or silver is [it must ] be warped with gold colr: or white. To warp boath Sattin & Binders with 25 bobbins.
'for the sattin for ye binders
3....................A / 1........................A /
18..................B / 6.......................B /
12..................A / 4.......................A /
18..................B / 6........................B /
6.....................A / 2........................A /
18....................B / 6.........................B /
12....................A / 4..........................A /
18....................B / 6...........................B /
3......................A / 1............................A /
___ __ 108
108 36 36
___
144
Squared up in pencil for cords and dezines.
Dimensions
Height: 20.3 cm, Width: 26.4 cm, Height: 8 in, Width: 10 3/8 in
Object history note
This is a design from the so-called Leman album which was bought from Vanners & Co. in 1991. Natalie Rothstein catalogued the designs before the album was bought by the Victoria and Albert Museum. She gave each design a VS number (for Vanners Silks) in her catalogue 'Silk Designs of the Eighteenth Century'. The designs have been subsequently numbered by the Prints, Drawings and Paintings Department, however, a concordance exists.
Historical significance: The designs collected in the album are, with the exception of some fragmentary medieval examples in Italian collections, the earliest silk designs known to exist.
Descriptive line
Design for woven silk from the Leman album
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Rothstein, Natalie 'Silk Designs of the Eighteenth Century in the Collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London with a Complete Catalogue with 473 Illustrations, 371 in Colour'. London : Thames and Hudson, 1990. pp.96-107.
Exhibition History
Flowered Silks (Victoria and Albert Museum 08/08/1990-28/08/1990)
Production Note
Natalie Rothstein stated in her book 'Silk Designs of the Eighteenth Century' that this drawing was 'about 1711' and asked that it be compared with drawings E.1861.28-1991 (VS.22) and E.1861.26-1991 (VS.20).
Materials
Pencil; Watercolour; Ink
Techniques
Drawing; Painting
Collection code
PDP
