Fringe, Frog and Tassel: The Art of the Trimmings by Annabel Westman

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FRINGE FROG & TASSEL The Art of the Trimmings-Maker in Interior Decoration in Britain and Ireland Annabel Westman

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To my children, Lizzy and Will

PHILIP WILSON PUBLISHERS Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 50 Bedford Square, London wc1b 3dp, UK BLOOMSBURY, PHILIP WILSON PUBLISHERS and the PHILIP WILSON logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc First published in Great Britain in 2019 Copyright © National Trust Text copyright © Annabel Westman Annabel Westman has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers Every attempt has been made to gain permission for the use of the images in this book.

Any omissions will be rectified in future editions Bloomsbury Publishing Plc does not have any control over, or responsibility for, any third-party websites referred to or in this book. All internet addresses given in this book were correct at the time of going to press. The authors and publisher regret any inconvenience caused if addresses have changed or sites have ceased to exist, but can accept no responsibility for any such changes A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication data has been applied for ISBN: 978 1 78130 075 6 10–9–8–7–6–5–4–3–2–1 National Trust, Cultural Heritage Publishing: Christopher Tinker, Publisher; Claire Forbes, Editor; Susannah Stone, Picture Researcher Designed and typeset in Garamond by E&P Design Printed and bound in Italy by L.E.G.O. S.p.A.

Frontispiece: Crimson gimp and bullion fringe, with silk drops of silk-covered buttons and bows, on crimson damask pleated valances, c.1830. Drawing Room, Felbrigg Hall, Norfolk.

Fringe length 17.8 cm (7 in). Gimp width 5.7 cm (2¼ in).

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Contents

Acknowledgements– vi Introduction– x 1 The role of the silkwoman 1320–1550–2 2 The role of the silkman 1550–1660–16 3 Baroque exuberance 1660–1690– 38 4 Baroque embellishment 1690–1715– 64 5 Palladian restraint 1715–1760– 88 6 Neoclassical interlude 1760–1790–114 7 Regency excess 1790–1830–146 8 Victorian extravagance 1830–1880–180 9 Retrospection and renewal 1880–1970–218 Glossary–239 Relative value of the pound 1450–1950–246 Notes–247 Picture credits–262 Select bibliography–264 Index–267

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From The London Tradesman, 1747

The gold and silver lace-man … His chief Talent ought to lie in a nice Taste in Patterns of Lace, etc. He ought to speak fluently, though not elegantly, to entertain the Ladies; and to be Master of a handsome Bow and Cringe: should be able to hand a Lady to and from her Coach politely, without being seized with the Palpitation of the Heart at the Touch of a delicate Hand, a well-turned and much exposed Limb, or a handsome Face: But, above all, he must have Confidence to refuse his Goods in a handsome Manner to the extravagant Beau who never pays, and Patience as well as Stock to hear the Delays of the sharping Peer, who pays but seldom. With these natural Qualifications, five Thousand pounds in his Pocket, and a Set of good Customers in view, a young Man may commence Lace-Man: If he trust moderately, and with Discretion, live with Oecomony, and minds his Business more than his Mistress, he may live to increase his Stock; but otherwise I know no readier Road to a Jail, and Destruction, than a Lace-Man’s Business …

The orrice-weaver … the Lace-Man employs the Orrice-Weaver, who is an ingenious Tradesman: He understands Drawing so much as to design upon Paper his own Patterns, wherein are described the Figure and Number of Threads to be moved, in order to raise it on the Lace …

Their Figures are raised by the same Principles that the Damask or Silk Weavers work, and their Looms are constructed much in the same Manner, making Allowance of the Largeness and Smallness of the Work … The Master Orrice-Weaver weighs out his Silk and Silver to his Men, who are obliged to return the same Weight in Work or Cuttings … They are paid at so much a Yard according to the Pattern, and generally earn Fifteen or Eighteen Shillings a Week, if they have an easy Job, and refrain the Alehouse, the Bane of most London Workmen …

The fringe, frog and tassel-maker … is likewise employed by the Lace-Man. Some of the ButtonMakers perform the Work; but it is chiefly done by Women, upon the Hand, who make a very handsome Livelihood of it, if they are not initiated into the Mystery of Gin-Drinking.

Robert Campbell, The London Tradesman (London, 1747; reprinted Newton Abbott, 1969), pp. 147–53. viii

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FIG 0.1 Robert Peake, Prince Charles as Duke of York, 1613. The extravagant ornament on the dress of the prince and the intricately designed metal thread fringe and ‘buttons and loops’ or ‘frogging’ on the green silk-velvet table carpet reveals the wide variety of skills of the laceman.

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Introduction

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FIG 0.2 Bed tester, backcloth and headboard hung in ‘green Sattin all embroidered’ edged with rich tufted fringe of green, crimson and gold-coloured silk of various lengths, c.1685–8. Queen Elizabeth’s Bedroom, Burghley House, Lincolnshire.

umptuous fringes, tassels, cords, gimp and woven lace (braid) 1 were once in constant demand to create glamorous and sculptural effects in a rich interior.

Such items were seen as providing colour, texture, richness and style to an elaborate ensemble, as well as lending an essential balance, proportion and the occasional touch of eccentricity. Though they are easily overlooked in our minimalist age, the stupendous sums spent on such ornaments can come as a shock to those unaware of their importance as a strategic status symbol over the centuries. In 1678, the colossal sum of £439 11s 6d (£64,860)2 was paid for a mere 6.6 metres (7¼ yards) of elaborate silk and silver thread fringes and other ornaments trimming the valances of Queen Catherine of Braganza’s yellow damask bed at Windsor Castle,3 while William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire, some 100 years later, spent nearly a tenth (£112,300 in today’s terms) of his total furnishing budget of £10,000 just on trimmings for the private reception rooms at Chatsworth, Derbyshire.4 The laceman, as noted in the opening description, was the general name for a trimmings-maker from the 1660s until the later nineteenth century. The laceman took over from the silkman as the main supplier of trimmings, who had in turn replaced the silkwoman by the 1550s; a whole chapter was devoted to him and his dependants in Robert Campbell’s The London Tradesman of 1747.5 It was – and still is – an industry generally seen as having three main branches of activity: the spinning and winding of cord and rope, the weaving of fringes, braids and gimps, and the work of the ornament maker, who covers by hand the specially turned moulds of tassels and drops and creates the intricate, meticulous details that give each item its individuality. Campbell subdivided this luxury trade into 11 sections, which included among them the business of the Gold and Silver Lace-man, the Wire-Drawer, Orrice-Weaver, Bone Lace-Maker and Fringe, Frog and Tassel-Maker after which this book is named.6 Making trimmings for dress, ceremonial costume, liveries and horse trappings was a major part of their work; a number of them had begun supplying these items before adding furnishing products to their range.7 Although designs were closely related, different use and priorities gave each type a distinctive identity (fig. 0.1).

This book is divided into nine chapters, chronologically arranged to trace the history, design and usage of furnishing trimmings in the luxury market. It only very briefly touches on the complex processes of making-up. Starting in the early 1300s, when trimmings – used both for giving delight and to indicate status – were depicted on hangings and canopies, beds, cloths and cushions in illuminated manuscripts, carvings and paintings, the first two chapters chart their steady increase as life became more stable and comfortable during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. With the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, conditions were ripe for an extraordinary explosion in the variety and richness of tassels and fringes, which were ideally suited to the exuberance and opulence of the Baroque era. Nowhere is this more visually expressed than on the

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I N T RODUC T ION

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The role of the silkwoman 1320–1550

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FIG. 1.1 Jean Fouquet, Les Grandes Chroniques de France, c.1455–60. Edward i of England (also Duke of Aquitaine) paying homage to Philip the Fair of France in 1286, seated under a canopy trimmed with blue silk fringe woven with spaced gold thread.

oyal, noble and episcopal households led a peripatetic existence throughout Europe during the Middle Ages. As they were constantly on the move, their worldly possessions were packed into carts for redisplay at the next property, a routine that only gradually became less intense from the mid-1400s.1 Such itinerant lifestyles discouraged permanent furnishing schemes, but they did not prevent rich textiles and trimmings being used as valuable status symbols to impress. Edward iii (1312–1377) was well known for his extravagance, and his grandson, Richard ii (1367–1400) successfully cultivated a royal image by placing a new emphasis on art and culture, particularly during the latter years of his reign. Like his uncles, notably John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (1340–1399), whose excessive spending merited comment in the Chronicles of Jean Froissart in 1386,2 he adopted the continental practices of his contemporaries, the Valois kings and the dukes of Burgundy, where the display of splendour was considered both a virtue and an ethical imperative (fig. 1.1).3 With such erudite models to emulate, the English court became renowned for its magnificence, with diplomatic exchanges of gifts and sumptuous textiles setting a new standard of furnishing.4 Luxury at court promoted better living standards among the nobility and professional classes and demand for comfort and opulence escalated as society became more affluent during the fifteenth century. When Henry vii (1457–1509) ascended the throne in 1485, he brought much-needed peace and stability, drawing to a close years of civil upheaval under the Plantagenets.5 His economic and administrative initiatives led to further improvements in lifestyle; mercantile and entrepreneurial opportunities were enhanced, providing a settled environment fully exploited by his son, Henry viii (1491–1547), who became king at the age of 17. Initially encouraged by his first minister, Cardinal Wolsey (c.1473–1530), who understood how textiles could be displayed to demonstrate political strength, Henry viii spent much of his fortune in building and maintaining his burgeoning court, lavishing huge sums on rich furnishing schemes. He inherited about a dozen palaces and royal houses, a number that increased to nearly 60 by the time of his death, some properties newly built and others acquired through confiscation.6 He filled them with his moveable possessions, of which very little survives except in images and text.

Henry’s coffers were in turn given a much-needed boost in 1536 when England separated from the Church of Rome, leading to the dissolution of the monasteries and the acquisition of their vast assets. Part of the wealth lay in the considerable holdings of textiles and trimmings, many of which were put to secular use.7 The occasional mention of ‘churchworke’ in sixteenth-century house inventories refers to these items, which were sometimes cut up for appliquéd designs or made into panelled or ‘paned’ hangings, sometimes tied together with ribbons and alternating in colour, texture and/or design (fig. 1.3).

The 1542 inventory for Whitehall Palace, Henry’s prime residence, which has been painstakingly transcribed by Professor Maria Hayward, recorded eight such wall panels of ‘purple and crymsen Tissue churchwerk paned to gether’, supplied with matching window

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T H E ROL E OF T H E SI L K WOM A N

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Baroque exuberance 1660–1690

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FIG. 3.1 Compact decoration made en suite with the fringe in fig. 0.8 probably for the Countess of Exeter’s blue bed, c.1685. Burghley House, Lincolnshire.

Trimming width 7 cm (2¾ in).

he restoration of Charles ii (1630–1685) in 1660 brought with it a resurgence of fashionable taste and luxury furniture production at the English court (fig. 3.2).

Charles and his brother, the Duke of York (later James ii, 1633–1701), having lived their early lives surrounded by the extravagant collecting habits of their parents, spent their exile years from 1651 first in France, then in The Hague. During this time, both developed a keen eye for European court culture and Charles was determined to create a similar sparkling display in his depleted palaces when he returned as monarch.1 Like all European rulers at this time, his model was France, with the lavish living standards promoted by Louis xiv. Already by 1663 the French were being heralded in London as initiating ‘new modes and new tastes and set us all agog, and having increased among us considerable trade, witness the vast multitude of broad and narrow silk weavers, makers of looking glasses, paper, fringes and gilded leather’.2 But unlike Louis xiv, Charles was dependant on Parliament for money. He had inherited a kingdom torn apart by civil war and divided by the restrictive austerity of the Commonwealth, only to be ravaged in the early years of his reign by the plague in 1665 with the disaster of the Great Fire of London coming in the following year. Although his coronation was a spectacular affair, it was not until the early 1670s that sufficient funds started to circulate and the luxury items being enjoyed by the king and his close circle at court began to spread across the country.

The short supply of talented craftsmen in England, skilled in the new French fashions, was another challenge to be faced but one that was considerably relieved by Huguenot craftsmen fleeing religious persecution in France in the early 1680s. Charles ii encouraged their arrival by issuing a proclamation in July 1681 offering England as a place of refuge.3 Numbers swelled considerably, particularly after Protestantism was declared illegal in France in 1685 when the Edict of Nantes was revoked. London became the magnet for those craftsmen seeking lucrative commissions and an estimated 20–25,000 Huguenots were living in the area of modern Greater London alone by 1700.4 Their arrival benefitted many trades, including the broad and narrow silk weavers who tended to settle mainly around Spitalfields and Bethnal Green where a small workforce was already established. With some Catholics amongst them, seeking work, they provided the skills and manpower that helped disseminate French design, but their influx was not always welcome.

Of the nearly 6,000 members of the London Weavers’ Company between 1681 and 1734, it has been estimated that the ‘foreign weavers’ never made up more than 20 per cent.5 Throughout this period, the influence of the royal family was paramount. Henrietta Maria continued to exercise powerful influence and the extravagance of her two sons reflected her own ambitions. James ii (king from 1685) was even more spendthrift than his brother, acting with the nonchalance of an absolute monarch in spite of protests from Parliament. The Glorious Revolution and his escape to France in 1688 stalled an era of increasing profligacy, but patronage had been revived and there was no holding back the heavy demand for luxury embellishment among the wealthy and professional

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BA ROQU E E X U BE R A NCE

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FIG. 3.19 The front and back of the ‘festoon’ fringe of silk-covered vellum and wire attached to a netted ground on the bed in the Black and Yellow Bedroom, c.1685.

Burghley House, Lincolnshire. Fringe length 14 cm (5½ in).

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FIG. 3.20 Detail of scrolling gimp cords, tufts and twisted threads supporting the tufted fringe, c.1683–8.

Burghley House, Lincolnshire. Fringe length 5.7 cm (2¼ in).

header formed of scrolling gimp cords with tufts (poms) wired in place (fig. 3.20). Isaac Boddington had mentioned ‘top Gimperline fringe’ in 1672, and ‘Gimp edgeing fringe’ was another description for this style.

One of the most magnificent early examples of gimp-decorated fringes is on the ‘new’ bed made for James ii at Whitehall Palace in August 1688 which, like the King’s Bed, was another perquisite of Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset and is now on display at Knole (fig. 3.22). Their superb quality matches the excellent craftsmanship of the bed’s carved and gilded cornice and sumptuous hangings, described in the Royal Warrant as ‘a Bedd of greene and gold figured Velvett with Scarlet and white Silke fringe, Bedstead […] two Arm’d Chaires, Six Stooles, two Curtaines for the doores of the same Stuffe as the Bedd’.86 Gone are the buckram-stiffened valances, to be replaced by soft festoons, which were trimmed with a lavish valance fringe made up of three different lengths of scarlet and white tied-tassels, suspended from varying pairs of twisted threads, to create a tiered effect. To keep such a weighty creation in place, the top was reinforced at the back with woven tape, the two longer lengths were plaited together in irregular clumps, and additional support was provided by a metal wire, worked in chain stitch (fig. 3.22). Although woven with a straight lower edge, a scalloped effect was created by pulling up the valance at regular intervals into festoons to give a concentrated bunching of tufted or tied-tassel fringe at each apex. The fringe header was made separately and decorated with three gimp cords wrapped in crimson and cream silk, cream and scarlet silk and scarlet and crimson silk, worked into a double figure of eight around a repeated pattern of rosettes. The latter were made of two sets of gimp loops in scarlet and crimson and poms in scarlet and white – the finished effect a masterpiece of extravagant design.

Elsewhere on the hangings the fringe was applied in the usual way on luxury beds, with the top of the outer and inner valances trimmed with short ‘topp fringe’, BA ROQU E E X U BE R A NCE

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FIG. 3.23 Matthijs Naiveu, The Newborn Baby, 1675.

Bed and detail of finial trimmed with gold-coloured ‘cupp lace’.

Similarly the weightier lyre (often spelled ‘lyor’), made in a variety of coloured silks to match the room scheme, continued to perform much the same function for heavier objects. Gostlin also supplied green ‘bobbing [bobbin] lace’ for hanging pictures and ‘large white Bobbin’ at 16d a yard to hang a bell in 1681.101 Chandeliers were often suspended on a chain decorated with ribbon, with ‘One Christall Branch hung in a Brass chaine gilt wth two knotts of Ribbon to it. Fifteen Knotts of Ribbon belonging to the Looking glasses and Sconces’ were recorded in the Kilkenny, Dunmore and Clonmel inventory of 1675.102

Lace FIG. 3.24 Woven ‘cupp lace’ on the velvet-covered finial, 1682, on the red and yellow velvet bed, Holyroodhouse Palace, Edinburgh. ‘Cupp lace’ width 0.6 cm (⅝ in).

Bobbin lace, needle lace, hook or chain lace as well as woven lace were just some of the main varieties that continued to fall under the generic heading of ‘lace’, terms that could be further defined by type. ‘Fine Poynt’, for example, was a category of needle lace used for edging sheets and pillowberes.

Bobbin lace: parchment lace and gimp lace A costly bobbin lace that continued to be fashionable until the early 1670s was parchment lace (fig. 2.24), used for a wide variety of purposes, including button and loop decoration before being replaced by the silk-covered wire mesh that could support more substantial ornament (fig. 3.19). Robert Colbrand listed a gold and silver parchment lace to trim ‘a necessary stoole’ in the same bill as supplying some for a royal robe,103 and Silverton supplied a version with gold lace for a black velvet chair of state at Somerset House, London, in 1672,104 while Boddington provided a ‘gold fringe three inche deepe and gold parchment lace inch broad’ for two palls and three cushions in 1674.105 Another type of bobbin lace was made with gimp cord, often multicoloured, and used for borders (fig. 3.25). In 1664, Lady Verney of Claydon, Buckinghamshire, commented ‘that gimp is out of fashing; tharfare I shall quit myselff of the trouble by taking your advice to work a dimity bed in gre[e]n cruells [crewels].’106 The family accounts, however, show that its purchase continued into the 1680s although it is rarely mentioned after that date.

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Chaine/chayne/cheyne lace Colbrand supplied gold and silver fringe and ‘Chayne’ lace for a canopy made of purple velvet and cloth of silver, made up ‘in paynes’, for the King’s coronation at Windsor.107 It was probably a type of open-work lace with an interlinked design used to garnish seams.

Worked in metal or silk, it may have served a similar purpose to what was referred to as ‘rhime’ lace (or ‘bone rheime lace’), supplied by Silverton in 1669 to place ‘upon every seame’ of a state canopy and matching altar cloth, made ‘in panes’ of crimson velvet and cloth of gold.108 ‘Fifteen Coushions of blew Damask, made up wth chaine lace and pendant Buttons’ were supplied for the Duchess of Ormonde’s Closet in Dublin Castle in 1675109 and, as late as 1690, Daniel Cookman was supplying ‘12 dozen of gold chaine’ for £2 12s at Petworth,110 but these delicate trimmings were declining as fashion turned to the more weighty tufted fringing.

Woven lace Passemayne (passamaine) lace, loome lace and galloon As a term, ‘passemayne’ for woven lace gradually disappeared in the 1660s and 70s.

Silverton used it ‘to trime & garnish the g[ol]d Chaire of State footstools & Cushions’ at Charles ii’s coronation, where each cushion was enriched with ‘gold Cauls’, ‘seaming lace’ and four tassels.111 The rich effect created can be seen in the rare court portrait of Charles ii, where these items are depicted with a little more realism than some of the other details (fig. 3.2).112 Galloon or ‘lace’ became the more common description with terms such as loom lace and cupp lace also occasionally noted. Gostlin supplied gold and silver purled twisted lace ‘suitable to the ffringe’ for the ‘cupps’ (finials, ‘tester bobbs’, ‘knopps’), carved by Poictevin for the Queen’s blue, white and gold-coloured damask bed at Windsor in 1687,113 and probably similar to other examples (figs 3.23, 3.24). He also supplied ‘gold and silver paned lace’, together with ‘gold and silver tissue galoone’ and ‘gold and silver broad loome lace’ in 1677, as part of an expensive order for trimming a state canopy.114 Metal thread lace and galloon were listed in the 1683 Ham House inventory, for crimson velvet cushions in the Chapel,115 and John Stanton supplied ‘gold galloone’ and various types of fine gold twisted fringe for bedroom furnishings in crimson velvet in 1689.116 Cheaper versions purchased by upholsterers were made by the numerous narrow loom weavers and often sold by the piece or dozen (yards) for ease of payment.

Mr Burgh, working at Hatfield House, Hertfordshire, in 1660, supplied the Earl of Salisbury ‘8 dozen of galume to bind ye Curtaines valence & stooles 1 – 0 – 0’117 and the upholsterer, Mr Cooke, supplied silk galloon and tape in similar quantity to Elizabeth Percy, Countess of Ogle in 1679, probably for edging the top and base valances of a blue damask bed, topped with ‘4 large ‘ffrench Cupps’ covered with the same fabric.118 Narrow tape, ribbon and ferrit tape Ribbon and ferrit tape were supplied for similar purposes, with ‘6 peeses of sad culler tape’ at 2s supplied for sad culler printed stuffe’.119 A deep pink woven tape with a herringbone pattern binds bed valances of red and yellow printed wool made for John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, Keeper of Woodstock Park in 1675.120 Ribbon and narrow tape were also used on cushions as an alternative to small fabric-covered buttons, as supplied to Kilkenny Castle in 1684: ‘Tenn Cushions of greene, gould and white Chang[e] able Damaske with fringe Suitable and Ribbins to tye att the Corners / Two Jappan Squabbs with Six Cushions of the Same damaske with Small Buttons att the Corners.’121 Cushions were still usually lined on the bottom with a different fabric and stuffed with down or feathers in fustian ‘baggs’.

With upholstery and joinery still at a rudimentary stage, trimmings were essential not just for decoration but also for disguise, and the lavish effects created were to reach even greater heights over the next 20 years with trimmings playing a leading role in the final ensemble.

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FIG. 3.25 Gimp lace border made with silk cords and linen thread, English, 1650–80. Victoria and Albert Museum.

Lace width 21.5 cm (8½ in).

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FIG. 6.34 A printed cotton border edges the four sides of an English copper-plated printed bed valance, attached with cotton tapes to the bed frame, 1755–65.

Winterthur Museum.

Breed, bed lace, guard garnish, white thread and white heronbone lace, striped lace Breed, occasionally referred to as braiding, was still generally made of silk. James Hindes supplied the Dowager Lady Egremont at Petworth in 1767 with ‘6 doz lace’ at 12s for a green harateen bed, green and white window curtains and matching check case covers for a chair and cushion, together with lace, lines, tassels and ‘girt web’ (for heading tape) and braiding (ring tape for festoon curtains).96 These products could now be purchased from a number of manufacturing emporia established in London and around the country. The Dowager also purchased ‘21 yds of crimson tammy and 1 p[iece] of breed’ at 2s 6d in June 1764 from Finch & Smith at the ‘Carpet & Upholstry Warehouse, in King Street, Covent Garden, London.’ 97 Outside London, Robert and Nathan Hyde of Manchester were selling laces for furnishing and dress in 1771, ‘Garters, Quality Bindings, & tapes of all Sorts. Coat Bindings, Shoe Bindings, & Laces of all Sorts.

Bed Laces, Livery lace & Coach Lace.’ 98 Trade cards frequently mentioned ‘bed lace’, a cotton or cotton–linen mix, woven in a twill weave and used for binding mattresses and other items destined for hard wear.

In 1774, J.&W. Brailsford, upholsterers working at Chatsworth, supplied yellow cheney with ‘6 doz of bedlace to bind do.’ at 1s 3d a dozen for two servants’ beds.99 Other cheaper binding laces, such as ‘Washing lace’ or ‘Common Green Lace’, were used on servants’ beds, curtains and case covers.

Check, sometimes referred to as ‘half-inch’ or ‘in[ch] & in[ch] cheque’, or striped fabrics in blue, green, red or sometimes yellow and white remained popular for the cheaper bed hangings and case covers, bound with garnish (cotton) or guard garnish in matching colours, perhaps with a bow fringe added (figs 6.31, 6.32). Occasionally the edges were folded to give the padded effect of a cord when the woven lace was applied. John Gilroy, the upholsterer working at the Great Wardrobe from the mid1770s supplied ‘yellow and white guard lace’ for cases of yellow inch check.100 Striped Manchester cotton, often found in servants’ rooms, was usually bound with the everpopular striped lace in the same colours. Alternatively, white thread lace or white ‘heronbone Lace’ was used for check cases, cushions as well as curtains as supplied in Lady Caroline Finch’s apartment at St James’s to bind curtains of orange stripe, lined with Irish linen which were ‘fring’d with the Office Fringe’.101 For areas not exposed, plain white tapes were often used, unless the edges were finished with a very narrow rolled hem. Most binding laces and fringes were removed for cleaning, with some treated with bread and sand to remove the dust.

Chintz bordering With the fashion for copperplate furnishing prints from the later 1750s across the social classes, printed borders became common, applied either as flat decoration or as an edge

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binding.102 A number of English printed border patterns in blue, purple, crimson and sepia (colours that could be fast dyed) survive still attached to printed curtains and valances of the 1770s and 80s (figs 6.34, 6.35). At Windsor Castle in 1781, the Prince of Wales had a chintz bed lined with Irish linen and bound with fine diaper binding at 3d a yard and ‘a fine Chintz Bordering’ at 13d a yard. The bed had drapery curtains trimmed with a white thread knotted fringe – depth 7.6 cm (3 in) – ‘with Col[oure]d thread and silk Buttons and Hangers’ (5s a yard) and a ‘white thread bowed fringe’ for the valances – 3.8 cm (1½ in) – (1s a yard).103 Tufting, quilting Tufting on seat furniture, often referred to as quilting and already in widespread use by the 1750s, was usually combined with welting and nailing.104 Silk twist or twine generally formed the ties to hold down the silk floss tufts, sometimes made of sprigs or faggots, creating a decorative pattern on the top cover while keeping the stuffing in place and preventing tears in the fabric. Hepplewhite recommended ‘when the backs and seats [of chairs] are of leather they should be tied down with tassels of silk or thread’,105 a technique used until the 1830s when it was mostly replaced with buttoning.

FIG. 6.35 A cotton border block printed in blue in a repeating pattern binds the edge of a rectangular English printed cotton valance, c.1755–65. Winterthur Museum. Fabric border width: overall 4 cm (1⅝ in).

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FIG. 7.32 George Smith, The Cabinet-Makers’s and Upholsterer’s Guide, 1826 (plate xcv). ‘Tassels are suspended at equal distance throughout the whole extent of the valance; behind which, a deep and rich bullion fringe is suspended from the lath.’

Tassels and cord With the demand for swagged valances on bed and window curtains eclipsing all other styles, decorative cord, with or without tassels attached and often looped in swags, was in full fashion. Such was the novelty of this new treatment that Sheraton had to explain in his designs for a sofa bed and drawing room curtains that the use of ropes and tassels was very much part of the upholsterer’s domain and not the cabinet-maker’s, that is, they were attached to fabric valances, not wooden ones.99 The tassels themselves were given similar names to fringe, with Parisian, French and Turkish being the most commonly applied to a variety of designs, irrespective of style. Eight Parisian tassels at 10s 8d each were supplied for the drab and scarlet morine bed hangings supplied by Gillows to Tatton Park in 1811, en suite with 12 yards of black and scarlet rope at 5s 4d per yard and 49 yards of black and scarlet Parisian fringe at 8s 6d.100 None survives, but the shape was probably similar to the one remaining tassel from a set of 12 ‘Handsome silk tassels’ that once dressed the crimson velvet continued window drapery in the Saloon at Belton House, furnished by the same firm that year. It has two rounded moulds, wrapped in alternate stripes of pink silk and black wool, covered with a gold-coloured silk net (fig.

7.13). The crimson silk cut outer skirt was once overlaid with several drops, which would explain the high cost of 62s each.101 In addition, the drapery was ornamented with ‘thick silk rope’ at 50s per yard and ‘elegant’ silk fringe at 72s a yard.

Gillows supplied similar tassels to Attingham Park, listed as ‘Turkish’ in the 1827 Sale Catalogue.102 Gold-coloured versions were made for the Dining Room (fig. 7.30) and crimson for the Sultana Room, to dress the crimson drapery framing the alcove with its ‘Turkish Ottoman’. Both have cut wool under-skirts, overlaid with looped twisted silk supporting tied-tassels, in a similar style to the fringe. Particularly sumptuous tassels, with their matching fringes, also survive at Castle Coole, their extraordinary variety demonstrating the inventive quality so admired at the time. One example still has its protective bag of chintz, indicating the care taken of these costly objects (fig. 7.33). For the Breakfast Room, already described, 24 tassels (57s each) were supplied for the continued drapery of Chinese chintz pattern, the labour-intensive work patently visible in the silk-covered vellum rosettes and bows decorating the moulds (fig. 7.34). These elegant tassels, however, with skirts of individual drops, were going out of fashion by 1820 and, like fringe, were being replaced by fringed skirts and drops. Smith illustrated several examples in his 16 8

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FIG. 7.33 A rare survival of a chintz protective bag with its original tassel, c.1807–16. Castle Coole, Co. Fermanagh.

Tassel 22.8 cm (9 in).

1826 Guide, noting on one design that this was the taste ‘when Queen Elizabeth was on the throne’ (fig. 7.32).103 Tassels continued to be used for many other purposes too. They were attached to the corners of hassocks and cushions, the ends of bolsters, sofas and ottomans. James Newton in 1804 supplied the Earl of Jersey at Osterley Park with two upholstered settees, with ‘tight cases’ of chintz and black cushions and bolsters ‘Bordered and bound ornamented with neat black Silk Tassells to the Cushions with loops and larger tassels with Rosetts to the Bolsters’.104 In the Crimson Drawing Room at Belton House, the set of seat furniture supplied in the style of Marsh and Tatham had tassels with rosettes and silk-covered metal bows attached to the cushions and bolsters (fig. 7.35), all edged with R EGE NC Y E XC E SS

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FIG. 7.40 William Hunt, The Saloon at Devonshire House, London, 1822. The room was once compared to the luxury of Venice at the height of its power (see fig. 7.41).

window draperies in the Queen of Scots Bedroom and Dressing Room at Chatsworth, c.1830, which was also combined with drop fringe, cords and tassels to create a lavish confection (fig. 8.26).

The redecoration of the bedrooms at Chatsworth by the 6th Duke of Devonshire from 1830 was all part of an extensive programme of refurnishing a number of his properties, following his inheritance in 1811. At Devonshire House, London, c.1820, a yellow gimp with cord was richly applied, with a separate backing of blue satin, to matching silk fabric on the seat furniture and curtains in the elaborately decorated Saloon (figs 7.40, 7.41). Other surviving examples are more complex (fig. 7.39) and match some of the descriptions noted in the Morel and Seddon furnishing accounts for Windsor Castle a few years later. ‘Semi-circular gimp’, ‘gold colour silk bold circular gimp with vellum rosettes’, ‘raised open gimp’, ‘large Gothic double silk gimp’, and ‘a rich pillar gimp’, the latter in grey, white, green and scarlet silk to edge yellow striped silk curtains and draperies in the Sitting Room with a matching ‘silk drop fringe’, were just some of the styles noted with other trimmings in the various rooms.123 Similar types were supplied for Stafford House, furnished on a lavish scale for George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Marquess of Stafford from 1828 to 1830.124

Woven lace FIG. 7.41 Yellow gimp on a blue satin backing, cord and silk drop tassels trimming a cushion from the original set of covers, c.1820, in the Saloon, Devonshire House, London (see fig. 7.40). Chatsworth, Derbyshire. Tassel length 10.5 cm (4 in).

Gimp width 2.8 cm (1⅛ in).

Broad lace, narrow lace, independent margins The increased use of woven lace is sometimes overshadowed by the dominance of fringe, gimp and fabric borders, but broad and narrow woven laces of varying patterns were frequently applied to curtains and draperies in a similar way to gimp.125 A broad woven lace could be applied on its own, inset from the edge, or supplied in two different widths.

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FIG. 8.42 George Townsend Cole, Henry Thomas Lambert (in his Drawing Room), 1858. The crimson swag and tail drapery is trimmed with matching bullion and drop fringe and the crimson and white tasselled bell pull hangs from a rosette to the right of the fireplace.

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FIG. 8.44 Top of bell pull cord with bow and pom decoration in apricot-pink and green (faded to brown) wool, c.1840–60. The gilded cord behind, edging the Chinese wallpaper, dates c.1752. Chinese Bedroom, Felbrigg Hall, Norfolk. Bell pull cord diameter 1.9 cm (¾ in).

FIG. 8.43 Scarlet wool and silk rosette for a bell pull made of gimp cord with central button and pom, c.1830–60.

Dunham Massey, Cheshire. Rosette diameter 10 cm (4 in).

of the latter making a fashionable addition to draw across an arch or door separating areas such as a drawing room and library or a dining room from a service area. Portières were favoured by Pugin, with Crace supplying several at Leighton Hall in the mid-1850s, including those for the Great Hall, made of crimson woollen tapestry ‘bound with silk & genappe cord [smooth worsted] & fringed at the bottom with 5 in worsted fringe’.101 He used three widths of cord to ornament the shaped valances in the sumptuous Great Drawing Room and Anteroom, ‘richly embroidered & trimmed with gimp & fringe finished with tassel & rosettes’.102 The Blue Room at Stowe House was refurnished in the early 1860s with two pairs of blue and white damask curtains ‘bordered with gimp bound cord and lined with white moreen’. These curtains also had four pairs of ‘handsome silk embrace tassels’.103 Tie-backs of varying richness were now almost obligatory, with curtains often made longer than the length of the window by as much as 30 cm (12 in). Webster observed in 1844 that even the simplest style of window curtain consisting ‘of two pieces of dimity, printed calico, muslin or other material [were] kept back in the day by being looped up on each side by a cord fixed on the sides of the window. This curtain may, if thought proper, have some kind of border at the top, with or without a fringe.’104 The recommendation was to support curtains at a lowish level (fig. 8.17) and for them to be ‘tied up with tassels and bands, instead of being fastened back with brass pins; a hook being placed on the architrave, on which the band is slipped’,105 for, as Webster added, ‘it requires some taste to dispose the folds properly [over pins], and some housemaids excel others in this part of their duty.’106 The tie-back cords could be knotted to create the embrasure or they could be made with a wooden barrel-shaped ‘slider’ or ‘holder’ wrapped in silk with added decoration, including gimp cord and net, through which the V I C T O R I A N E X T R AVAG A N C E

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Annabel Westman is Executive Director of The Attingham Trust for the study of historic houses and collections and has a distinguished reputation as an independent textile historian and consultant. Since 1980, she has specialised in the reinstallation of historic interiors for heritage bodies, such as the National Trust, English Heritage and Historic Royal Palaces, private houses and museums, carrying out extensive archival research and advising on numerous projects through to completion.

Schemes have included the restoration of beds, window curtains, wall hangings and carpets on which she has published and lectured widely. She is a trustee of Stowe House Preservation Trust and was appointed a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1997.

Annabel Westman

The Art of the Trimmings-Maker in Interior Decoration

FRINGE FROG & TASSEL

Front: An ornate silk tassel suspended from a double gimp rosette decorated with silk-covered flat wire loops and striped button, c.1820–30. Chatsworth, Derbyshire. Tassel length 15.2 cm (6 in).

Back (left to right): The state bed, c.1768, Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire; curtains in the Drawing Room, 1960–3, Hinton Ampner, Hampshire; the state bed, 1682, Dunham Massey, Cheshire.

Annabel Westman

FRINGE FROG & TASSEL Trimmings are often overlooked as mere details of a furnished interior but in the past they were seen as vital and costly elements in the decoration of a room. They were used not only on curtains and beds but also on wall hangings, upholstered seat furniture and cushions, providing a visual feast for the eye with their colour and intricate detail.

Sometimes more expensive than the rich fabrics they enhanced, trimmings are often the only surviving evidence of a lost decorative scheme, reapplied to replacement textiles or found as fragments in the attic.

This book, the first of its kind, traces their history in Britain and Ireland from 1320 to 1970, examining the design and usage of tassels, fringe, braid (woven lace), gimp and cord and their dependence on French fashion. Lavishly illustrated with new photography, the substantial text links surviving items in historic houses and museums to written evidence, paintings, drawings and other primary sources to provide a firm framework for dating pieces of less-certain provenance.

The importance of the ‘laceman’, the maker of these trimmings, is also examined within an economic and social context, together with the relationship to the upholsterer and interior decorator in the creation of a fashionable room.