The Glasgow based carpet manufacturing company James Templeton and Co, had been producing carpeting from their factory at Bridgeton since 1839. By the 1851 Great Exhibition held in London, the company was barely a decade old. However, the company no doubt saw the Exhibition as an ideal opportunity to both publicise their output on a larger stage and to procure orders, hopefully on an international scale.
Although many of the public saw the Great Exhibition as part funfair and part patriotic festival, for many manufacturers, retailers and designers it was seen as much more of a trade show, where products could be displayed in order to advertise and sometimes even aggrandise various companies and retailers. It was expected as standard that deals would be managed and orders finalised in an atmosphere that was both international and cosmopolitan.
Very few British companies were lacking the foresight not to be represented at the Exhibition and James Templeton and Co was no exception. The carpets shown by them in London in 1851, two of which are illustrated here, were considered to be some of the finest examples that Britain could offer. It has to be remembered of course that British companies, particularly in the field of luxury interior textiles, were in direct competition with the leaders in the field of interior decoration, France.
French carpeting companies were considered superior to the British, even by the British themselves. Therefore, the standard of design work produced for the Great Exhibition had to be raised much higher than was perhaps expected for average British retail sales. A number of British companies within the textile area of the decorative arts, laboured hard and produced work that was exceptional and highly praised at the time. However, that much of it was either French inspired or even copied, says much about the insecurity of British design and decorative work in relation to the high level of production that was often seen as standard by French companies and retailers involved in the decorative arts.
Illustration: James Templeton & Co. Carpet design, 1851.
It is this insecurity and fear of British design and decoration repeatedly falling behind that of the French that was one of the driving forces at the heart of the Great Exhibition and its formulation. The British were aware in the mid nineteenth century that with their advanced stage of industrialisation, they could compete well against the French as far as quantity was concerned. However, quality was a very different matter and the rush to mass production had left style, design and intelligent pattern work very much outside of the equation.
It was obvious to many that the British decorative arts represented at the Great Exhibition fell somewhat short when compared to those offered by the French. Much of the decorative work was either hastily put together, often by under qualified design teams, or was ill judged, with decoration and ornamentation appearing confusing and often clashing badly with the practical purpose of products. However, this was not true of all British companies as there was an element that was international in flavour, although the percentage of design work that lacked conviction and good judgement as far as design was concerned was noticeably higher amongst the British entries.
The carpet designs shown in this article were not particularly badly designed or decorated. That they were largely derivative of French styles is obvious, but could easily be put down to both the contemporary tastes of the British public and the need to reflect by imitation, the high standards that were assumed to be within the French sphere of decoration and design. It is unknown how many firm orders James Templeton & Co received from the Great Exhibition. However, the fact that they remained in business as a strong and successful carpet manufacturer over a century after the exhibition, says something about both the quality and direction in decorative pattern work that the company was to take after the Exhibition.
Reference links:
London Life and the Great Exhibition, 1851 (Then & There)
Britain, the Empire, and the World at the Great Exhibition of 1851
The Great Exhibition of 1851: A Nation on Display
1851 Opening Great Exhibition Building Architecture
The World for a Shilling: How the Great Exhibition of 1851 Shaped a Nation
The Industry Of Nations, As Exemplified In The Great Exhibition Of 1851: The Materials Of Industry
Victorian and Edwardian Furniture and Interiors: From the Gothic Revival to Art Nouveau
