Design
01/05/1710 (designed)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This design is from an album that contains 104 designs for fine woven silk cloth and is dated May 1st 1710. A constant supply of fashionable new designs from which to create new lines was required, so patternmakers and master weavers like James Leman supplied a wide range of designs for different weavers. The album contains some of his work from the period 1706-1716, as well as five designs from the 1730s.
James Leman was born in 1688 into a weaving family of Huguenot descent. In 1702 he was apprenticed to his father, Peter, and lived with his family in Stewart Street, Spitalfields in London. Leman's inscription on the design states that it was made for his father Peter Leman, showing that he drew it while still an apprentice. It was commissioned by Mr Wittington, a mercer who bought 33 of Leman's designs between 1708 and 1721.
James Leman was born in 1688 into a weaving family of Huguenot descent. In 1702 he was apprenticed to his father, Peter, and lived with his family in Stewart Street, Spitalfields in London. Leman's inscription on the design states that it was made for his father Peter Leman, showing that he drew it while still an apprentice. It was commissioned by Mr Wittington, a mercer who bought 33 of Leman's designs between 1708 and 1721.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Pencil, pen and ink, watercolour and bodycolour on laid paper |
| Brief description | Design for woven silk from the 'Leman Album', pencil, pen and ink, watercolour and bodycolour on laid paper, by James Leman, 1710 |
| Physical description | Design for woven silk from the 'Leman Album', in pencil, pen and ink, watercolour and bodycolour, in yellow ochre, pink, orange, blue and red, depicting large floral and leaf motifs with smaller bunches of foliage and a meandering stem in pale blue. There are sprigs of foliage and berries in dark red, as well as additional decorative motifs. Squared up in pencil for cords and dezines, and numbered in ink. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Credit line | Purchased with Art Fund support and the National Heritage Memorial Fund |
| Object history | This is a design from the so-called 'Leman album' which was bought from Vanners Silks Ltd. in 1991. Natalie Rothstein catalogued the designs before the album was bought by the Victoria and Albert Museum. She gave each design a VS number (for Vanners Silks) in her catalogue Silk Designs of the Eighteenth Century. The designs have been subsequently numbered by the Prints, Drawings and Paintings Department, however, a concordance exists. Historical significance: The designs collected in the album are, with the exception of some fragmentary medieval examples in Italian collections, the earliest silk designs known to exist. |
| Production | Natalie Rothstein, in her book Silk Designs of the Eighteenth Century states that there are two designs inscribed with the VS number '76' in pencil and she has therefore given this design the VS number 88. |
| Summary | This design is from an album that contains 104 designs for fine woven silk cloth and is dated May 1st 1710. A constant supply of fashionable new designs from which to create new lines was required, so patternmakers and master weavers like James Leman supplied a wide range of designs for different weavers. The album contains some of his work from the period 1706-1716, as well as five designs from the 1730s. James Leman was born in 1688 into a weaving family of Huguenot descent. In 1702 he was apprenticed to his father, Peter, and lived with his family in Stewart Street, Spitalfields in London. Leman's inscription on the design states that it was made for his father Peter Leman, showing that he drew it while still an apprentice. It was commissioned by Mr Wittington, a mercer who bought 33 of Leman's designs between 1708 and 1721. |
| Bibliographic reference | Rothstein, Natalie. Silk Designs of the Eighteenth Century in the Collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London with a Complete Catalogue with 473 Illustrations, 371 in Colour. London: Thames and Hudson, 1990. 351p., ill. ISBN 0500235899.
p. 103
Full text of the entry is as follows:
'Rich Gold & Silver Brocaded Damask.
400 cords 8 & 12 - 130 Dezines in 6
Simples
For Mr Wittington & comp
The pail red - plain gold
the orange - frost gold
the Blue - frost Silver
The two reds - Silk (Scarlett & Pink
The green - Damask.
The white or ground Sattin -
London May 1st/1710 for my Father.
James Leman [flourish]
Squared up in pencil for cords and dezines,
and numbered in ink.
26 5/8" (67.6) x 10 3/8" (26.4)
CT.18340 [VS88: there are two nos '76' and
this design has been given the no. 88]' |
| Other number | VS.88 - Vanners Silks number |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.1861:97-1991 |
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| Record created | May 8, 2002 |
| Record URL |
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