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Celebrating Anna Maria Garthwaite
01/04/2025
Anna Maria Garthwaite - A trailblazing textile designer - 1690 to 1763
Anna Maria Garthwaite - 18th century textile designer
In honour of Women’s History Month, I want to celebrate Anna Maria Garthwaite—the remarkable and to put it into contemporary terms ‘trailblazing’ textile designer who lived England from 1690 to 1763.
She became one of the leading pattern drawers in the English silk industry even though she was unlikely to have received the formal technical training which was usually considered necessary to take up such a profession.
What is even more remarkable is that she started her freelance design business in her 40s, which at the time was quite an advanced age given the living conditions at the time.
Anna Maria Garthwaite lived and worked in Spitalfields, London from about 1730 until her death in 1763. She produced as many as 80 commissioned designs a year for master weavers and mercers. Her interest in natural form--and her talent for depicting it--characterized her designs throughout her professional life (from V&A)
I fell in love with her exquisite watercolour and pencil drawings of patterns when I bought a copy of the History of British Textile in the V&A. The delicate florals and trailing stems with their harmony of colours, use of negative space and their balance all seem to celebrate nature in all its glory.
A couple of years ago I actually had a wander around Spitalfields. Wherever you go, you will find testaments to the once thriving silk industry and the people who created those beautiful patterns.
The V&A in London has a fantastic collection which you can view online or in person if you happen to be in London. I highly recommend a visit.
Here are a few links for more info:
East End Women Museum
Spitalfields Life
Victoria & Albert Museum - Anna Maria Garthwaite
photos courtesy of V&A
.
She became one of the leading pattern drawers in the English silk industry even though she was unlikely to have received the formal technical training which was usually considered necessary to take up such a profession.
What is even more remarkable is that she started her freelance design business in her 40s, which at the time was quite an advanced age given the living conditions at the time.
Anna Maria Garthwaite lived and worked in Spitalfields, London from about 1730 until her death in 1763. She produced as many as 80 commissioned designs a year for master weavers and mercers. Her interest in natural form--and her talent for depicting it--characterized her designs throughout her professional life (from V&A)
I fell in love with her exquisite watercolour and pencil drawings of patterns when I bought a copy of the History of British Textile in the V&A. The delicate florals and trailing stems with their harmony of colours, use of negative space and their balance all seem to celebrate nature in all its glory.
A couple of years ago I actually had a wander around Spitalfields. Wherever you go, you will find testaments to the once thriving silk industry and the people who created those beautiful patterns.
The V&A in London has a fantastic collection which you can view online or in person if you happen to be in London. I highly recommend a visit.
Here are a few links for more info:
East End Women Museum
Spitalfields Life
Victoria & Albert Museum - Anna Maria Garthwaite
photos courtesy of V&A
.
