PAST AND PRESENT

Reference Number:- Sprake Number:- Godden Number:-
st 24   Noted on page 92 - item 1. 73i
 

Three Stevens silk in one card-mount; The Good Old Days, George Stephenson and The Present Time

Words:
Printed at top of card-mount:-
" There is no quicker way to LONDON than by the TWO HOUR EXPRESSES of the L&NWRy. "

Woven on silk:-
The central silk is of George Stevenson portrait, which has visible the words:
PAST
FIRST LOCOMOTIVE   THE ROCKET

Printed at bottom of card-mount:-
Under the first silk " THE PAST. "
Under the third silk " THE PRESENT. "

Size:
Card-mount:
16.5cm deep by 54.6cm wide

silk:
(a) Stage Coach - 6.4cm high by 17.8cm wide
(b) Stephenson's portrait - 8.3cm high by 6.4cm wide
(c) Steam train - 6.4cm high by 17.8cm wide

Comments:
Both Sprake & Darby, and Godden note the existence of this triple silk, although, as both note, there is no reference to Stevens.
There can however be no doubt that all three silks are Stevens. The mounting above is not an official Stevens mount, and was probably put together as an advertising promotion. The title above being for the London & North Western Railway: Godden noting one for the London & North Eastern Railway.

The three silks which comprise the triple are:

st 264 - The Good Old Days (with winter background scene)
so 488 - George Stephenson portrait (although the bottom 1/4 is covered over by the card-mount)
st 500 - The Present Time (with 6 carriages and no driver)

There are a number of variations of this combination:

A: As the image above, but with no words above the silks, and the image of Stephenson in an oval:

Three Stevens silk in one card-mount; The Good Old Days, George Stephenson and The Present Time
the image of this silk picture was kindly donated by John Hartwig, USA
 

B: Again, as the image above, but with no words above the silks, and the image of Stephenson, whilst in a rectangle, is framed higher so the words are hidden:

Three Stevens silk in one card-mount; The Good Old Days, George Stephenson and The Present Time
 

C: As the image above, but with "LONDON" replaced with "BIRMINGHAM", and a different steam engine - being st 496 on this site:

Three Stevens silk in one card-mount; The Good Old Days, George Stephenson and The Present Time
the image of this silk picture was kindly donated by John Hartwig, USA
 

D: As the image C above, with same steam engine and "George Stephenson" name, but different words:

Three Stevens silk in one card-mount; The Good Old Days, George Stephenson and The Present Time

 

E: As the image above, without any words, with same steam engine and "George Stephenson" name, and the addition in the lower left corner of the words
"WOVEN IN SILK BY
THOMAS STEVENS (COVENTRY) Ltd"
:

Three Stevens silk in one card-mount; The Good Old Days, George Stephenson and The Present Time

 

 



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This page was created on 27 January 2002
the two images donated by John Hartwig added 24 April 2012, and another new image added 27 January 2015. Image E added 29 October 2015, and image E added 24 October 2017

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