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Spitalfields Brocade
1740's

dress silk of brocaded tobine, the pale eau de nil ground woven with a fine ribbed effect, the centre with a wider ribbed band flanked by double bands either side, the ground woven with self coloured small leaves, brocaded with colourful vermillion, coral, yellow, apricot, blue and puce flower sprays and with odd tulips, the double ribs with a trailing bud meander, the selvedges with double red stripes, 22 x 23 in w or 55 x 59 cm w. See the matching Sleeve Ruffles also in this section.

Comments

My thanks to Clare Brown in the V & A Textiles Department for providing this information. Tobine indicates (in 18th c English usage ) that as well as the brocading it has a pattern effect created by a supplementary warp (as distinct from a supplementary weft, which is making the little self-coloured sprigs. There is a similar piece in the V & A collection, T.158-1963, currently in store. It's illustrated as plate 80 in the paperback "Woven Textile Design in Britain to 1750-" by Natalie Rothstein in the V&A Textiles series.(out of print).

Condition

There is some light brown staining to the right hand panel , almost completly covrering it . There is a little patch 5 in or 12 cm wide, and another area of light mark 5 1/2 in or 16 cm down in the second from right drop. This should clearly be able to be seen from the photos.