Design
23/05/1710 (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 23rd 1710. 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. There is a silk woven from this design in the Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide.
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 was made for his father Peter Leman, showing that he drew it while still an apprentice. It was commissioned by Mr Wittington, a mercer who bought 33 of Leman's designs between 1708 and 1721.
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 was made for his father Peter Leman, showing that he drew it while still an apprentice. It was commissioned by Mr Wittington, a mercer who bought 33 of Leman's designs between 1708 and 1721.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Pencil, pen and ink, watercolour and bodycolour on laid paper |
| Brief description | Design for woven silk from the 'Leman Album', pencil, pen and ink, watercolour and bodycolour on laid paper, by James Leman, Spitalfields, 1710 |
| Physical description | Design for woven silk from the 'Leman Album', in pencil, pen and ink, watercolour and bodycolour on laid paper, in yellow ochre, orange, red, blue and black, depicting a central, semi-circular motif decorated internally with six cylinders, over and under which is a spray of red foliage and berries. Below this motif is an orange with leaves and above the semi-circular top of the motif is a diagonal pile of oranges. Covering the rest of the design are architectural, decorative, floral and foliate motifs. The design is squared up in pencil for cords and dezines, with dezines numbered in ink. |
| 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. This design was taken out of the album and mounted for exhibition. It is shown back in its original position in the album with E.1861.79-1991 (VS.70) on the opposite page. |
| Production | Natalie Rothstein stated in her book, Silk Designs of the Eighteenth Century that 'there is a silk woven from this design in the Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide (AA.486) (illus. p. 39)'. |
| Summary | This design is from an album that contains 104 designs for fine woven silk cloth and is dated May 23rd 1710. 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. There is a silk woven from this design in the Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide. 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 was made for his father Peter Leman, showing that he drew it while still an apprentice. It was commissioned by Mr Wittington, a mercer who bought 33 of Leman's designs between 1708 and 1721. |
| 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. 103, pl. 18 |
| Other number | VS.71 - '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.1861:80-1991 |
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| Record created | May 3, 2002 |
| Record URL |
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