FEATURE // silk, theatre and drama
54 British Patchwork & Quilting AUGUST 2019In the Middle Ages theatre players would process through
a town waving banners, blowing trumpets and handing
out handwritten handbills depicting time and place and
what kind of a performance it was to be. As many people
were illiterate, illustrations were often depicted along with
the writing, such as animals if it was a circus or acrobats.
Sometimes these early small handbills were stuck on posts –
giving us the word ‘poster.’It wasn’t until 1672 when a French theatre company visited
London advertising their performances with large posters,
that the practice was adopted here. By the mid 1800s
lithograph and screen printing began with posters that
could be reproduced in many colours. The British Library
silk poster of 1851 would have been a very early screen print.
The commercial world took notice of the theatre poster
and began advertising just about anything and everything.
Posters were cheap to produce and became big business
using both paper and textiles.Above: 1648 embroidered book jacket for a Bible. Not only
decorative but symbolic of the contents of the book (C.8.g 13)
Right: Two large paper theatre posters. Theatre Royal, London
and Exeter. British Library
Below left: Commercial advertising. London Sewing Machine
and Kilting Company, 1882
Below middle: Silk Poster 1850, British Library (Tab 689a 2)
Below right: Large paper theatre 1820 poster. Theatre Royal.
Bristol. British Library