Images(3)

Textile, copperplate printed birds

Date1765-1800

OriginEngland, Middlesex, Bromley Hall

MediumCotton (spun with a few stray linen threads)

Dimensions45" H; 39" W Repeat: 37 5/8"; 56 warps per inch; 52 wefts per inch

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1961-118

DescriptionTextile, probably originally a curtain panel, printed with a copper plate in a design of large-scale birds and scrolls in sepia on white. 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. Selvages present. The textile was probably originally purple on white.
Label TextThis panel is printed in the same design as an extant red and white textile, but in a different color (see Accession Number 1961-46.) Textile printers offered a variety of different colorways to their customers, usually red, blue, purple, or sepia/black. This sepia printed panel probably was originally purple on white. The mordants used for making purple colorfast in washing tended to attack textiles over time and cause the color to turn from the original purple to sepia or black.