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Design for a Paisley shawl

Textile Design
ca. 1850 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

In the mid-19th century there was a fashion for exotic imported shawls. Weavers in France and Britain tried to exploit this demand by producing their own versions. One major centre of shawl weaving was Paisley in Scotland, where woven and printed versions were produced. Soon there was furious competition between manufacturers. With the aid of the semi-automated Jacquard loom, they were now able to produce much bigger and more elaborate patterns than ever before. George Haité (1825-1871) was a well known and prolific designer of shawl patterns. By 1850 he and his fellow designers were drawing enormous and fantastic all-over patterns based on pine cones. They were of brilliant colour and had large repeats.

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleDesign for a Paisley shawl (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Watercolour and gouache
Brief description
George Haité. Design for a Paisley shawl. British, c.1850
Physical description
Design for a Paisley shawl
Credit line
Presented by George C. Haité, Esq., RBA
Summary
In the mid-19th century there was a fashion for exotic imported shawls. Weavers in France and Britain tried to exploit this demand by producing their own versions. One major centre of shawl weaving was Paisley in Scotland, where woven and printed versions were produced. Soon there was furious competition between manufacturers. With the aid of the semi-automated Jacquard loom, they were now able to produce much bigger and more elaborate patterns than ever before. George Haité (1825-1871) was a well known and prolific designer of shawl patterns. By 1850 he and his fellow designers were drawing enormous and fantastic all-over patterns based on pine cones. They were of brilliant colour and had large repeats.
Bibliographic references
  • John Murdoch and Susan Lambert, Summary Catalogue of Textile Designs 1840-1985 in the V. & A. Museum and colour microfiche, Surrey: Emmett Microform, 1986
  • Victoria and Albert Museum, Department of Engraving, Illustration and Design, Accessions 1911, London, Printed for His Majesty’s Stationery Office 1912
Collection
Accession number
E.4433-1911

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Record createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
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