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 left depicts oval shapes formed of a brown, almost architectural shape, surmounted by a decorative motif at the base of each oval. The next three-quarters of the oval is a yellow lobe. There is a brown spiralling leaf shape over each lobe and a twig with a long meandering stem. This design is dated July 17th 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 is was made for Mr Wittington, a mercer who bought 33 of Leman's designs between 1708 and 1721.
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
Design depicting oval shapes formed of a brown, almost architectural shape, surmounted by a decorative motif, at the base of each oval. The next three-quarters of the oval is a yellow lobe. There is a brown, spiralling leaf shape over each lobe and a twig with a long, meandering stem.
Place of Origin
Spitalfields, England (designed)
Date
17/07/1711 (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
'London July 17 1711 This figure for a
Damask brocaded wth: plain & frost gold-
to be made in a Sattin tissue harness for
Mr Wittington & Comp
450 cords No 8 & 10 - 130 Dez 5 simpls
for my father Peter Leman
by James Leman.'
Squared up in pencil for cords and dezines, with dezines numbered in ink.
Dimensions
Height: 62.9 cm, Width: 26.4 cm, Height: 24 3/4 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)
Materials
Pencil; Watercolour; Ink
Techniques
Drawing; Painting
Collection code
PDP
