[ The Spanish textiles industry. ] Manufacturer's sample book, containing in excess of 2000 examples of clothing labels

Author: 
[ Spanish clothing labels; textiles; fashion industry of Spain ]
Publication details: 
Spanish. Undated (1920's onwards?). Containing loosely inserted material dating from 1949 and 1962.
£950.00
SKU: 17801

The collection consists of more than 2000 labels, laid down on 117pp of a substantial, heavy and thumb-indexed folio volume (38 X 27 X 7 cm), bound in brown cloth. The collection is in good condition, with the inevitable signs of age, in heavily aged and worn binding. Loosely inserted are seven pieces of card and one of paper, carrying around 50 more examples, and three more pieces of paper with sixteen examples of woven coloured ribbon, as well as three enlarged folded grid designs for the weaving of labels. In two cases these grid designs are accompanied by the actual labels as manufactured. The first of the grid designs is for the Barcelona department store Casa Vilardell, and has 'RECLAMO - STUDIO' stamped on the reverse; the second is for Gregorio Hernández Acosta of La Palma; and the third, for the German market, reads 'Cord | Garantiert Florest', with the stamp of Artesania Textil López of Barcelona, and the date 8 May 1962. The identity of the manufacturer is unknown. There is a large paper label on front cover, with 'No. 2' in manuscript and printed details of Barcelona stationer Francisco Sabater, whose illustrated printed label ('Libros Rayados, Muestrarios, Papeleria, Objetos de Escritorio') is laid down on the front pastedown. sThe labels are mostly rectangular, but there are also triangular, circular and square examples. The cumulative effect is attractive. The lettering, generally in a distinctive house style, is usually in yellow, red, green or white thread, and usually on a black ground (but also with grounds of purple, red and other colours). Another large group of labels is produced on plain white cloth, usually with red stitching. Among the labels are a few designs drawn onto the page of the album. The firm traded internationally, with labels not only hailing from all over Spain (but mainly Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia and Zaragoza), but also for other parts of Europe and for Latin America, with one even hailing from North Africa: 'AUX QUATRE SAISONS | Confections | CASABLANCA'. Many have been produced for customers in Paris and Havana, and there are others from Portugal, Mexico, Bolivia and elsewhere. English trade mark labels are also present, probably for garments using English textiles, e.g. 'Guaranteed Waterproof | Trade Mark | MANCHESTER'. One label for sportswear is said to have been 'Modelo con permiso especial de JACK JOHNSON'. A number of the labels contain pictorial elements. One, for 'Camiseria Bellfort', shows a man and woman in Edwardian dress drinking, another the Alhambra, another (for 'J.C.P.') shows a cat holding a flag, another a man getting dressed, another a cat chasing a squirrel into a tree. Also among the material loosely inserted in the volume are carbons of letters to Manufacturas Dam of Zaragoza and Juan Olivares Segura of Villena, Alicante, both dating from 1949.