Thomas StevensPair of Stevens Silk Embroideries of Cambridge & Oxford Rowers on the Thames

Made in pure silk by Thomas Stevens

Thomas Stevens (1828–1888) was a

19th-century weaver in Coventry,

famous for his innovation of the stevengraph,

a woven silk picture.

Stevengraph

showing the London and York Royal Mail Coach, Herbert Art Gallery and Museum.

In the 19th century the town of Coventry, England,

was the centre of a ribbon weaving industry. Thomas Stevens was born in Foleshill,

just to the north of Coventry, in 1828 to a relatively poor family. Stevens

worked for Pears and Franklin, a local ribbon weavers in Coventry, and by 1854

had created his own ribbon firm. In 1860, however, the Cobden–Chevalier Treaty was signed;

this free trade treaty

introduced new competition into the industry, leading to a collapse in the

local ribbon economy and a huge loss of employment in Coventry.

Stevens had considerable experience of experimenting with the Jacquard loom and

responded to the local recession by trying to develop new products. He had

invented a way of using the programmable loom to weave colourful pictures from

silk. By 1862, Stevens could produce four different designs; he attempted to

appeal to the mass market, selling his products between six pence and fifteen

shillings each.[3] Some of these pictures were used for bookmarks, greetings cards and

specialised products for the Admiralty.

Business boomed and Stevens acquired two larger factories in turn; by

1875 he was calling his product the "Stevengraph", named after

himself.] He exhibited internationally in America,

France and Holland, winning some 30 medals and diplomas. In 1878 Stevens

moved to London and began to mount his Stevengraphs as framed pictures - by the

late 1880s Stevens had over 900 different designs. In 1888 Stevens died

following a throat operation and was buried in Coventry.

By the 1930s, Stevengraphs were considered collectable items, but the

hobby was considered eccentric and mainly confined to female collectors. During

the Second World War Coventry was attacked

by German bombers;

on 14 November 1940 the Coventry Blitz occurred,

destroying the Stevens factory and the records of the Stevengraphs. In the late

1950s it emerged that Henry Stephens, a relative of Thomas, had saved one of

the pattern books the night before the attack and kept it in safe storage;

Henry donated it to the Coventry City Council, who in turn entrusted it

with the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum.

Stevengraphs became valuable, with more male collectors entering the hobby. Prices

rose, particularly for unusual or rarer images less popular during the

Victorian period. A large collection of Stevens' work from his pattern book is

still held at the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum.