Dress fabric, silk dress fabric

This panel of 18th-century silk is 'brocaded', which means its floral pattern is woven into the fabric.

The silk was woven by the journeymen of Mr. Daniel(?) Vautier from a design by Anna Maria Garthwaite (1690-1763) dated 4 September 1747 held in the Victoria & Albert Museum ( 5985.11).. The Vautiers came from Luneray in Normandy, France.

Anna Maria Garthwaite was born in 1688 and became one of the leading pattern drawers in the English silk industry despite the likelihood that she did not receive the formal technical training usually considered necessary to take up such a profession. She produced as many as 80 commissioned designs a year, such as this one, for master weavers and mercers. She lived and worked in Spitalfields, East London from about 1730 until her death in 1763. Her interest in natural form--and her talent for depicting it--characterized her designs throughout her professional life.