P3 has note
| - This cloth was manufactured especially to show the technical skills of the weaver rather than for sale for domestic use. The design of this tablecloth shows the 1851 Great Exhibition building in the centre, with side borders representing the continents of Asia, Europe, Africa and America.
The cover was manufactured by Henry Walmsley of Failsworth, Lancashire . It was woven by power-activated jacquard loom, and the execution of the design was said to have taken 84,000 cards. The cards were bored with holes which followed the pattern required. These were then sewn together in sequence and mounted on the jacquard attachment on the top of the loom. The holes then controlled the lifting of threads in sequence on the loom. The cost of the design and the cutting of cards was 'upwards of œ800', an enormous amount for this time.
This <i> tour de force</i> of scale and weaving was typical of exhibits at the 1851 Exhibition, where the importance of innovative technique frequently had precedence over good design. It was one of four examples of the same design shown at the Exhibition (class XI, no. 51). The others were in silk, cotton and worsted, and cotton, all in various colours. (en)
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