Object Number: Na41

Collection: Applied Art

Object Name: pattern, needlework

Description: Printed design in colours on squared paper for Berlin woolwork; brightly coloured exotic bird facing left amid greenery, tree on right. Identified as 'EASTERN PHEASANT'. Inscribed across top: 'YOUNG LADIES' JOURNAL // EASTERN PHEASANT // OCTOBER 1ST 1873.' across bottom: ' DESIGN IN BERLIN WORK FOR CHEVAL SCREEN, POLE SCREEN, OR PICTURE. // Messrs J.BEDFORD & Co.,186 Regent Street,and 46 Goodge Street Tottenham Court Road, supply materials for working the above design for 3/10; Silk forlightest shades 2/- extra.' Exhibition label: Early designs were hand-coloured but by the 1840s printed designs were being mass-produced. The slipper design is printed onto embossed paper rather than the usual type with printed squares. The large bird is more characteristic of Berlin woolwork designs at the height of their popularity in the 1840s and 1850s; generally, by the 1870s, smaller, geometric patterns were in vogue.