Stevengraph silk portrait - so144: Robert Burns

by Sprake:

by Godden:
The well know Scottish poet was born in 1759 and died in 1796.
This subject, the first non-political small sized portrait woven by Thomas Stevens, is listed on label 23+10+2 of c.1887. It is normally found mounted on card C2. The title was included in an advertisement published in May 1887.

Three versions are at present known - although a fourth may exist without the spray of thistle woven across the front.

The version most often met with has the portrait facing half right, with a spray of thistles woven across the front of the jacket. No wording appears on the silk - only the title and credit printed on the mount [so140 on this site].

A variation occurs [the image above] when slight shading is woven up to eye-level.

A very rare smaller version [so148 on this site] shows the same basic portrait, but with a verse of 'Auld Lang Syne' woven above the portrait.

Other comments:
As noted by Godden, there are two versions of this portrait, one [with shading from the shoulder down [being so140 on this site], the second being the version above with the same shading from the shoulder, plus an additional very light shading from the eye-level down.

Reference Number:-	Sprake Number:-	Godden Number:-
so 144	not recorded	94a

Words:	Woven on silk:- Printed at bottom of card-mount:- WOVEN IN PURE SILK BY T. STEVENS, COVENTRY. ROBERT BURNS.
Size:	Card-mount: cm deep by cm wide silk: cm deep by cm wide
Comments:	by Sprake: by Godden: The well know Scottish poet was born in 1759 and died in 1796. This subject, the first non-political small sized portrait woven by Thomas Stevens, is listed on label 23+10+2 of c.1887. It is normally found mounted on card C2. The title was included in an advertisement published in May 1887. Three versions are at present known - although a fourth may exist without the spray of thistle woven across the front. The version most often met with has the portrait facing half right, with a spray of thistles woven across the front of the jacket. No wording appears on the silk - only the title and credit printed on the mount [so140 on this site]. A variation occurs [the image above] when slight shading is woven up to eye-level. A very rare smaller version [so148 on this site] shows the same basic portrait, but with a verse of 'Auld Lang Syne' woven above the portrait. Other comments: As noted by Godden, there are two versions of this portrait, one [with shading from the shoulder down [being so140 on this site], the second being the version above with the same shading from the shoulder, plus an additional very light shading from the eye-level down.

ROBERT BURNS