This tusser silk was woven in India and dyed by Thomas Wardle and Co. in England. It was produced in nine colours and sold through the fashionable London store, Liberty & Co., from around 1880. The design is entitled 'Tanjore Lotus', and was one of several manufactured by Wardle and Co., taking inspiration from Indian, Persian, Chinese and Japanese designs.
Thomas Wardle was a leading textile manufacturer and dyer working in Leek, Staffordshire. He took over his father's dyeworks in the early 1870s, and went on to become one of the leading British textile manufacturers of the late 19th century. Wardle was an early member of the Arts and Crafts Movement, and acquired patterns from leading designers such as Morris, Day, Crane, Voysey, and Butterfield. He produced fabrics for stores including Liberty & Co., Heal & Son and Debenham & Freebody, and between 1883 and 1888 he also traded through his own shop on New Bond Street in London.