The Right Hon. W.E. GLADSTONE, M.P.

Woven on Silk:-
 

Printed at top of card:-
TRIED, TRUSTED, TRUE.

Printed at bottom of card:-
W.H GRANT, MANUFACTURER, FOLESHILL, COVENTRY
 
WOVEN IN PURE SILK
 
The Right Hon. W.E. Gladstone, M.P.

Card-mount:
18.6cm deep by 13.3cm wide

silk:
11.2cm high by 6.3cm wide

by Geoffrey Godden:

This early Grant silk, which was first issued in 1885, bears the Grant name and address printed on the card-mount, below the portrait. Some examples have an outline of Gladstone's career printed on the back-label; others have the normal label listing the available silks.

The portraits of Gladstone are of two main types with slight variations - mainly in the colouring of the flowers below the silk (which are completely missing on some early examples) - and may be found in two sizes.

The standard version (§1036) is shown above.

The earlier black-and-white version (§1036a) is of small size, some 3¼ inches high, and the printed title on the card-mount reads 'Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, Esq., M.P.' [see go212 on this site].
With some examples of this rare small-size silk, Mr Gladstone is shown facing half right (§1036b) {see go216}, not the usual half left.

The Stevens firm also produced portrait silks depicting Gladstone.

 

Other comments:
In reality there are multiple versions of the Gladstone silks, with multiple titles printed on the card matt. Most, if not all, are recorded on this site.