I have a few lengths of this beautiful and typical Spitalfields woven silk dress brocade of the 1760s. The silk was probably designed by Anna Maria Garthwaite(1690-1763), but unless one can actually find an identical design, one cannot say for sure. By the time this silk was designed, A-M would be in her 60s? Did she carry on working? Here I show length C. This length would be good to copy, for inspiration or ..........
From the collection of the late Mrs June Jeffreys (1928 – 2016) who married George William Eyre Jeffreys (1931 - 2019) in 1960. The house Newhouse, Redlynch, near Salisbury, Wiltshire, has been in the family for 400 years and many of the dress collection was inherited through Mr Jeffrey’s family.
The ivory ground woven with small sprays of pink flowers shded in two different colourways, a background of self coloured brocade with satin stripes, coloured and self coloured flowers and leaf meanders. A skirt length.
40 in x 19 in; 1 m x 49 cm selvedge to selvedge.
The silk is crisp and fresh looking. All the lengths have some original fold marks from when part of a skirt of a 1760s gown and there might be the feintest minor mark. They are 260 years old and have had a life!
It has a feint yellowish mark, perhaps water near the bottom left hand section. It is outlined and overall measures 8 in ; 20 cm diameter. This length would be good to copy, for inspiration or ..........
This one has a similar sprig and stripe:
collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O78727/dress-fabric-anna-maria-garthwaite/
collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O92739/design-garthwaite-anna-maria/
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