Article: Eighteenth-century English floral silks. (silk design)

Nature has always had the pre-eminence, and her charms have ever prevailed," wrote the anonymous author of an essay about textile design in 1756.(1) The reference is to the popularity of floral motifs on dress fabrics, and it captures the essential quality of the designs created at the silk weaving center at Spitalfields, a section of London (see Pl II).(2) Although flowers were overwhelmingly the most popular motif on European figured silks in the first half of the eighteenth century, those depicted on Spitalfields silks truly celebrated nature.(3) Particularly during the rococo phase of silk design, from about 1742 to about 1755, English weavings showed a greater variety ...

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