Valance, Knotted, Ham House

Dateca. 1730

MediumYellow silk satin with worsted knotted couching

Dimensions12 1/2" x 53"

Credit LineGift of S. W. Wolsey.

Object number1967-699,2

DescriptionSilk satin bed or window valance or fragment of bed furnishing, two pieces joined to make larger valance. Silk face fabric is yellow (Munsell 5Y 7/6) with border design consisting of scrolls and scallops of knotted and couched red wool threads; couching done with red wool and coral silk threads. Piece once lined with crimson worsted wool. The knots are couched to the satin through two different weights of linen inner lining. Yellow satin is approximately 29" wide, indicative of Chinese manufacture.
ProvenanceMr. Wolsey stated that fabrics had formerly been used at Ham House. According to Peter Thornton and Maurice Tomlin, "The Furnishing and Decoration of Ham House," the set of furnishings of yellow silk with knotted red thread was made sometime from 1729 to the 1730s, but was not used at Ham House until the Regency Period.