Bed curtain fragment, red copperplate
Date1765-1800
Maker
Talwin & Foster
MediumLinen warp; cotton weft
Dimensions77 3/4" L X 39 1/4" Wide (selvage to selvage)
Repeat: 38 5/8"; 48 warps per inch; 48 wefts per inch
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1961-46,2
DescriptionTextile panel, once a bed curtain, printed in red on white copperplates in a design of large-scale birds and scrolls. A pair of parrots turn their heads to face each other in separate but conjoining C-scroll asymmetrical rococo catouches. Below, a peacock and pea hen with heads facing left share a larger rococo cartouche with shell and foliate scroll outline. Intervening areas are decorated with floral motifs. Both selvages present. Textile backed with modern support lining.Label TextThis panel was once the curtain from a set of bed hangings that originally included curtains to fully enclose the bed and shaped valances to ornament the top.
The peacocks were originally taken from the frontispiece to A New Book of Birds, published by Robert Sayer in London in 1765. A paper impression of the design was included in a pattern book from the Bromley Hall printworks, intended as a record of factory production and to show clients who wished to order that particular motif. Popular patterns such as this often remained in production for years after their first introduction, produced in a variety of colorways, such as red, blue, purple, and sepia.
1765-1800
ca. 1756
19th century
ca. 1835
