Gawthorpe Textiles Collection Online Gallery

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Block printed linen dress, originally made c.1795-1800 and altered sometime between c.1800-1810

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Wedding outfit of dress, bonnet and cap worn by Sarah Fletcher and wedding waistcoat worn by James Kenyon, 1844

These clothes were worn by the couple for their marriage on 27th March 1844 in Bury Parish Church. The fashionably shaped but modest dress is typical of wedding clothing in the early Victorian era, and the dress also comes with an accompanying bertha and pelerine cape. These accessories would have been used to alter the look of the dress slightly and allow it to be worn in a few different styles. It was common to wear the wedding dress again after the wedding perhaps as a formal afternoon, reception or dinner dress. Queen Victoria is credited with a rise in the popularity of white wedding dresses after she wore a white gown for her wedding in 1849 but even after this middle and working class brides would often still choose a more practical colour that could be worn again afterwards more easily. During the 1840s soft pinkish browns like the shade seen on this dress were popular alternatives to white as were purplish greys, soft greens and pinks.

The dress fabric is a quality silk satin damask, probably woven on a jacquard loom, with a self-coloured pattern of jagged geometric shapes known as a ‘cracked ice’ pattern that was very fashionable during the early 1840s. The silk satin brocade used in James’ waistcoat is another good quality fabric with a beautiful lustre. The patterning of small sprigs of flowers interspersed with small blocks of zig-zag shading is again right on trend for the 1840s. William Kenyon was a linen draper, which probably explains the high quality and fashionable patterning of the fabrics used in both his waistcoat and Sarah’s dress. Further evidence of the good quality of the wedding garments is indicated by the perfectly colour matched passementrie trimmings on the dress and its accessories as well as the skilful tailoring of the waistcoat which included painstakingly pattern matching the fabric pattern on the pockets.

Sarah’s fragile plaited straw bonnet and even more fragile silk net and ribbon cap worn beneath it also survive. The smooth, finely plaited straw bonnet would have been an expensive item that would likely have been re-worn many times and well-looked after. Although simple in shape it has been tastefully decorated with handmade bobbin lace and a wide floral patterned silk ribbon that co-ordinates with the colour of the dress. Unfortunately, no other parts of James’s outfit have survived, likely because his suit was re-used until it was worn out.

The items were donated to the collection by descendants of James and Sarah Kenyon in 1964 but the names of James and Sarah themselves had not been recorded. Over the last few years we have been researching the people associated with many items in the collection and, not only were we able to trace the original couple who wore the clothes, we were also contacted by another descendant of the couple who was able to give us even more information about them. Of all the pieces we have researched so far this has certainly been the most fruitful.

These pieces were selected as part of The Collection in 60 Objects to celebrate 60 years since the founding of our charity. Use the tag #rbks60 to see the other items we selected.

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Patchwork and appliqué cot coverlet by Nancy Horsfall, 1834

White linen ground with appliqué motifs including stylised leaves or branches, six pointed stars and a four leaf clover like design in the very centre. Around this is a dog tooth or Vandyke border, then a border of pieced patchwork triangles surrounding lozenges arranged into fours. The patchwork and appliqué is all cut from various printed cottons and chintzes, most are dress fabrics but a few have larger scale patterns indicating they may be furnishing fabric.  Across the top of the central section, embroidered in dark brown cross-stitch, are the words "Welcome sweet babe" along with two small cross stitch flowers and the initials N.H.  Beneath the central section is a poem;

Hush my dear lie still and slumber, Holy angels guard they head Heavenly blessings without number Gently falling on thy head

Nancy Horsfall also made a larger bedcover that she completed in 1833, most likely for her wedding. This cot coverlet would therefore probably have been made the following year, perhaps in anticipation of the couple’s first child. Find out about Nancy Horsfall’s bedcover here.

This piece was selected as part of The Collection in 60 Objects to celebrate 60 years since the founding of our charity. Use the tag #rbks60 to see the other items we selected.

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Patchwork and appliqué coverlet made by Nancy Horsfall for her wedding, 1833

The design is a very typical early 19th century frame layout with a central section of finer, smaller scale piecing and appliqué that would have been most visible on the flat top of the bed and then a larger scale and more sparsely decorated outer frame that would have hung down the sides of the bed. There is a central square of linen onto which the maker has inscribed in cross stitch two short rhyming verses and the date in which she made the coverlet, the verses read:

Nancy Horsfall is my Name England is my nation Tysehouse is my Dwelling place And Christ is my Salvation

1833

When I am dead and in my grave And all my bones are gone to dust Take up this work and think of me When I am quite forgot."

Encircling this are pieces of chintz in a dog tooth or Vandyke border.  The remainder of the bedcover comprises of a single layer of white cotton with meticulously applied floral and star motifs as well as a border of triangles and six pointed stars. The appliqué motifs are all cut from a variety of printed cotton fabrics, mostly dress fabrics dating from the 1800s to 1820s with a few examples of earlier fabrics such as a hand block printed chintz from the 1780 s or 1790s.  The outer edges are finished with an 18cm deep border of chintz with a floral pattern on a tan ground that is probably a furnishing fabric. The edge of the border and backing fabric have been turned under and overcast to finish off the coverlet.

Quilts and coverlets like this were often made by the bride or her relatives to be used on the marital bed in her new home. Nancy has dated it 1833 and this is probably also the year her wedding took place. A year later, in 1834, she also made a cot coverlet, perhaps in anticipation of the couple’s first child. Find out about Nancy Horsfall’s cot coverlet here.

This piece was selected as part of The Collection in 60 Objects to celebrate 60 years since the founding of our charity. Use the tag #rbks60 to see the other items we selected.

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Fine woollen choga with woven borders, c.1910

The choga was a loose fitting, long sleeved robe worn by wealthy men across much of India. They were most popular in Rajasthan and are most closely associated with that region. Both the word choga and the shape of the garment itself evolved from earlier Persian styles during a period when the Persian Ottomans greatly influenced the fashions and textiles of Indian courts. The loose fit allowed it to be worn over several other layers of clothing; with lightweight choga of embroidered muslins and silks being worn in summer, whilst a winter choga could be made of fine wool or quilted silk for additional warmth.

Choga were designed to display the wealth and status of the wearer and were usually made of fine quality fabrics decorated with intricately woven or embroidered borders and panels at the shoulders and centre back of the neck. This example is made of fine wool twill in a vibrant shade of green often found on Indian textiles. The applied borders and panels are of extremely fine handweaving with arcaded patterns contains trees and abstract paisley style borders. The garment is lined in bright yellow-green silk taffeta with facings and a narrow binding of magenta and ochre ikat woven silk. It fastens at the centre front with beautifully crafted thread wrapped conical buttons and thread wrapped loops with braid appliques on either side.

 This piece was selected as part of The Collection in 60 Objects to celebrate 60 years since the founding of our charity. Use the tag #rbks60 to see the other items we selected.

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Beaded silk satin reticule belonging to Elizabeth Batts Cook, c.1810-1835

At the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries the fashions began to favour a slimmer silhouette of dress and lighter fabrics. This made it increasingly difficult to wear traditional pockets (such as these) under the dresses and a new solution for storing and carrying small valuable needed to be found. Fashion’s answer was the ‘reticule’; initially so named because they were seen as a ridiculous fashion, they soon became an important accessory in any fashionable outfit. They were soon made in a huge variety of shapes and materials, including novelty ones celebrating discoveries such as pineapples or hot air balloons.

This reticule is slightly more reserved with its simple rectangular shape and drawstring closure. Despite this simple shape, the vibrant green satin, beading and extravagant tassels give the reticule a fashionable appearance. The tiny white and clear beads are arranged in a stylised design of fern fronds and leaves and the large silk cord and passementrie tassels add further embellishment.

The reticule originally belonged to Elizabeth Batts Cook (1742-1835), the wife of explorer and navigator Captain James Cook. They married in Barking on the 21st December 1762. After the death of her husband on Hawaii in 1779 Elizabeth remained a widow for the rest of her life.

The reticule was donated to the collection by Alderman Avice Margaret Pimblett JP OBE (1880-1965), who was a friend and fellow JP of Rachel Kay-Shuttleworth. Mrs Pimblett was the first female Mayor of Preston and was awarded an OBE in 1938 for her political and public services in Preston.

This piece was selected as part of The Collection in 60 Objects to celebrate 60 years since the founding of our charity. Use the tag #rbks60 to see the other items we selected.

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Paper ‘costume doll’, c.1850-1860.

According to the donor, a Mrs Benson of New Zealand, this paper doll was a cherished childhood toy reserved for special occasions. This perhaps explains why the fragile paper pieces have survived in such good condition. The base figure and set of four different outfits, complete with matching headwear, are all painstakingly hand painted. The base is of a young woman with a corseted figure, quilted petticoat, corset cover, stockings and boots. She has no arms as these are provided by each outfit, which allows for several different poses. The body has a narrow strip of wood sandwiched between the two paper layers that can be slotted into a small wooden block, allowing the figure to stand up.

The clothing is represented accurately and the styles date to the 1850s. The front and back of each outfit has been painted separately and then the two halves carefully cut out and glued together to allow them to slot over the base figure. A tiny envelope and notecard accompanying them describes each outfit and gives the corresponding headdresses as follows:

Striped dress with silk paletot } Black turban snood Flounced dress } Pink Bonnet Beggar with baby } Blue handkie round the head Ball Dress } Ringlets & feathers

This piece was selected as part of The Collection in 60 Objects to celebrate 60 years since the founding of our charity. Use the tag #rbks60 to see the other items we selected.

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Pair of women’s pockets decorated with crewel work embroidery on linen, c.1750-1790.

Unlike menswear, women’s clothing in the 18th century did not have ‘built in’ pockets and the modern handbag was yet to be invented. Instead, most women wore pockets like these on a tape around the waist, usually over the top of a petticoat but underneath the outer layer of the skirt. Slits could be left in the skirt to allow the pockets to be reached when worn. They were used to store small personal objects and valuables such as keys, personal letters, coin purses and keepsakes. When worn over the skirts they were easy to pickpocket; either by stealing individual items or simply cutting away the entire pocket and this is where the nursery rhyme about Lucy Locket losing her pocket originated.

These pockets are made of plain unbleached linen and decorated with a naïve design of stylised flowers and urns in coloured wools. The embroidery is worked in chain stitch. The designs on each pocket are very similar and use the same colours but are not identical. Embroidery such as this was a common method of decoration and pockets were usually homemade, either by the wearer or perhaps as a gift to a close friend or family member. Other methods of decoration included fine quilting and other types of embroidery. Patchwork and plain pockets would be worn by the working class. Pockets were sometimes made by recycling and cutting down larger textiles such as quilted bedcovers when parts of them became worn out.

These pockets were donated by Mrs Ethel Inglis (1876-1975) who was a lifelong friend of Rachel Kay-Shuttleworth’s sister Angela. Angela and Mrs Inglis first met when their husbands, both army officers, were stationed in Gibraltar.

This piece was selected as part of The Collection in 60 Objects to celebrate 60 years since the founding of our charity. Use the tag #rbks60 to see the other items we selected.

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Sample of Leek embroidery, silk thread on printed silk tussah, c.1880-1890.

Leek embroidery was a style of embroidery created and popularised by Sir Thomas and Lady Elizabeth Wardle through the Leek Embroidery Society. Thomas Wardle was an influential silk dyer with a particular interest in Indian silks and natural dyes that influenced his research and experimentation with dyeing processes and materials. He worked alongside several key members of the Arts and Crafts movement including William Morris. His wife Elizabeth was a highly talented embroiderer with a gift for interpreting designs and arranging effective yet subtle colour schemes. The couple founded the Leek Embroidery Society and School in 1879 and Elizabeth served as the School’s Superintendent. In addition to teaching embroidery and working on ecclesiastical and secular commissions, the Society also produced kits that could be bought by the public; allowing women to embroider the designs at home.

This sample of embroidery shows many of the characteristics typical of Leek embroideries. The fabric is a natural beige coloured tussah silk from India, which was the usual fabric of choice for Leek work. The kits supplied this fabric with an outline of the design pre-printed in a distinctive maroon colour. The embroidery is worked in loosely spun silk thread, dyed in a range of harmonious colours in natural shades including sage greens, soft indigo blues and warm madder based reds. The designs were often inspired by Indian, Chinese and Persian textiles. This pattern has some similarities with the embroidery found on Chinese sleeve bands and the couched gold thread outlining the floral motifs is another similarity to Chinese embroidery.

This piece was selected as part of The Collection in 60 Objects to celebrate 60 years since the founding of our charity. Use the tag #rbks60 to see the other items we selected.

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Fragments of silk brocaded damask c.1750-1751 from the wedding dress of Elizabeth Parker.

Silk fabrics such as these were some of the most desirable and expensive fabrics in the mid 18th century. These pieces show one of the most typical types of design with a combination of stripes and meandering floral patterns that were well suited to the wide skirts and ‘sacque back’ gowns that were in fashion. The ground fabric is an oyster grey silk damask with a simple self-coloured pattern of wavy vertical lines, chevrons and dots. The brightly coloured floral stripe has been added as an additional brocade weave and means the fabric would have required great skill to make.

These small pieces of silk were originally part of the wedding dress of Elizabeth Parker of Browsholme Hall in Clitheroe. Elizabeth was born in 1726 and kept extensive diaries of her life that are now held at the Preston Records Office. Starting in 1744 she was involved in a long term and clandestine courtship with her second cousin Robert Parker. Finally gaining the approval of her parents in 1751, the couple married just 10 days later. Documents still held by the Parker family at Browsholme Hall include a receipt and accounts of the purchase of this fabric. Sadly the dress itself does not survive but in addition to the fragments of silk in our collection, fabric pieces also appear in the collection at Browsholme Hall and the Harris Museum in Preston. These pieces were given to the Gawthorpe Textiles Collection by a descendent of Elizabeth Parker, Colonel Robert Gouldborne Parker, who was one of the four founders of the textiles collection’s charitable trust in 1959.

This piece was selected as part of The Collection in 60 Objects to celebrate 60 years since the founding of our charity. Use the tag #rbks60 to see the other items we selected.

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Sampler worked in wool on canvas, believed to be the work of Sofia Maria von Stockau c.1845-1852.

This elaborate sampler features many elements typical of woolwork samplers of the 1830s and 40s with pictorial motifs including small landscape scenes and realistic posies of flowers. Many of these would have been copied from commercial patterns originally printed in Germany or Austria. The centre of the sampler features an ornate floral alphabet that also appears in several samplers held in other museum collections; it can be identified as a pattern produced by the publisher L.W.Wittich in Berlin first printed in the 1830s. The sampler is mostly worked in very fine cross stitch with a few small areas of canvas work showing filling patterns.

Although the sampler does not feature a name or date, it is believed to be the work of Sofia Maria von Stockau. Sofia was born in 1834 and was the daughter of a German Aristocrat with the title Graf von Stockau, a rank equivalent to the British Count. In the original donation record the maker of the sampler is listed as “Countess Sofia Dubsky”. The sampler was probably made whilst she was studying at the Ladies of the Sacred Heart Convent School in Prague, an exclusive finishing school for aristocratic girls and young women. In 1850 Sofia married Josip Jelačić, a Serbian Lieutenant Field Marshall in the Austrian army and later Ban of Croatia.

This piece was selected as part of The Collection in 60 Objects to celebrate 60 years since the founding of our charity. Use the tag #rbks60 to see the other items we selected.

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Three pincushions, a bodkin case and a penwipe, part of the ‘Parker Collection’ made by members of the Parker family c.1800-1850.

These beautifully made items are part of a larger collection of worktable accessories created by members of the Parker family. The collection includes several miniature silk patchwork pincushions in a variety of shapes from the more common hearts, cubes and hexagons to more complex three-dimensional jugs, baskets and even a tiny sofa. All are expertly made by covering accurately cut pieces of card with scraps of fine silk and further decorated with miniscule beads or ribbonwork.

In addition to the pincushions are other items for the worktable such as a bodkin case, needlecase and penwipe. Penwipes were used to wipe excess ink from the nib of a dip pen or quill to prevent it from drying in place. The one pictured is made of two circles of black felted wool with pinked edges between which the pen would have been wiped. The front is decorated with the figure of a Highlander whose tartan outfit is ingeniously depicted using woven ribbons.

Items such as these were often made as gifts or keepsakes for close friends and family members and were more of a sentimental or decorative object than a functional item intended for daily use. The collection must have been kept in the family before being donated to Rachel Kay Shuttleworth in 1955 by Miss C M Parker of Clitheroe. On her label for the items Rachel praises the “variety & ingenuity & skill” and also remarked that the makers must have had “fairy fingers” in her scrapbook catalogue of the collection.

These pieces were selected as part of The Collection in 60 Objects to celebrate 60 years since the founding of our charity. Use the tag #rbks60 to see the other items we selected.

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Mitten of black Brussels silk lace, late 18th or early 19th century.

This mitten originally dates to the turn of the 18th/19th century and is made from very fine Brussels lace in black silk thread. The design is of detailed and varied sprays of flowers worked mainly in half stitch on a net ground and outlined with a heavier silk thread cordonnet. The borders at the wrist and finger edges are decorated with small edgings of roses, scrolls and leaves. The variety of different motifs instead of one repeating designs indicates a higher quality of lace and therefore a more expensive item. Only one mitten now survives from what would have been a matching pair.

On her label for this item, Rachel Kay Shuttleworth notes that it was worn by her mother, Lady Blanche, whilst in mourning during the period 1870-1900. Who the mittens originally belonged to is not known but perhaps they were passed down in the family. Good quality lace could be worn for many years if properly looked after and would stay in fashion because its quality was a recognisable mark of wealth. Expensive lengths of lace were often adapted or reshaped to be worn on different outfits and accessories such as mittens, scarves and stoles might be passed down as family heirlooms.

This piece was selected as part of The Collection in 60 Objects to celebrate 60 years since the founding of our charity. Use the tag #rbks60 to see the other items we selected.

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Panel of laid work embroidery, worked by Rachel Kay Shuttleworth in 1921.

This panel of embroidery is worked in a technique known as laid work where long stitches are laid down first to fill in the shapes and then secured with smaller couching stitches. It was worked by the collection’s founder, Rachel Kay Shuttleworth, as a present for her parents Ughtred and Blanche on their golden wedding anniversary in 1921. In keeping with the ‘golden’ theme Rachel chose cloth of gold for the background fabric and had it framed in an ornate gilt frame made by the Medici Society.

The design of a vase, exotic flowers and a pair of peacocks was sketched out by Rachel’s cousin Valerie, Lady North and is taken from one of the carved & pierced parapets up in the galleries of St Marks Cathedral, Venice.

Rachel chose the laid work technique for this piece as it allows large areas to be covered relatively quickly. It was also a technique favoured by Lady North. The embroidery uses many colours of silk floss thread that Rachel arranged carefully to create beautiful gradients. In her notes about the piece, written many years later, she stated that “when [I] embd this, the range of Pearsall Stout Floss silks was wide & numbered some 400 shades - now in 1965 - there are only some 40 - so this cannot be reproduced”. The embroidery is further embellished with gold metal threads and iridescent beetle wings on the peacocks’ tails.

This piece was selected as part of The Collection in 60 Objects to celebrate 60 years since the founding of our charity. Use the tag #rbks60 to see the other items we selected.

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Smoking cap knitted from silk thread with silk fabric lining and silk tassels. The sides of the cap are stiffened with leather on the inside. Afghanistan, c.1830-1860.

Smoking caps were worn by men whilst smoking to protect the hair from odours and to keep the head warm. They were adopted by English gentleman during the 19th century and this example dates from the height of their popularity in England. The shape and decoration of smoking caps copied traditional men's caps from the Middle East and China and they were often produced abroad and exported to England.

They could be woven, embroidered, felted, knitted or crocheted and were usually highly decorative. This particular example is beautifully crocheted in three colours of fine silk twist with a pattern of tulips on the top and stylised shapes similar to paisley cones around the sides. The large tassel and thread wrapped trimming are worked in the same thread as the knitting.

Rachel Kay-Shuttleworth’s label records the donor as “Mrs B Smith of Holmeswood, Rufford”.

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Printed cotton chintz cloth, possibly a table covering. Indian, mid 19th century.

The front of this cloth features a heavily patterned floral central square surrounded by several narrower borders and an intricate edging of ‘Paisley’ boteh or buta motifs. These heavily stylised teardrop or pinecone shapes originated in Persian design but also became popular in India, particularly in Kashmiri shawls. The English term for the pattern comes from the town of Paisley where copies of Kashmir shawls were produced industrially.

The main fabric is block printed with some painting or ‘pencilling’; the outlines have been printed first followed by the colours. The backing may be a roller print as the pattern has much crisper edges and while there is some offsetting the uniformity of it indicates that it may the product of more industrial printing process. The striped fabric used for the binding is probably another block print. It shows as a narrow edging on the front and as a deeper band on the back. The binding has been cut on the bias so that the stripes appear diagonally. All three fabrics are fine plain weave cotton and have retained their original glazed or polished finishes, indicating that the cloth has probably not been washed.

Cloths such as these might have been produced in India for the local market and used as mats, table coverings or wall hangings to decorate the home. They were also made for the European export market and Indian fabrics were especially popular in Britain, France and the Netherlands during the 18th and 19th centuries.

This piece was selected as part of The Collection in 60 Objects to celebrate 60 years since the founding of our charity. Use the tag #rbks60 to see the other items we selected.

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Waistcoat of silk taffeta decorated with floss silk embroidery, Spanish c.1800.

The embroidery on this waistcoat is typical of the style found on many gentleman’s waistcoats of the period. Floss silk threads of many colours have been combined to depict a colourful variety of flowers including roses, violets and carnations amongst more stylised floral motifs. Most of the embroidery is worked in satin stitch with some areas of long and short stitch for more shaded sections. From a distance, the embroidery appears more detailed than it is and close inspection of shows how simple stitches have been arranged cleverly to give the impression of more complicated motifs. Along the edges of the design a lace-like impression is given by first painting the taffeta ground a dark brown and then applying sections of net over the top before covering the edges with the embroidery. This technique appears on several other extant garments including another waistcoat from the Gallery of Costume at Platt Hall.

The precision of the stitching indicates that this is probably the work of a professional embroiderer and it was common for garments like this to be made in professional workshops. The embroidery is arranged along the front and bottom edges to fit the exact shape of the finished garment and would have been drawn out and worked before the garment was cut out and sewn together. The pocket flaps and embroidered buttons would also have been worked separately and added to the finished waistcoat.

This item was donated in 1935 by Janet Dorothy Young, one of Rachel Kay-Shuttleworth’s nieces. It is said to have been bought in Gibraltar although it is not clear whether this refers to it being bought as an antique piece by Janet, or if the original owner purchased it in Gibraltar.

This piece was selected as part of The Collection in 60 Objects to celebrate 60 years since the founding of our charity. Use the tag #rbks60 to see the other items we selected.