20 pages of monochrome plates of items in the collection
The book is richly illustrated and is arranged in ten sections including one on European textiles of the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries.
A special section on National Trust historic houses and collections in England and Northern Ireland. The section includes articles on the textiles of Tattershall Castle between around 1450 and 1550; the collection of 18th-century Irish furniture at Florence Court; the statuary in the garden at Croome Court; and the 20th-century interior design of Hinton Ampner House.
Includes pattern.
Includes pattern.
Includes pattern.
Includes monochrome plates and pattern of a suit of 1618 in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Includes discussion of some items of dress associated with National Trust properties: Erddig, Lanhydrock, Kedleston, Snowshill, Killerton, Gawthorpe Hall.
Provides an overview of four major costume collections owned by the National Trust, those at Snowshill Manor in Worcestershire, Springhill in Northern Ireland, Killerton House in Devon, and Blickling Hall in Norfolk. Snowshill Manor’s collection consists of 2,000 objects of male and female dress dating from the 18th to early 20th centuries. Springhill has one of the most important collections of clothes and textiles in Northern Ireland. Begun in 1964, the collection now contains over 3,000 objects dating from the 18th century to the present. Killerton’s collection was assembled by the actress Paulise de Bush beginning in the late 1930s; it now contains 8,000 items from the mid-17th century to the present. Blickling’s collection includes 18th-century clothes. The author stresses the importance of the provenance of these clothes. She also touches on several smaller costume collections at other National Trust properties.
Part of a special section on National Trust historic houses and collections in England and Northern Ireland. The writer discusses the furnishing of Tattershall Castle, Lincolnshire, England, between ca. 1450 and 1550. She describes the contents of a 16th-century inventory of the castle’s textiles, which include hangings depicting religious and political subjects and rare carpets. She compares the Tattershall inventory with that of Caister Castle, Suffolk, to determine the distribution of hangings and bedding among large communal rooms and the smaller rooms of the household members, suggesting that the large amount of mattresses and bolsters listed at Tattershall were used in the keep’s 20 small rooms and in adjacent buildings. She stresses Tattershall was commensurate with its occupier’s royal connections–the first Duke of Suffolk, who was Henry VIII’s representative in Lincolnshire.
History and survey of the collection.
The Roger Warner Collection of historic textiles was given to Temple Newsam by this private collector who acquired many fabrics during his fifty year career as an antique dealer. They were mostly furnishings bought at country house sales. The rest he inherited from his grandfather, Metford Warner, who was the owner of a leading Victorian wallpaper printing firm, Jeffrey & Co. of London. Metford Warner collected pieces of textile from many sources as design inspirations for his wallpapers. As a result, many of the fragments have especially interesting or unusual patterns. The textiles range from the 17th to the early 20th centuries, and include both furnishings and dress fabrics. There are silks, cottons, linens, and embroidered pieces, all of which together are able to provide an insight into developments in pattern design and manufacture.
Monochrome plates and diagrams showing the cut of basic T-shaped garments.
Part of a special section on King William III’s apartments at Hampton Court Palace, England. The writer proposes that it is possible to reconstruct the original tapestry hanging scheme of 1699 at Hampton Court. He notes that circumstantial evidence from contemporary wardrobe accounts and descriptions from later sources indicate that the State Apartments were hung with tapestries from the Abraham and Joshua series, originally purchased by Henry VIII, which are two of the most valuable sets in the royal collection.
The school of Raphael tapestries in the collection of Henry VIII are discussed. In addition to the 1547 inventory of Henry VIII’s possessions, which included the Acts of the Apostles tapestry set, a number of shorter and earlier inventories also survive. One of these, dated 1542, lists two of the Acts of the Apostles as well as two of the Antiques, another tapestry set. These Antiques can be identified with a seven-piece set of the same name that was moved from Westminster to the Tower Wardrobe some months after the death of Henry VIII in 1547. The quality of the Acts of the Apostles and a Brussels mark in the lower selvage of one of the Antiques suggests that both sets were woven in Brussels; the mark has been attributed to the workshop of Guillaume and Jean Dermoyen.
The writer discusses a group of tapestries that hung in the Prince’s Chamber of the House of Lords, the only record of which are drawings and descriptions by the antiquary John Carter. He explains that the set’s true identity is provided by a tapestry fragment sold in 1979, part of which corresponds to Carter’s drawing of the right side of the first of the set and includes the section that he did not see, showing Amulius ordering the infants Romulus and Remus to be abandoned in the wild. Observing that this suggests the other tapestries also showed scenes from the story of Romulus and Remus, he notes that four pieces on this subject were sent from the Removing Wardrobe at Whitehall to the Prince’s Chamber in 1685 and that they had been used in this location on previous occasions. He asserts that this provides a clear link with one of two sets of this subject listed in the royal collection in the 17th century. He goes on to discuss the earlier provenance of the set that can be identified from this association, asserting that the set was Flemish and was sold to Henry VIII in 1529.
New evidence suggests that the “double chariot” Triumphs of Petrarch tapestries at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, derive from a set that was woven in 1520 for Cardinal Wolsey. Evidence for the arrival of the Triumphs series at the Tudor court is provided by documentation relating to Wolsey’s artistic patronage in the early 1520s. Confirmation that he owned two sets of this design is provided by the inventory of his tapestries that was drawn up between late 1521 and early 1523. Furthermore, an adaptation made to the cartoon from which the Victoria and Albert’s Triumph of Fame over Death was woven suggests that there may be grounds for assuming a link between it and the high-quality set of Triumphs listed in Wolsey’s inventory: Two new figures were added in the center of the cartoon for the Triumph of Fame over Death, one portraying Wolsey himself, the other his patron, Henry VIII.
The writer discusses the preservation of the vast collection of 17th-century royal upholstered furniture at Knole house in Kent, England. Although the National Trust has taken great care to preserve the rare old upholstery, there is growing evidence that it has been subject to many interventions in the past. This suggests that in the late 19th or early 20th century, the old textile covers were repaired and some even renewed, but that this was done in a sympathetic manner that respected the antique appearance of the surviving pieces, with similar old fabrics found and reused to patch up what had survived.
An introduction to Exeter’s collection of over 350 hats, including rare examples from the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. A brief essay discusses changing styles from 1760-1970, and the fifty hats chosen for exhibition are described in detail, with some illustrations.
The author details two costume collections in National Trust properties that are not well known by either the general public or costume historians. They are at Smallhythe Place, the home of actress Ellen Terry, in Kent, and Springhill Manor in County Derry, Northern Ireland. She describes the history of her involvement with these collections beginning in the early 1960s, when she was a conservator at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. These collections were cataloged, properly stored, conserved, and prepared for display. The need for proper care of objects, but also for knowledge of the objects’ history is stressed.
Part of a special section on National Trust historic houses and collections in England and Northern Ireland. The writer discusses an 18th-century dress held in the Springhill Costume Collection at Springhill, County Derry, Northern Ireland. A richly decorated robe and matching petticoat made in a magnificent silk brocaded tabby, the costume is a mantua, intended to be worn for presentation at Court in England. These garments dated to the late 17th century and were informal, loose gowns. The style fossilized into a fitted bodice, pleated into the small of the back, and a train, lifted off the ground by a pin or fastener. Such garments were so valuable that they were recycled for the original owner’s daughter or other relative when their turn to be presented came; this example was worn at a Court ball in 1845.
The catalogue covers 350 lead cloth seals, both English and European, with related items. The seals were lost mainly in London between the fourteenth and nineteenth centuries.
The second section of the book provides a guide to the dress collection of the Museum of Costume, which includes items from the seventeenth century through to the 1990s. The text places the items in their historic and stylistic context and is illustrated with photographs.
Robert Spence (1870-1964) was an artist and illustrator who collected examples of original costume to assist in his work, in particular seventeenth-century gloves with rich trimmings and embroidered decoration.
Robert Spence (1870-1964) was an artist and illustrator who collected examples of original costume to assist in his work, in particular seventeenth-century gloves with rich trimmings and embroidered decoration.
Catalogue of the costume collection at the Museum of London.
Catalogue of the costume collection at the Museum of London.
Many coloured plates.
The materials and construction of a rare and remarkably well preserved 17th-century state bed are described and its conservation is outlined. The bed was reassembled for the first time in 15 years as a rehearsal for its installation in the British Galleries at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2001. The benefits of the rehearsal are evaluated. The risks of reassembling the bed with its fragile textile elements are assessed, and the measures needed to minimize handling and protect the original materials are described. The planning process for the rehearsal was a valuable collaboration between conservators, curators, and technical staff and yielded much information about both the history and construction of the bed.
The British Galleries project at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) involved a major redisplay of approximately 5000 objects. One of the star objects provided an ideal opportunity to re-evaluate the presentation and shape of an important eighteenth-century dress known as the Christie Dress. A paper on this object had been published previously in Studies in Conservation 23 (1978) 1-14, but at that time little material analysis was carried out. Since the late 1970s the mantua has been on almost constant display. The authors describe the technical research, materials analysis and conservation, and re-evaluate previous reconstructions carried out on the dress. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.
The Grenville cover, late sixteenth century with designs for embroidery from Trevelyan’s Miscellany of 1608.
The textile furnishings of Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire, England, particularly those of Bess of Hardwick (1518-1608), are discussed. Hardwick Hall, despite the depredations of time, contains the most significant collection of original 16th-century furnishings in England, and Bess was involved intimately in their acquisition. Particularly important to her were the embroideries and pieces of needlework, of which there were about 100 pieces in 1601, ranging from chair backs, stool covers, and cupboard and table carpets to a bed and set of wall hangings with borders and applied motifs of needlework.
This book examines not only naval dress but also male fashion in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The development of naval uniform is considered within social, economic, and historical contexts. Includes a catalogue of colour photographs of uniform from the collection of the National Maritime Museum.
The writer discusses the Enghien tapestries at the neighboring houses of Dyrham Park and Maiden Bradley in England. Enghien refers not to the place of manufacture of the tapestries but their subject matter – the celebrated gardens at Enghien in Belgium. Of the six tapestries at Dyrham and the six at Maiden Bradley, each house has one tapestry that is unique and complete, and it is these that most explicitly display the rich imagery of Enghien garden features. Created between 1630 and 1665, the gardens were a noted attraction for travelers, and their fame was widely disseminated by engraved views; these include 17 sumptuously elaborate plates drawn and engraved by Romeyn de Hooghe and published in 1685. Although the tapestries at Dyrham are not strictly based on De Hooghe’s engravings, they show some of the principal features depicted by him as well as by numerous other engravers. The writer goes on to examine the various features of the gardens as represented in the engravings and the tapestries.
A Museum of London Catalogue sponsored by the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths.
The State Bed from Melville House in Fife, Scotland, is the most spectacular single exhibit in the Victoria and Albert Museum’s new British Galleries. The bed was made for George, 1st Earl of Melville for the Apartment of State at his new palace in approximately 1700. The bed is over 17 feet high and retains its original luxury hangings of crimson Genoa velvet with ivory Chinese silk damask linings embroidered with crimson silk trimmings. It was inspired by the recent history of the Melville family and customized for George and Catherine Melville with their conjoined cipher on the centerboard and in the center of the counterpane. The bed was intended as a personal status symbol, as a gesture of allegiance to the monarch, and as a symbol of the royal favor the Melville family enjoyed. It was preserved as an heirloom by the next generation, and documentary evidence, together with the pristine condition of the bed, would suggest that it has never been slept in. The bed’s style, upholstery, dimensions, costs, and installation are discussed.
Includes monochrome plates of items from the Isham Collection, Victoria and Albert Museum.
Monochrome plates of items in the collection at Claydon House, near Aylesbury.
Catalogue produced by the Department of Textiles, Victoria and Albert Museum.
Discussion of satin doublet at Hever Castle, Kent.
A pair of tamboured French waistcoat shapes in the V&A’s collection bears Customs stamps from the reign of George II. Examination of both the garment and Customs records held by the National Archives reveals the illegal commerce in textiles in eighteenth-century Britain, and the reasons why such goods were taxed or banned. The political, social, administrative and fashion contexts of textile smuggling are discussed, as well as its numerous methods of execution, allowing speculation on the exact progress of the waistcoat shapes from embroiderer’s workshop to museum storeroom.
Short article describing the opening exhibition, ‘Measure for Measure’, of the Costume and Textile Gallery of the Royal Ontario Museum (October 1989). The exhibition explored four traditional methods of making costume: draping, straight-cutting, tailoring and making to shape.
The writer discusses early-17th-century English embroidered jackets. She focuses on a jacket worn by Margaret Laton for a portrait and now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, which features an embroidery pattern consisting of a scrolling vine arrayed with flowers, fruit, birds, and insects.
The writer discusses the Green Closet, a 17th-century cabinet room at Ham House in England. The cabinet room was an original part of the house, which was built in 1610. The closet derives from the Italian studio or studiolo, a room designed for study and for the storage and display of small paintings and works of art. The Green Closet is an exceptional example as it has survived with most of its original contents. The original emphasis in the room was probably on paintings, miniatures, and drawings. The coved ceiling was decorated with Italianate paintings, the walls were hung with fringed green damask, and the furniture included Japanese lacquer cabinets and two long stools. From 17th-century inventories, the picture hang has been restored and the textiles faithfully reproduced; with the contents and decor mostly intact, the closet has reemerged as a European locus classicus.
An illustrated and fully annotated catalogue of the textile section of the eighteenth-century Anders Berch collection. Includes nearly 1,700 items of which most are textile samples from Europe, India and China.
Describes a survey of pattern books in the collections of museums, libraries, record offices and educational institutions in the North West of England. The material surveyed includes pattern books from the later eighteenth to the later nineteenth century.
Includes a detailed account of the re-installation of the costume galleries at the National Museums of Scotland.
This article traces the history of the Paulise de Bush dress collection, now part of the National Trust’s collection of dress and accessories at Killerton House.
A brief account is given of the way the collection has developed and the museum’s approach to its exhibition, followed by a chronological and thematic discussions of clothing and textiles illustrated with examples from the collection. The costume and textile collections date from the 17th century until present day. The diverse costume collection comes from all over Britain and covers a whole range of types of clothing for different occasions. The textiles cover all aspects of needlework, domestic furnishings and pictures in wools and silks.
The Warner Textile Archive has been housed at Warners Mill, Silks Way, Braintree, England, since February 2005. This nationally important archive is a unique record of the history of textile manufacture since the 18th century. It includes not only every example of woven and printed fabric produced by Warner and Sons but also examples produced by other companies. It features an extensive collection of original works commissioned from important artists and designers by Warner and Sons.