Design
- Place of origin:
Spitalfields, England (designed)
- Date:
15/01/1711-1712 (designed)
- 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 left shows a central panel of swirling volutes in brown wash and decorated with a diaper effect on top of which are spiralling tendrils in purple watercolour. At either side of the sheet of paper are yellow stripes on which are yellow ochre volutes. This design is dated January 15th 1711/12. This date reflects the Julian calendar dates when the year began on 25th March (Lady Day). The Gregorian calendar was not used in England until 1751.
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
A central panel of swirling volutes in brown wash and decorated with a diaper effect on top of which are spiralling tendrils in purple watercolour. At either side of the sheet of paper are yellow stripes on which are yellow ochre volutes. The design is on a short, rectangular sheet of paper which is shorter than the album's page.
Place of Origin
Spitalfields, England (designed)
Date
15/01/1711-1712 (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
'Jan: 15 - 1711/12 This pattern for a 900 = 8
thred Damask brocaded with Silver
450 cords No 8 & 10-80 Dez: 2 simples
for my father Peter Leman
by me James Leman'
Squared up in pencil for cords and dezines, with dezines numbered in ink.
Dimensions
Height: 37.5 cm, Width: 26.1 cm, Height: 14 3/4 in, Width: 10 1/4 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)
Materials
Pencil; Watercolour; Ink
Techniques
Drawing; Painting
Collection code
PDP
