Dress fabric

Object Type
This patterned silk could have been chosen by a male or a female customer, since in this period its pattern would have been considered suitable for both sexes. We know that in this case it came from a woman's gown, as it shows traces of where it had been pleated into the waistband of a petticoat.

Design & Designing
The silk is thought to be English, dating from about 1709, because of its similarity to designs of this date by James Leman. Leman was born into a weaving family of Huguenot (French Protestant) descent and was apprenticed to his father, on whose death he took over the family business in Spitalfields, London. He trained as a designer as well as a manufacturer, very unusually for the English industry. His dated designs from the early 18th century are the earliest proof of the high standards being achieved in English silk-weaving, in competition with imports from France.

Materials & Making
The fairly complicated woven structure of this silk allows its limited range of colours to achieve maximum effect. Against the bold green satin of the ground the different shades of pink and cream vary in the details they pick out, highlighting the sprays of blossom and painted porcelain.