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Design for a woven silk

Design
1752 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Anna Maria Garthwaite was born in 1690 and became one of the leading pattern drawers in the English silk industry despite the likelihood that she did not receive the formal technical training usually considered necessary to take up such a profession. She produced as many as 80 commissioned designs a year, such as this one, for master weavers and mercers. She lived and worked in Spitalfields, London from about 1730 until her death in 1763. Her interest in natural form--and her talent for depicting it--characterized her designs throughout her professional life.

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleDesign for a woven silk (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Watercolour on paper
Brief description
Design for a woven silk by Anna Maria Garthwaite, Spitalfields, 1752 - 1753.
Physical description
Design for a woven silk
Dimensions
  • Design height: 37.5cm
  • Design width: 25.4cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'Mr Julin Octr ye 25: 1752'
  • 'Reversd' (Two-thirds of the way up the right-hand side of the drawing)
Subject depicted
Summary
Anna Maria Garthwaite was born in 1690 and became one of the leading pattern drawers in the English silk industry despite the likelihood that she did not receive the formal technical training usually considered necessary to take up such a profession. She produced as many as 80 commissioned designs a year, such as this one, for master weavers and mercers. She lived and worked in Spitalfields, London from about 1730 until her death in 1763. Her interest in natural form--and her talent for depicting it--characterized her designs throughout her professional life.
Associated object
Bibliographic references
  • Rothstein, Natalie. Silk Designs of the Eighteenth Century. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd, 1990. P351,. Ill. ISBN 0500235899.
  • Murdoch, Tessa (ed.), The Quiet Conquest : the Huguenots 1685 to 1985, London : Museum of London in association with Jolly, 1985 p. 293, pl.439
Collection
Accession number
5989:8

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Record createdFebruary 12, 2004
Record URL
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