Design Card

1875-1922

Item

Dimensions 153mm X 245mm

Image, Selwyn

Royal School of Needlework: Created by the Royal School of Art Needlework as miniaturised versions of designs. Original designs were miniaturised and either traced or copied onto 'Design Cards' which were sent out to clients for next day approval. This was part of the work of the 'Painting Room' sometimes referred to as the Paintroom, the department responsible for all design and draftsmanship.
Image, Selwyn: Selwyn Image (17 February 1849 – 21 August 1930) was a designer associated with the Arts and Crafts Movement. He designed across multiple media, and is particularly known for his stained glass windows, but also designed furniture, embroidery and illustrated books. He contributed designs over a number of years to the Royal School of Art Needlework. He was also the seventh Slade Professor of Fine Art at the University of Oxford from 1910 to 1916.

Design card recording a design showing a fig, attributed on the card to Selwyn Image and described on the card as a chair back. The design is shown with a printed photograph of a worked example on a fringed textile. The design card is of a type that seems to date from the early twentieth century, although it still pre-dates the school's name change from Royal School of Art Needlework in 1921. It suggests the longevity of Selwyn Image's designs for the RSN, his first design for the school dates from 1879. As this is a photograph of a worked example of a design we can infer that this design remained popular for some years and new design cards were made with earlier worked examples. The design shows the influence of Elizabethan and Jacobean Crewelwork embroidery on the designs of the RSN and of the Arts and Crafts Movement.

S Image (pencil) Printed 'Royal School of Needlework South Kensington ' at the top and 'Kindly return as soon as possible' at the bottom

D1/009