Extensive Archive of Over 800 Textile Designs in Pencil and Watercolour on Paper and Tracing Paper and Other Ephemera, dating from 1860-72, by John Barker of Manchester (1825-1879)
John was meticulous with his work, all his designs are signed and most dated, whether they are finished watercolours or pencil sketches on tiny pieces of paper, latterly through the archive he includes the time spent on some of the pieces and the amount that he charged to the client, the following names are inscribed on some designs, in the 1860's Messrs Pincoff & Co and H J Ralli & Co, Crumb & Hyde Newton Bank, Scotland and from 1864 the name Mr Bradshaw appears many times, these could possibly have been clients or factories that he was selling to. From the paper he used, including the woven pieces for his finished designs, to the colours he incorporated you can surmise that he ran a relatively comfortable studio, his designs were very on trend incorporating popular motifs, for example the boteh and paisley themes influenced by the Indian Revival, chinoserie and from the mid 1860's the influence of Persian motifs, as the export trade to Constantinople was developing, also a copy of the Manchester City News Saturday 22 March 1879 featuring the obituary of John Barker, a copy of the Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, Saturday 22 March 1879, again featuring the obituary of John Barker
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