unknown - Design for Motifs for Woven Fabrics - 1825–1850 - T-Shirt

This is a sheet of five ornamental motif studies, painted in orange and maroon on a deep brown ground, made as design units for figured textiles between 1825 and 1850.

Visual Elements & Composition

The brown ground dominates the sheet, with ochre gold and dark maroon painted across it. A large oval medallion sits in the upper half, filled with scrolled foliage and small bird-like forms, with pointed finials at top and bottom and projecting lobes at the sides. Four square designs surround it: a small knotted square at upper left, interlaced knotwork around a star-shaped maroon centre at upper right, a scrolled leaf design at lower left, and a fleur-like rosette at lower right. The edges are darkened and torn, with paper tape visible at the margins.

Meaning & Symbolism

The oval medallion works as a focal point, while the squares act as fillers, so each unit could repeat across a length of cloth. The strong contrast of orange against maroon gave every unit a clear outline that translated well into a loom pattern or a printed block. The knotwork and scrolled medallions reflect the historicist revivals of the period, when designers drew on medieval and Renaissance ornament for textiles and interiors. Studies like this were made for manufacturers and circulated through pattern books and sample collections. The original sheet is held in the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum collection.

On the Unisex Heavy Cotton Tee

A tee presents its front as one flat field, which suits a motif built to repeat. The central medallion sits where the eye lands first, and the four squares frame it the way the original sheet arranged them. Up close, the knotwork and fleur-like rosettes reward a second look, and from across a room the strong orange and maroon outlines still read clearly against the brown.