Length of dress fabric

WALL LABEL: Length of dress fabric, 1710

Leman was one of the famous Huguenot silk designers and weavers of Spitalfields of the early eighteenth century. Escaping persecution in France, the Huguenots became an important refugee community in the Spitalfields area of London, where they established their silk-weaving industry. Evidence of this industry can still be found in Spitalfields today: the Georgian houses have large light-filled lofts, perfect for fine silk work.

Tansy Curtin, Curator of International Art Pre-1980

This is the only known surviving silk by leading Spitalfields patternmaker and master weaver, James Leman. During the eighteenth century, Spitalfields, an area of London, was famous for its luxurious woven silks in fashionable designs and colours. Many of the manufacturers of woven silks at this time were of Protestant Huguenot descent, who had fled France following religious persecution. Leman, also of French Huguenot ancestry, was apprenticed to his father around the age of twelve, later taking over the business at the age of twenty-four.

Dating to 1710, this particular woven silk by Leman includes a complex pattern that draws on design elements from the subcontinent and east Asia to create a fanciful and vivid European interpretation of Asian textiles. This type of design was known as ‘Bizarre silk’ and was highly fashionable between 1700 and 1712. Leman’s design, a garden-park scene, features architectural details, with potted plants, fruits, flowers and trailing stems framed around archways and a diagonal grid. Originally brilliant red in colour, the fabric in this silk has faded to a light-rose colour, although the brocade gold and silver threads are still vibrant.

An example of a highly fashionable textile made for the wealthy and elite members of British society, this woven silk represents not only a complex design, but one in which the raw materials are hugely expensive and the process for weaving extremely labour-intensive.

Rebecca Evans, Curator of Decorative Arts & Design