Images(2)

Copperplate Printed Cotton, "Pagoda" design

Date1775-1785

OriginEngland, Middlesex, Bromley Hall

MediumCotton

DimensionsW: 27 3/4"; L: 62 1/2"; Repeat: 38"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1970-25

DescriptionTextile panel, probably originally a bed curtain. The panel is printed with engraved copper plates in red on natural cotton ground, with blue threads woven in selvedge (indicating English cotton between 1774 and 1811). The designs include landscapes with alcoves, retreats, and pagodas among rocks and trees. Five small vignettes show Asian figures engaged in fishing, music, falconry, and other activities, with a variety of baskets, crocks, and other utensils scattered about in the various motifs. Selvages form the edge finish.
Label TextDesigns such as this were sometimes called “Chinoiserie,” a term denoting fanciful Asian-inspired designs. Some elements of this design were adapted from plates in George Edwards and Matthias Darly’s 1754 London publication entitled A new book of Chinese designs calculated to improve the present taste. Consisting of figures, buildings, & furniture, landskips, birds, beasts, flowrs, and ornaments; &c.

Manufacturers often printed their designs on large sheets of paper to record their output. The surviving paper impression for this pattern was labelled with the trade name “Pagoda."