Textiles - Victoria and Albert Museum

V&A Pattern: The Fifties

By Sue Prichard, 2009
Format: 80pp, 129mm x 178mm
Illustrations: 65 colour, Hardback
ISBN: 9781851775859
Price and availability: £7.99 Worldwide

Featuring some of the museum's most enduing and popular patterns, 'The Fifties' is part of the V&A Pattern series which also includes 'Digital Pioneers', 'Indian Florals' and 'William Morris'. The pocket-sized books make attractive and collectable gifts but are also a valuable source of ideas for designers of all kinds. Commercial designers looking to license patterns can use these books as a starting point for research. Complete with a free CD of the images inside - to be redrawn or reworked.

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Chintz: Indian Textiles for the West

By Rosemary Crill, 2008
Format: 144pp, 250mm x 300mm
Illustrations: 150 colour, Hardback
ISBN: 9781851775323
Price and availability: £30.00 Worldwide

Chintz's origins as a hand-drawn and dyed fabric from India are often forgotten, but it is with these rare earlier chintzes that this book is concerned. It explores in detail the background and development of this beautiful technique and looks at the use of chintzes in Europe from the early 17th century to the mid-19th century. Here the V&A's collection is published for the first time in glorious colour including close-up details.

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Tartan

By Jonathan Faiers, 2008
Format: 384pp, 190mm x 246mm x 30mm
Illustrations: 150 colour, Hardback
ISBN: 9781845203771
Price and availability: £29.99 Worldwide

Tartan has colonized the world. The flexibility of its design and the traditionalism of its symbolism – as well as the travels of the Scots – have taken the fabric around the globe. Traditionally the visual sign of clanship and district, tartan was popularized outside Scotland by the tartan-clad Highland regiments and Queen Victoria’s royal endorsement. Beautifully illustrated and weaving together a story out of history, art, music, film and fashion, Tartan contains everything you ever wanted to know about this most radical and most traditional of fabrics.

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Central Asian Ikats

By Ruby Clark, 2007
Format: 96pp, 247mm x 247mm
Illustrations: 80 colour, Paperback
ISBN: 9781851775255
Price and availability: £19.99 Worldwide

This invaluable introduction to the magnificent ikat textiles of Central Asia sets the creation of these fabrics into the context of a long history of textile production, which once centred around the trade of the famous Silk Road. Illustrated throughout with glorious examples from the collection of Doris Raus, Central Asian Ikats examines the social significance and various functions of these fabrics in Central Asian culture, as well as describing the fascinating and complex technique.

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Oriental Carpets and their structure

By Jennifer Wearden , 2003
Format: 144pp, 247mm x 300mm
Illustrations: 150 colour, Hardback
ISBN: 1 85177 411 4
Price and availability: £30.00 Worldwide

This introductory book covers the history of carpets in the West from the 16th century. It is only when we have an understanding of how carpets are woven that we can explore the real nature of their design. An illustrated chapter on weaving methods is supplemented by detailed structural analyses of each carpet: the result is a volume that illuminates the subject and will be of great value to collectors, designers and textile historians alike.

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Chinese Textiles

By Verity Wilson, 2005
Format: 128pp, 210mm x 245mm
Illustrations: 120 colour, 10 black and white, Hardback
ISBN: 1 85177 438 6 (HB)
Price and availability: £30.00 Worldwide

Every Chinese textile tells a story, and this book tells many stories of Chinese life and legend through the sumptuous textiles that adorn its pages. Breathtaking in workmanship, colour and design, they were made for a purpose, whether to celebrate life or to mourn the dead. As well as dealing with technique and influence, Wilson tells the story of each piece - why it was made and for whom - and introduces us to a galaxy of characters from China's history and legend.

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Ottoman Embroidery (Paperback)

By Marianne Ellis and Jennifer Wearden, 2001
Format: 144pp, 250mm x 300mm
Illustrations: 150 colour, 12 line drawings, Paperback
ISBN: 1851773576
Price and availability: £18.95 Worldwide

This book is a celebration of the V&A’s extensive collection of Ottoman embroidery which ranges from the middle of the 16th century to 1900. An introductory text puts the collection in context, explaining who the Ottomans were and their impact on Europe. All techniques are clearly explained through diagrams, which provide simple guidance and invaluable information for needleworkers.

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Medieval Life and Leisure in the Devonshire Hunting Tapestries

By Linda Woolley, 2002
Format: 128pp, 250mm x 300mm
Illustrations: 80 colour, Paperback
ISBN: 1851773762
Price and availability: £19.95 Worldwide

The four magnificent Devonshire Tapestries housed at the V&A are the only great 15th-century tapestries to survive the ravages of time. This book celebrates them and offers a unique insight the world of the late Middle Ages in rich and fascinating detail. The tapestries provide a vivid picture of the hunt in all its forms, and are packed with detail. In addition they are a vital source of information about medieval dress and fashion.

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Art Deco Textiles (Hardback)

By Charlotte Samuels, 2003
Format: 144pp, 250mm x 300mm
Illustrations: 150 colour, Hardback
ISBN: 1 85177 392 4
Price and availability: £30.00 Worldwide

The age of Art Deco is one of the most innovative and vibrant periods of textile design when sophisticated and exotic prints dazzled the world and ideas generated by avant-garde artists began to appear in fabrics and fashion. Published to coincide with the Art Deco 1910-1939 exhibition, Art Deco Textiles is a glamorous addition to the series of books celebrating the V&A’s world-renowned collection of textiles.

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Art Deco Textiles (Paperback)

Art Deco Textiles book cover (paperback)

By Charlotte Samuels, 2003
Format: 144pp, 250mm x 300mm
Illustrations: 150 colour, Paperback
ISBN: 9781851773916
Price and availability: £19.95 Worldwide

The age of Art Deco is one of the most innovative and vibrant periods of textile design when sophisticated and exotic prints dazzled the world and ideas generated by avant-garde artists began to appear in fabrics and fashion. Published to coincide with the Art Deco 1910-1939 exhibition, Art Deco Textiles is a glamorous addition to the series of books celebrating the V&A’s world-renowned collection of textiles.

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Samplers from the Victoria and Albert Museum

By Clare Browne and Jennifer Wearden, 1999
Format: 144pp, 250mm x 300mm
Illustrations: 162 colour, 40 line drawings, Paperback
ISBN: 1 85177 290 1
Price and availability: £25.00 Worldwide

This wonderful array of samplers is drawn from the V&A's outstanding collection. Illustrations and text provide a historical survey of samplers, their purposes and patterns, together with a practical guide, through details and line drawings, to the many different types of stitches used in their working. The book will be invaluable both to embroidery and needlework enthusiasts and to those interested in social history, since samplers often reveal an abundance of intimate detail about their makers and the domestic society in which they lived.

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