Dress fabric sample

This is a dress silk made by Winkworth, Proctor & Co., a Macclesfield weaving company. By the mid-19th century Macclesfield, near Manchester was one of the key British centres for the production and distribution of woven dress silks.

This example was exhibited in the Great Exhibition as part of a display dedicated to 'Fancy silks, as Shot, Figured, Embroidered, &c;'. A collection of textiles and fabrics from the Exhibition was presented to Her Majesty's Commissioners, and then to the Victoria & Albert Museum to act as a lasting memorial of the 1851 Exhibition. These textiles show the state of industry in 1851. In 1857, when they were exhibited at the Museum, the catalogue described them as providing 'a view both to technical instruction and to the ever-changing and increasing wants of trade in this great commercial country'. This emphasised the need of British manufacturers to produce high quality, desirable goods which would ensure success in the international market.