The design on the left shows plants with remarkable botanical accuracy, growing from a mound of brown earth. This design is dated January 31st 1706/7. 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 reveals that it was commissioned by Mr Sandys, a mercer who commissioned three designs from Leman between 1707 and 1708.
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 plants, with remarkable botanical accuracy, growing from a mound of brown earth. A rose bush, an orange bough, both in blossom and fruit, a tomato plant with both ripe and unripe fruit, a fruiting sloe branch and a parrot tulip grow from the earth. Short roots trail down from the mound of earth.
Place of Origin
Spitalfields, England (designed)
Date
31/01/1706-31/01/1707 (designed)
Artist/maker
Leman, James, born 1688 - died 1745 (designer)
Materials and Techniques
Pencil, pen and ink, watercolour and bodycolour, on laid paper
Marks and inscriptions
'London. - Jan: 31st 1706/7. / Brocaded flowd: Sattin 4 colours - / ffor Mr Sandys. / 450 Cords No: 8 & 10-140 Dezines long / in 5 simples / by James Leman' [partly obscured by tape]
Calculations
Squared up in pencil for cords and dezines, with dezines numbered in ink.
Dimensions
Height: 67.6 cm, Width: 26.7 cm, Height: 26.625 in, Width: 10.5 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
Attribution note: Natalie Rothstein questioned whether it was the colours which are numbered 1-9 on the designs. She did so in her book 'Silk Designs of the Eighteenth Century'. See the References tab for the bibliographic reference for this book.
Materials
Pencil; Watercolour; Ink; Bodycolour
Techniques
Drawing; Painting
Subjects depicted
Flowers
Categories
Designs
Collection code
PDP
