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Peacock Feathers
Silver, Arthur, born 1853 - died 1896 - Enlarge image
Peacock Feathers
- Object:
Furnishing fabric
- Place of origin:
London, England (made)
- Date:
1887 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Silver, Arthur, born 1853 - died 1896 (designer)
Liberty (made for)
Rossendale Printing Co. (maker) - Materials and Techniques:
Roller-printed cotton
- Credit Line:
Given by Rex Silver, Esq.
- Museum number:
T.50-1953
- Gallery location:
In Storage
This fabric is a roller-printed cotton used for furnishings as curtains or upholstery. The tail feathers of peacocks were very popular motifs with designers of the Aesthetic Movement. This textile is one of the most recognisable examples of this style. Used in patterns and for many different types of decorative work, peacock feathers were also used in their natural form for fans and dress accessories as well as hung on walls and displayed in vases in the home.
This pattern is one of a large number of commercial designs drawn by Arthur Silver who set up the Silver Studio at Brook Green in 1880, later moving to Haarlem Road, Hammersmith, London. The Silver Studio produced and sold designs to a range of commercial customers.
This textile was originally sold through Liberty's shop in Regent Street, London, which helped proliferate the Aesthetic style in England. It was revived and reprinted for the V&A's Liberty exhibition in 1975 and since then has become almost a trademark for the company. The production of artistic textiles in the late 19th century usually involved specialist techniques such as hand-block printing. Surprisingly, Liberty's had this pattern printed by roller, the quickest and cheapest commercial techniques available.
