Portrait of Thomas Edison
 

Thomas Alva Edison

Electrician


Reference Number:- Godden Number:- Sprake Number:-
go 163   not recorded Sprake did not record any Grants
 
Words:

Woven on Silk:-

 

Printed at bottom of card:-
 
 
THOMAS ALVA EDISON,
 
Electrician,
 
WOVEN IN (Registered) PURE SILK.
 
 
Size:
Card-mount:
10.0cm deep by 6.4cm wide

silk:
cm high by cm wide

Comments:

by Geoffrey Godden:
Godden does not record this portrait.

Other comments:
This silk is a very unusual design for a GRANT, although attached to the rear of the silk portrait is a printed short history of Edison, with the GRANT name printed at the bottom:

 
view of printed reverse of this portrait of Thomas Edison
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The New Silk Woven
Portraits.
 
Thos. Alva Edison, Electrician.
 
      A powerful illustration of what
   can be accomplished by persistent
   and determined application in the
   face of adverse circumstances, is
   found in the subject of our present
   sketch, THOMAS ALVA EDISON.
   Commencing life as a News-boy,
   he has worked his way up to the
   position of an Inventive Genius
   of the first order.
      His first inventive success was
   an Automatic Signalling Instru-
   ment, followed shortly after by
   another for Duplex Telegraphing.
      During the past 12 years he has
   taken out about 200 patents; he is
   the inventor of the Phonograph,
   Electric Pen, Loud Speaking
   Telephone, and the system of
   Electric Lighting, which bears
   his name.
      This Portrait is woven by
   Electricity, supplied by a gener-
   ator of his invention.
 
Manufactured by W. H. GRANT,
Foleshill, Coventry
 
 

Edison was born 11th February, 1847, and died 18th October, 1931. It is not known when this silk portrait was first made, although as the printed narrative mentions " Electric Lighting which bears his name, " Edison formed the Edison Electric Light Company in 1878 and launched it on the New York public in 1879. This silk hence must be dated to later.

It was however not until 1882 that Edison first started generating and distributing electricity in Great Britain, and as Grant claims to be using it, this probably dates the silk to circa 1883.



Back to List of Grant Portraits
Back to main page

This page was created on 5 April 2020 © Peter Daws - Stevengraph-Silks