V & A DECORATIVE PAPERS II Wallpaper Pattern Number 2412-175-04

Pineapple Garden

The Leman Album, one of the V&A’s greatest textile treasures, served as the inspiration for this pineapple pattern. The album has 97 amazingly bright patterns for woven silk fabric that were painted in watercolour in the 18th century. Many are on fold-out pages in colours that look as fresh as the day they were produced. They are Europe’s earliest dated silk designs, created by Huguenot master weaver and designer James Leman, a prominent member of the Spitalfields silk industry in London’s East End. Leman received training in both design and manufacturing, which was unusual at the time for weavers and a rare combination of skills. The striking design features the pineapple, a fruit highly valued by the Georgians as a sign of prestige, that later came to symbolise hospitality and welcome, making Pineapple Garden ideal for home decor.

Archive inspiration: Design for woven silk, James Leman (1688-1745), Spitalfields, London, 1707.

Exclusive to Resene Colorshops and Resene Resellers.

Printed in the UK by 1838 Wallcoverings