Not currently on display at the V&A

Furnishing Fabric

ca. 1780 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Object Type
This furnishing fabric has been printed using an engraved copper plate. The introduction of copper-plate printing in the 1750s meant new possibilities in the development of printed textile design, allowing a fineness of detail and delicacy of drawing which had not been achieved in earlier woodblock printed textiles. It also allowed much larger pattern repeats, which made it particularly suitable for bed hangings.

Materials & Making
China blue, which has been used here, was a complex process for printing with indigo known abroad as 'English blue'. It gave beautiful fast blues, but by a technique that could not be used with those needed for other colours, so 'pencilling' (hand-painting) of indigo was still needed for polychrome designs. The indigo was printed directly onto the cloth by plate or block as a finely-ground paste. The cloth was then immersed alternately in baths of lime (to dissolve the indigo) and iron-sulphate (to reduce it) as many times as was necessary to achieve the desired strength of blue.

Places
Bromley Hall, where this fabric was printed, was on the right bank of the River Lea in Poplar, East London. It was probably the largest of the early print works, first mentioned in the 1740s, and it continued in operation into the early 19th century.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Plate-printed cotton
Brief description
Furnishing fabric of plate-printed cotton, made by Ollive and Talwin, Bromley Hall, ca. 1780
Physical description
Furnishing fabric of plate-printed cotton. Printed from an engraved copper plate in Chine-blue on cotton. The fabric has a white ground printed with a design of plants on feathery stems. There are two blue threads in each selvedge.
Dimensions
  • Height: 80.7cm
  • Width: 72.5cm
Gallery label
British Galleries: A technique of printing with indigo to achieve colourfast blue had been developed in England in the 1740s. English printers knew it as china blue, but the French called it 'bleu d'Angleterre' (English blue). It could not be used with other techniques, so china blue prints were always monochrome.(27/03/2003)
Production
Made by the firm of Ollive and Talwin, Bromley Hall, near London
Summary
Object Type
This furnishing fabric has been printed using an engraved copper plate. The introduction of copper-plate printing in the 1750s meant new possibilities in the development of printed textile design, allowing a fineness of detail and delicacy of drawing which had not been achieved in earlier woodblock printed textiles. It also allowed much larger pattern repeats, which made it particularly suitable for bed hangings.

Materials & Making
China blue, which has been used here, was a complex process for printing with indigo known abroad as 'English blue'. It gave beautiful fast blues, but by a technique that could not be used with those needed for other colours, so 'pencilling' (hand-painting) of indigo was still needed for polychrome designs. The indigo was printed directly onto the cloth by plate or block as a finely-ground paste. The cloth was then immersed alternately in baths of lime (to dissolve the indigo) and iron-sulphate (to reduce it) as many times as was necessary to achieve the desired strength of blue.

Places
Bromley Hall, where this fabric was printed, was on the right bank of the River Lea in Poplar, East London. It was probably the largest of the early print works, first mentioned in the 1740s, and it continued in operation into the early 19th century.
Collection
Accession number
T.380-1960

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Record createdMarch 27, 2003
Record URL
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