Design
17/5/1708-1709 (designed)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This design is from an album that contains 104 designs for fine woven silk cloth and is dated May 17th 1708/9. A constant supply of fashionable new designs from which to create new lines was required, so patternmakers and master weavers like James Leman supplied a wide range of designs for different weavers. The album contains some of his work from the period 1706-1716, as well as five designs from the 1730s.
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 'A Damask figure for my Father' showing that he drew it while still an apprentice.
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 'A Damask figure for my Father' showing that he drew it while still an apprentice.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Pencil, pen and ink and watercolour on laid paper |
| Brief description | Design for woven silk from the 'Leman Album', pencil, pen and ink and watercolour on laid paper, by James Leman, Spitalfields, 1708/1709 |
| Physical description | Design for woven silk from the 'Leman Album', in pencil, pen and ink and watercolour on laid paper, in monochrome yellow ochre, depicting a large central pattern surmounted by leaf shapes and decorative motifs. There are snake-like forms at the top and bottom of the design indicating where the design repeats, as well as slender branches with leaves on both vertical edges of the design. The design is a mirror repeat, with symmetry between the left and right side of the design. The design is partly squared up in pencil for cords and dezines. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Credit line | Purchased with Art Fund support and the National Heritage Memorial Fund |
| Object history | This is a design from the so-called 'Leman album' which was bought from Vanners Silks Ltd. 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. |
| Summary | This design is from an album that contains 104 designs for fine woven silk cloth and is dated May 17th 1708/9. A constant supply of fashionable new designs from which to create new lines was required, so patternmakers and master weavers like James Leman supplied a wide range of designs for different weavers. The album contains some of his work from the period 1706-1716, as well as five designs from the 1730s. 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 'A Damask figure for my Father' showing that he drew it while still an apprentice. |
| Bibliographic reference | 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. 351p., ill. ISBN 0500235899.
p. 101 |
| Other number | VS.15 - 'VS' stands for Vanners Silks which owned the album when Natalie Rothstein catalogued it for her publication <u>Silk Designs of the Eighteenth Century</u>. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.1861:21-1991 |
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| Record created | May 3, 2002 |
| Record URL |
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