Panel 1875 - 1900

This is a textile panel, made by J. W. & C. Ward, with an intricate repeating pattern. It’s hard to say exactly when, but we can guess that it dates to the height of industrial textile production, because of its crispness and symmetry. Look closely, and you’ll see the gold and brown motifs printed on a ground of warm red. The repeating pattern has a dense visual texture, and it’s this quality that gives it its richness. The regularity of the pattern reflects the mechanization of textile production. The design would be engraved on rollers, which then transferred the image onto the fabric in a continuous process. Think of the labor that went into the making of the artwork. Designers created the pattern, engineers fabricated the machines, and factory workers oversaw the production. Textiles like this had a huge social impact, bringing luxurious patterns to a broad market. By attending to the making, materials, and social context of an artwork, we get a much deeper understanding of its place in cultural history, and its challenge to our notions of fine art versus craft.