A commemorative 'Battle of Trafalgar' linen damask tablecloth, Lisburn, Ireland, 19th century, probably woven by John William and Walter Coulson

Lot Closed

August 12, 01:35 PM GMT

Estimate

400 - 600 GBP

Lot Details

Description

Sold in Aid of the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution)

A commemorative 'Battle of Trafalgar' linen damask tablecloth, Lisburn, Ireland, 19th century, probably woven by John William and Walter Coulson

woven depicting the sea Battle of Trafalgar, the centre with a cartouche with roses and vines enclosing the main scene of half the fleet in formation, named individually, the British Fleet, including Victory, Minotaur, Spartiate, Euryalus, Naiad, Britannia, under Nelson and the division of Vice Admiral Collingwood, including ships Dreadnought, Prince (of Wales), Defence, Thunderer, Defiance, with inscriptions above and below respectively, of ‘October 21, 1805’ and the famous Vice Admiral Lord Nelson flag signal sent to the fleet of ‘England expects every man to do his duty’, the field covered with overall repeat pattern of flaming cannonballs, the corners with large design incorporating two pairs of entwined dolphins flanking groups including a phoenix, fouled anchor, standards and cannon, with woven inscription, ‘Victoria’, the running border with oak leaves and acorns, with outer chequered edging, with hand embroidered blue work laundry mark, initials ‘GP’

454cm. by 260cm.; 14ft. 8in. by 8ft. 5in.

Probably acquired by Ambrose Edmund Butler (1848-1923);
thence by descent to the late Edmund Butler Esq, of Kirkstall Forge, Yorkshire.

Depicting the famous naval engagement of the Battle of Trafalgar, during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1805), with the victorious English fleet, commanded by Admiral Lord Nelson, in HMS Victory, against the French and Spanish combined fleet, 21 October 1805. The 27 British ships were outnumbered by 33 allied ships. With Nelson sailing directly into the opposing the combined fleet, the flank was broken, leading to ultimate victory. This historic battle confirmed the naval supremacy which Britain had held during the 18th century.

For an example of this Nelson Battle of Trafalgar commemorative cloth, (approx. 379cm by 270cm; 12ft by 8ft 8in), and group of accompanying similarly designed napkins, attributed to John William Coulson and Walter Coulson, linen weavers of Lisburn, see the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London (TXT0175-TXT0181).

Coulson of Lisburn, was set up as a damask linen weaving company in Lisburn in 1764, by William Coulson (1739-1801), and became renowned for high quality weave with elaborate designs. Damask and fine linen weaving was continued by his sons, John, William, Walter and James, and although the company was split in 1830’s with James setting up on his own, both firms continued producing high standard linen into the 20th century, for clients including royalty and prestigious clients at home and internationally. They were granted a Royal Warrant by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, in July 1811. Even when the power loom was introduced they still kept to traditional techniques of weaving by hand, as they felt it was a rare skill, and they had certainly mastered it. Several designs were in continued use. It was not unusual to have floral designs and special commissions with family coat-of-arm, cloths of various sizes, including banqueting cloths were accompanied by matching napkins, which were the same design on smaller scale. Others are special commissions, including the linen woven for the social event of the season in 1838, The Waterloo Banquet, in the year of Queen Victoria’s Coronation. The factory eventually closed down in 1931.