Bed Curtain and Valance
1770-1780 (printed), 1770-1780 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Object Type
The furnishing fabric from which this bed curtain and valance were made was 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 wood-block printed textiles. It also allowed much larger pattern repeats, which made it particularly suitable for bed hangings.
People
Francis Nixon was a pioneering printer who, at the Drumcondra Printworks near Dublin in 1752, was the first to use copper plates successfully. By 1757 he had moved to England, joining George Amyand in his calico-printing factory at Phippsbridge in Surrey. The partnership continued until their deaths in the mid 1760s, and the firm continued as Nixon & Company, under which name this fabric was produced, until 1789.
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.
The furnishing fabric from which this bed curtain and valance were made was 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 wood-block printed textiles. It also allowed much larger pattern repeats, which made it particularly suitable for bed hangings.
People
Francis Nixon was a pioneering printer who, at the Drumcondra Printworks near Dublin in 1752, was the first to use copper plates successfully. By 1757 he had moved to England, joining George Amyand in his calico-printing factory at Phippsbridge in Surrey. The partnership continued until their deaths in the mid 1760s, and the firm continued as Nixon & Company, under which name this fabric was produced, until 1789.
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.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
|
| Materials and techniques | Plate-printed cotton with linen and wool trimming |
| Brief description | Bed curtain and valance of plate-printed cotton, printed and made by Nixon & Co, Great Britain, 1770-1780 |
| Physical description | Bed curtain and valance of plate-printed cotton in china blue. With linen and wool trimming. |
| Credit line | Given in memory of Mr and Mrs F. W. Hefford |
| Object history | The plate for this design was engraved 'H. Roberts sculp' and 'Collins Woolmers 1765'. John Collins was at Woolmers, Hertingfordbury, Hertfordshire from 1761. It is not known when he went out of business, but this design is found in a pattern book of Nixon & Co, the name of the engraver still remaining, but the manufacturer's name and date cancelled by additional engraving. This is the state from which this curtain and valance were printed. Henry Roberts, engraver, London, died shortly before 1790, about 80 years old (Redgrave Dictionary of Art, 1878). Other matching curtains were sold by the vendor to the Museum of London. |
| Summary | Object Type The furnishing fabric from which this bed curtain and valance were made was 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 wood-block printed textiles. It also allowed much larger pattern repeats, which made it particularly suitable for bed hangings. People Francis Nixon was a pioneering printer who, at the Drumcondra Printworks near Dublin in 1752, was the first to use copper plates successfully. By 1757 he had moved to England, joining George Amyand in his calico-printing factory at Phippsbridge in Surrey. The partnership continued until their deaths in the mid 1760s, and the firm continued as Nixon & Company, under which name this fabric was produced, until 1789. 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. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | T.612&613-1996 |
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| Record created | November 6, 2002 |
| Record URL |
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