18th Century Textile Sample Books
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Last updated: Oct 14, 2025
Textile sample books, fabric albums, and similar source materials with samples of fabric from the 18th century.
Pages of fabric swatches are also visible in portraits of the fabric merchant by Willem van Mieris the Younger (1752) and Giovanni Battista Tensi, fabric merchant by Johann Baptist Lampi the Elder (1780), as well as Snip Anglois (1773), Deny it if you can – Nine Taylors makes a Man (1774), and Trying on a turn’d coat!! (1799).
A “swatch book filled with samples of fabric which one takes [around] in town” also appears in the diagrams of the tailor’s tools in Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, 1765, s.n. Tailleur d’habits et tailleur de corps.
- Fabric Samples from an Early New York Businesswoman, fabric samples sent by Mary Alexander, 1726 (New-York Historical Society, Alexander Papers, MS 8); see also Notions from an early New York businesswoman
- Samples of ribbons from French manufacturers and foreigners collected by the Marechal de Richelieu: ribbon, 1735; ribbon, 1736; ribbon, 1736; ribbons from Paris, 1736
- Samples from cloth and canvas manufacturers of France and foreigners collected by the Marechal de Richelieu: taffetas appearing in Paris in 1734; fabrics, 1735; fabrics, 1736; fabrics, 1736; fabrics, 1736; fabrics, 1737; fabrics from France, 1736; fabrics from Holland, indiennes, 1736; fabrics from Gennes, 1736; fabrics of Lyon, 1736; fabrics, 1737; fabrics, 1737; fabrics, 1737; fabrics, 1737; fabrics, 1737; fabrics, 1737; manufactuers at Rouen, 1737; manufacturers at Rouen, 1737
- A notebook with textile samples, Aberdeen, 1737 (Library of the National Museum of Scotland, SAS Ms.620, MSS. VIII.21.1)
- Met 156.415 Ec4 F, enchantillon de drap du XVIIIme siecle, Pennautier, c. 1740
- V&A T.219-1973, album with textile samples and fashion plates, compiled by Barbara Johnson of England between 1746 and 1823 (see also A Lady of Fashion: Barbara Johnson’s Album of Styles and Fabrics)
- The Holker Album, samples of English textiles collected in 1751
- V&A T.375-1972, a book with examples of various silks, c. 1755-1765
- Colonial Williamsburg 1971-174 Londrins Seconds wool broadcloth sample card, France, c. 1760
- MCC Slave Voyage The Unity, 1761-1763: Textiles in the Slave Trade
- V&A 67-1885, book of patterns for wool worsted, John Kelly, Norwich, 1763; “John Kelly was the agent of a Norwich textiles manufacturer. This book is his 'counter-part', or matching copy, of a pattern book sent to Portugal and Spain, where customers could choose from the numbered samples and have their orders prepared back in Norwich. The book shows the range of patterns and colours thought likely to appeal to the Spanish and Portuguese market in 1763, the date it was sent, and the colourful names given by manufacturers to convey fashionable or exotic novelty, like martinique, harlequin, floretta and diamantine.”
- V&A T.373-1972, a traveling salesman’s book with samples of dress silks from Lyon c. 1763-1764 (see also Selling Silks: A Merchant’s Sample Book)
- The Pattern Book of a Wool Merchant with Connexions to Exeter, Patterns from 25 March 1763 to 30 May 1764 (see also The Exeter Cloth Dispatch Book)
- V&A 68-1885, John Kelly, Norwich, 1767
- Winterthur 07x005, a pattern book of textiles produced by Benjamin & John Bower of Manchester, 1767, including fustians, checks, plaids, stripes, and a basket-weave fabric; also contains moleskin, velvets, corduroy, and dimity
- William Butt’s dye book, 1768-1785 (Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Osborn fc173); “Manuscript volume containing dozens of detailed recipes for cloth dye, accompanied by small fabric swatches dyed in the intended colors. Some entries accompanied by slips containing cloth orders and batch results.”
- Anders Berch’s Theatrum œconomico-mechanicum, samples dating from 1741-1770 (NM.0017648B), which includes samples of Swedish wool, linen, and silk fabrics, as well as imported goods such as Yorkshire kerseys, etc. (see also 1700-tals textil: Anders Berchs samling i Nordiska museet)
- V&A T.374-1972, book with textile samples (brocades, silks, satins) including different colorways of the same pattern, divided by season (lighter silks in summer, heavier in winter), with samples dated in ink, London c. 1770-1780; may follow V&A T.375-1972
- Met 156.4 T31, textile sample book with swatches of fustian fabric made by the Manchester manufacturing firm of Benjamin and John Bower, 1771 (see also “The Bower Textile Sample Book” in Textile History)
- Newport Historical Society 91.16.14, fabric sample books with swatches of fustian and cotton from Samuel Philips and Company, Manchester, 1771
- V&A T.376-1972, book with silks, including gold and brocaded silks; Batchelor, Ham & Perigal, England, c. 1774-1795
- Met 23.88.4, textile sample book with cotton swatches, Japan, c. 1775
- Winterthur 65x700, book with various types of Manchester cottons, c. 1775-1815
- Winterthur 65x699, book with various kinds of Manchester cottons in subdued olive-brown colors, made by Nathaniel and Joshua Gould in Manchester, c. 1775-1815
- Colonial Williamsburg 1974-47, a merchant’s sample book with over 1,500 swatches of silk textiles, including satins, damasks, flush effects, brocaded silks, and taffetas, Spitalfields, 1777-1786
- Met 156.41 P34, textile sample book containing swatches of printed calico from 1780
- Colonial Williamsburg 1974-570, a cotton swatch book with 567 small swatches of printed, corded, and fancy-weave textiles, Thomas Smith, Manchester, c. 1780
- V&A T.44-1981, pattern book with about 130 samples of printed cottons and block impressions on paper, mostly stripes and small floral motifs in red and black, Lauzun & Fils, Agen, c. 1780-1800
- V&A T.377:168-1972, with spring and winter seasons silks produced by Batchelor, Ham and Perigal, c. 1781-1786; contains “Common Figured Satins, Common Figured Checks, Common Figured Stripes, Common Figured Sarsnets”
- Marie-Antoinette’s wardrobe book for 1782, compiled by Geneviève de Gramont (see also Gazette des atours de Marie-Antoinette)
- Colonial Williamsburg 1974-569, a swatch book with 430 swatches of small-scale geometric printed cottons, twill-woven cottons, tabby-woven cottons, and corded weave cottons with napped and plain finishes, Thomas Smith, Manchester, 1783
- Winterthur 65x698, book with samples of various kinds of Manchester printed cottons, velvets, dimities, quiltings, cords, diapers, etc., Thomas Smith, Manchester, 1783
- Winterthur 65x695.6, book with samples of Norwich worsteds, c. 1783-1787
- Met 1985.135, textile sample book with cotton swatches, Samuel Grey, Manchester, 1784
- V&A 380-1972, book of textile samples, including silks, brocades, uncut velvet, painted textiles, figured velvets, watered ducapes, figured satin; J & J Jourdain, England, c. 1784-1785
- Winterthur 65x695.1, book with samples of Norwich worsteds, including including camelots, sattins, tabourets, fleurets, callemandres, and camelottines, c. 1785-1831
- Musée de l’Armée N 75, 1786 cavalry uniform sample album
- V&A T.384-1972, Maze & Steer, “Fancy Vestings and Handkerchief goods,” Spitalfields, c. 1786-1791; book of textile samples divided by seasons (darker silks for winter), including silks and cottons
- V&A T.378-1972, c. 1786-1795, English textile samples, mostly floral-like, including different colorways of the same patterns, with pages divided by season; front cover inscribed “1786 watered silks and figured satins”
- Catalogue of the Different Specimens of Cloth, Captain Cook’s catalogue of tapa cloth samples, published by Alexander Shaw in 1787
- Winterthur 65x695.4, book with samples of Norwich worsteds, 1788
- V&A T.119-1959, an upholsterer’s estimate attached to samples of woodblock cotton prints, addressed to Mr. Robinson of Winchmore Hill, 1790s
- Met 35.24.1, textile sample book, France, 18th century
- Met 43.79, textile sample book containing swatches of fabrics produced by François Debray et Cie. in Amiens in the late 18th century
- V&A T.173-1914, a pattern book with samples of various British and French woven silks, c. 1790-1795
- Winterthur 65x695.5, book with samples of Norwich worsteds, Booth & Theobald, c. 1790-1810
- The wardrobe book of Mme. Elisabeth (for Marie-Antoinette), summer 1792
- V&A T.89-1973, book with textile samples that include satins, taffetas, and striped satin and taffeta together, chiné, and skirt flounces; many silks with dark grounds and some with Etruscan coloring, terra cotta and black; Batchelor, Ham & Perigal, Spitalfields, 1792-1794
- Winterthur 65x695.2, book with samples of Norwich worsteds, John Christopher Hampp, c. 1793-1795
- Winterthur 65x695.3, book with samples of Norwich worsteds, including brocd. callimancoes, fine single cambletts, cheque camlettes, battavias, flower’d taboratts, and fine lastings, c. 1794-1797
- V&A T.350-1989, a sample book with different types, qualities, and colors of cassimere/kerseymere cloth, England, 1795
- Winterthur 66x141, sample book of designs for printed cotton, with examples of 18th century calico-printed textiles, c. 1795-1799
- Cooper Hewitt 1936-29-4, sample book from T. Th. Clerc fils & Cie., late 18th-early 19th century
