Pierre Langlade's Design Sketches
- Reference:GB 248 STOD/203/1/3
- Dates of Creation:1860s-1890s
- Physical Description:4 folios & 1 volume
Scope and Content
In addition to the volume, Pierre Langlade's 'sketch books' are primarily folios that contain numerous loose sketches, from more formal floral studies to montages of carpet design details. The vast majority of sketches are in pencil, and a few have been partially coloured. These are either drawn directly onto, or pasted onto, a variety of different types of paper, from tracing paper to white and coloured cartridge paper. Some of these sheets carry the embossed stamp 'P. LANGLADE, Á AUBUSSON (CREUSE)', and the majority of the pictorial sketches are signed with his 'PL' monogram. A number of the carpet design montages are marked with a large 'X', and some also have illegible writing, which is possibly in French, along one side. A slightly larger folio has been removed from Drawer 113 of the Stoddard Internationl plc Design Archive along with a photocopy of the book Album Historique et Pittoresque de la Creuse, which was illustrated, edited and published by Pierre Langlade in 1847, and some additional unrelated correspondence. The photocopied book has been discarded as it can be accessed through Google Books, along with the correspondence, while the folio has been reunited with Langlade's other work.
Administrative / Biographical History
Pierre Langlade was a designer for Henry Widnell & Stewart Co. during the latter part of the 19th century. Langlade was born on 28 May 1812 in Aubusson, France, a small town famed for its carpet design and manufacture since the 16th century. Langlade trained in Paris from the age of 17, and he specialised in artistic designs and flower painting. After a short return to Aubusson where he worked for the carpet manufacturing firm Tallandrousse de Lamornais, he returned to Paris in 1843 to set up his own publishing and printing business. In 1855 he married Parisian Louise Esau, and once again returned to his old firm in Aubusson, which by 1856 had established a strong connection with Henry Widnell & Stewart. This brought an influx of skilled Scottish operatives from Bonnyrigg to teach the French workers the Whytock printing process for Tapestry carpets, which had been invented by Richard Whytock in 1832. Pierre Langlade formed close bonds with the Scots he worked alongside, and in 1864 moved to Bonnyrigg, Midlothian, where he was employed as a designer for Henry Widnell & Stewart for the next 30 years. Langlade died on 3 November 1909 at the ripe old age of 97, and is buried at the Cockpen and Carrington Church, Bonnyrigg.
Personal Names