Dress Fabric
1750-1760 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Object Type
This fabric is a brocaded silk and was intended for ladies' gowns. The technique of brocading allowed different colours or types of thread to be introduced into the pattern of a fabric in specific, sometimes very small areas. This was of particular importance in silks woven with metal thread, like this, where the gold or silver was too precious to waste on the back of the fabric where it would not be seen. This silk is brocaded with four different types of silver and silver gilt thread, which is now quite worn but would have created a rich glittering effect when intact and untarnished.
Places
Dress silks from France began to dominate fashionable taste across Europe from the 1660s until well into the 18th century. The French textile industry had been regularized by the Minister of Finance, Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619-1683), to reduce the variety and improve the quality in each regional weaving centre, so that they did not compete against each other but against foreign imports. Lyon, where this is likely to have been woven, was the centre for the most complex and luxurious of the patterned silks.
This fabric is a brocaded silk and was intended for ladies' gowns. The technique of brocading allowed different colours or types of thread to be introduced into the pattern of a fabric in specific, sometimes very small areas. This was of particular importance in silks woven with metal thread, like this, where the gold or silver was too precious to waste on the back of the fabric where it would not be seen. This silk is brocaded with four different types of silver and silver gilt thread, which is now quite worn but would have created a rich glittering effect when intact and untarnished.
Places
Dress silks from France began to dominate fashionable taste across Europe from the 1660s until well into the 18th century. The French textile industry had been regularized by the Minister of Finance, Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619-1683), to reduce the variety and improve the quality in each regional weaving centre, so that they did not compete against each other but against foreign imports. Lyon, where this is likely to have been woven, was the centre for the most complex and luxurious of the patterned silks.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Brocaded silk with coloured silks and gold threads |
| Brief description | Dress fabric of brocaded silk with coloured silks and gold threads, Lyon, 1750-1760 |
| Physical description | Dress fabric of brocaded silk with coloured silks and gold threads. With a design of a flowering tree on a cream ground. Silk ribbed tabby ground with floated wefts to form patterns. |
| Dimensions |
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| Gallery label | DRESS FABRIC woven in France
1750 - 1760
An English writer in 1751 compared the 'glare of colours' in French silks and their 'tawdry tinsel appearances' with English silks which were 'pictures of great delicacy and ornament'. His opinion was probably biased but there was clearly a perception among customers of the difference in style between the two.(27/03/2003) |
| Credit line | Given by Mrs C. Young |
| Summary | Object Type This fabric is a brocaded silk and was intended for ladies' gowns. The technique of brocading allowed different colours or types of thread to be introduced into the pattern of a fabric in specific, sometimes very small areas. This was of particular importance in silks woven with metal thread, like this, where the gold or silver was too precious to waste on the back of the fabric where it would not be seen. This silk is brocaded with four different types of silver and silver gilt thread, which is now quite worn but would have created a rich glittering effect when intact and untarnished. Places Dress silks from France began to dominate fashionable taste across Europe from the 1660s until well into the 18th century. The French textile industry had been regularized by the Minister of Finance, Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619-1683), to reduce the variety and improve the quality in each regional weaving centre, so that they did not compete against each other but against foreign imports. Lyon, where this is likely to have been woven, was the centre for the most complex and luxurious of the patterned silks. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | T.185-1963 |
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| Record created | March 27, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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