Skip to main content
Advanced Search
Copperplate Textile 1974-390
Textile with Chinese figures, copperplate print
Copperplate Textile 1974-390

Textile with Chinese figures, copperplate print

Dateca. 1775
OriginEngland, Bromley Hall
MediumCotton
Dimensions27 1/4 in. wide X 75 in. long Design repeat 35 inches.
Credit LineBequest of Grace Hartshorn Westerfield
Object number1974-390
DescriptionLength of textile, possibly originally a bed curtain, printed in design that includes pagodas, rocky terrain, gnarled trees, C-scrolls, a Chinese fisherman, and other humans in Chinese-style clothing. The color is now sepia on white, but was probably originally purple. Both selvages are present.
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 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."

ProvenanceWesterfield Collection