Textiles at the V&A: 1650 to the present

Course Dates: 19/03/25
Time: 11:00 - 15:00
Location: Off Site
Tutors: 
Elizabeth Eyres
This session takes place in the V&A’s remarkable collection. You will see a wide range of woven, printed, painted and embroidered cloth from around the globe and explore the roles these have played in the world’s material culture from about 1650 to the present.
Download
Book your place
In stock
Only 2 left
SKU
240212
Full fee £39.00 Senior fee £31.00 Concession £25.00
Choose a start date

Textiles at the V&A: 1650 to the present
  • Course Code: VB183
  • Dates: 19/03/25 - 19/03/25
  • Time: 11:00 - 15:00
  • Taught: Wed, Daytime
  • Duration: 1 session
  • Location: Off Site
  • Tutor: Elizabeth Eyres

Course Code: VB183

Choose a start date  

Wed, day, 19 Mar - 19 Mar '25

Duration: 1 session

Please note: We offer a wide variety of financial support to make courses affordable. Just visit our online Help Centre for more information on a range of topics including fees, online learning and FAQs.

What is the course about?

On this one-session course you will engage with one of the most overlooked yet important aspects of material culture: the production and consumption (use) of textiles. Besides their most basic functions, textiles have had a huge range of social and cultural functions throughout their history. As well as having been intimately linked to the everyday lives of all members of all societies for millennia, textiles express power and prestige for their owners and wearers, as well as fulfilling symbolic functions.

This course can be taken as a stand-alone visit (no previous knowledge required, all welcome) or an additional session to the autumn term one-day course “Textiles at the V&A” that focussed on early textiles from Roman Egypt to around 1700.

Among other things we will explore the manufacture of woven Spitalfields Silks in London, printed Toiles de Jouy and woven Lyon silks from France, and the impact of imported painted and printed Indian fabrics on English textile production in the 18th century. The Industrial Revolution was driven largely by a desire to mechanize textile production. This in turn drove advances in design in the 19th century, in which textiles played a key role. We will see examples of textiles produced as a result of these changes, and how William Morris and other members of the British Arts and Crafts Movement readdressed how textiles were designed and made in the light of mechanization. We will also examine some examples of 20th century textiles.

Please note that displays at the V&A can change at short notice. A meeting point for the session will be emailed to you at least one week before the session.

What will we cover?

• You will see the different ways in which textiles have been decorated over the centuries by means of figured weaving, printing techniques, painting, embroidery, sewing and dyeing
• We will look at examples of textiles from the late European medieval era, and from 1650 to the 20th century, depending on current displays at the gallery
• You will discover the role and work of key designers in the development of modern textile design in the 19th and 20th centuries.

What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should be able to...

· Describe and recognize at least five different ways of applying pattern and decoration to cloth
· Recognise textiles produced in Spitalfields in London, at the Oberkampf manufactory in France and those produced by Arts and Crafts designer William Morris, and explain their importance
· Identify the work of at least two 20th century textile designers and explain their role in material culture.

What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?

This course is suitable for all levels and requires no previous experience or study of the subject. However, this course is related to another “Textiles at the V&A” course that focussed on textiles from the Ancient World to the 17th century. This is a different course with mostly different textiles, only having a small overlap. It makes no difference if you came on the previous course or if you are an absolute beginner. It will also be a valuable add-on to the online course “VB699 Textiles: An International History”.

How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?

You will be taught in the gallery with lecture and group discussions. Handouts will be provided by your tutor to support your learning on the course; these handouts will be given to you on the day. There will be suggestions of optional follow-up reading and videos that you can watch online to supplement the class, but no formal homework is set. The documents may also be available digitally via Google Classroom and instructions for how to access this will be emailed to you. Please note: the tutor is unable to send documents to individual students via email because of copyright and data protection restrictions.
Please note that museum-based courses take place during public access hours. Tutors are not able to control sound levels or the behaviour of visitors outside the course group. Unless you are a wheelchair user and have confirmed access details with us (as levels of access can vary between galleries), you will need to be able to walk between exhibits and stand for some time while looking at them. You may bring your own portable gallery stool if you have one, but we cannot guarantee access to gallery stools at the V&A as these are available to visitors on an first-come-first-served basis and cannot be reserved. If you feel you may be impacted by these environmental variations, please inform the department on humanities@citylit.ac.uk before the course begins so we can discuss reasonable accommodations that we can make in order to assist your learning in the museum space.

Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?

You might wish to bring a notebook or pad for taking notes. You might wish to buy some of the books on any reading list provided. Entrance to the gallery is free. There is currently a relevant exhibition on at the V&A that you may wish to visit afterwards: “The Great Mughals”. This includes textiles from the period 1560-1660 from Mughal India. If so, you will need to buy tickets for this separately on the day and an entry fee applies. This is not part of the course itself.

When I've finished, what course can I do next?

VB699 Textiles: An International History
VB597 An introduction to the art of seventeenth-century Europe: 1590–1690.

Elizabeth Eyres

Liz Keevill Eyres worked as a textile designer in the fashion industry for four years and then as a magazine journalist specializing in interior design for 13 years. Her first degree was at Camberwell School of Art which she did at the same time as completing a degree in History and Art History with the Open University. Liz studied and has taught at Kingston University, where she lead modules and lectured in history of art, design history and architecture for ten years and ran study visits both at home and abroad. Liz has researched into English Modernist textile design of the 1950s and the professional practice of the provincial Edwardian architect, in particular Norwich-based architect George Skipper.

Please note: We reserve the right to change our tutors from those advertised. This happens rarely, but if it does, we are unable to refund fees due to this. Our tutors may have different teaching styles; however we guarantee a consistent quality of teaching in all our courses.