Textile, printed

Description

This textile is made from plain-woven undyed cotton with a shiny surface, often termed chintz. It has been block-printed in the "mordant" style with a floral trellis design in four colors and additional penciled blue. The shiny surface on the textile is due to a finishing process called glazing where a combination of heat, pressure, and glazing material gives the finished textile its reflective surface. The design features vertical bands of flowers printed side-by-side in a half drop over a dark red ground with a wavy trellis. The large scale of the design suggests that this textile was likely intended to be used as a furnishing fabric. The top edge of this panel has been cut, and the three other edges have rolled hems. The fabric was probably printed in England, c. 1803 as red-ground chintzes were fashionable around 1802. The original design is from a Crayford pattern-book (c. 1796).