Crossing Sensory Borders: The Fabric of British Periodicals

[...]geographic borders exerted complex influences on production and consumption during the period spanning from the Napoleonic Wars to the 1851 Great Exhibition. Tools for Conversation and Consumption: The Repository of Arts One of the most striking aspects of the Repository of Arts is the "Allegorical Wood-cut, with Patterns of British Manufacture" that appeared regularly during its first monthly series (1809–15).4 The patterns framed within the allegorical woodcut included fabrics intended for furnishings as well as for male and female dress (figure 2).5 Two variations of the allegorical woodcut were used interchangeably, with each version's iconography positively linking nationalism, industry, art, and science in a way that reflected the journal's broad concerns, particularly during its early years when its target audience included both men and women.6 Despite the superior quality of Ackermann's hand-colored fashion plates, few of the images replicated the details and effects visible in the fabric specimen (figure 3). According to a letter from "Mercator & Co." printed in the February 1810 issue in a recurring feature titled "On Commerce," women living in the country and city should be kept informed of manufacturing matters, not only to make better purchases but also to learn to "converse scientifically on these topics. Best, History of Fashion Journalism, 16. Besides periodicals, French technical manuals like Jean Persoz's Traité théorique et pratique (1846) sometimes contained fabrics.