Woven Silk
1750-70 (made), 1750-1799 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This silk was probably woven in Lyon where the most common width of patterned fabric was about 52-54 cm. Typically it would have been used for men's suiting, though there are also references to such silks being used for women's dress. It achieves a similar effect to the motifs on rich figured velvets which were used for men's court dress.
Lyon was the main centre of silk-weaving in France from the late 17th century onwards and created the most fashionable silks in Europe. The patterns on these silks changed seasonally. This silk is one of the simpler silks made, though it would still have required the skills of a draughtsman who made a freehand sketch and then a technical drawing to show the weaver how to set up his loom. It belongs to the category called <i>petite tire</i> in French. In the middle of the century a court case in Lyon argued that the skills required to design such a silk were as great as designing for elaborate brocaded silks with much larger and more magnificent patterns.
Lyon was the main centre of silk-weaving in France from the late 17th century onwards and created the most fashionable silks in Europe. The patterns on these silks changed seasonally. This silk is one of the simpler silks made, though it would still have required the skills of a draughtsman who made a freehand sketch and then a technical drawing to show the weaver how to set up his loom. It belongs to the category called <i>petite tire</i> in French. In the middle of the century a court case in Lyon argued that the skills required to design such a silk were as great as designing for elaborate brocaded silks with much larger and more magnificent patterns.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | woven silk. |
| Brief description | foot-figured pattern on blue ground, 1750-1770, French |
| Physical description | Lightweight woven silk dress fabric with strong blue ground and small repeating pattern of fruit and flowers growing out of sinuous branches which emerge from white oak-leaf-like clouds. The fruit and flowers are in yellow and pinky red with some outlining in black. A total of five colours is used. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Object history | Acquired from Messrs Howell & James Ltd, Regent Street, London (department store) in 1896. (RF 100725/1896) |
| Historical context | Foot-figured or tobine weaving, known generically as droguet in French; five brocading wefts was the maximum to be used for this type of weave on the type of loom. The pattern repeats 12 times across the width of the fabric. The width is in line with the widths laid down in French guild regulations of this period. |
| Production | Most patterned silks were made in a quantity the equivalent of four gowns - i.e. about 62 French ells (an ell being about 43 inches) |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | This silk was probably woven in Lyon where the most common width of patterned fabric was about 52-54 cm. Typically it would have been used for men's suiting, though there are also references to such silks being used for women's dress. It achieves a similar effect to the motifs on rich figured velvets which were used for men's court dress. Lyon was the main centre of silk-weaving in France from the late 17th century onwards and created the most fashionable silks in Europe. The patterns on these silks changed seasonally. This silk is one of the simpler silks made, though it would still have required the skills of a draughtsman who made a freehand sketch and then a technical drawing to show the weaver how to set up his loom. It belongs to the category called <i>petite tire</i> in French. In the middle of the century a court case in Lyon argued that the skills required to design such a silk were as great as designing for elaborate brocaded silks with much larger and more magnificent patterns. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 297-1896 |
About this object record
Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
| Record created | June 24, 2009 |
| Record URL |
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest
