Prototype. Chapter text drafted from the research notes and not yet checked at the archives. Images awaiting permission are marked.

Chenille Axminster: James Templeton and William Quiglay's chenille patent (Glasgow, 1839); V&A Templeton sample

Object · not yet checked at the source · Image permission pending

Made by: James Templeton; William Quiglay (Quigley)
Date: patent July 1839; sample late 19th century
Place: Glasgow (Bridgeton; later King Street)
Held by: Victoria and Albert Museum
Number: V&A system no. O352290 (museum number not seen)
Materials: wool, jute/cotton backing
Themes: Rug-making techniques, Woven carpet

View at the source Cited in chapter 1, note 20

Cite this source

James Templeton; William Quiglay (Quigley). Chenille Axminster: James Templeton and William Quiglay’s chenille patent (Glasgow, 1839); V&A Templeton sample, patent July 1839; sample late 19th century. Victoria and Albert Museum, V&A system no. O352290 (museum number not seen). collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O352290/carpet-james-templeton.

Research notes

How it works: a two-stage weave. First a 'weft blanket' is woven in the pattern colours and cut into strips. Each strip is folded into a furry 'chenille' (caterpillar) yarn and then woven into a backing as the pile weft. This gives seamless, Axminster-like cut pile without hand-tying every knot (GSA Archives; Wikipedia). History: the GSA Archives say Templeton and Quiglay, a weaver he employed, patented an improved chenille method in July 1839. Templeton saw its use for carpet and in December 1839 bought out Quiglay's share. Conflicts: Wikipedia calls Quiglay a fellow shawl maker and dates their contact to 1837. A Glasgow paper calls him an Irish weaver, and another account places the chenille experiments in Paisley. This object: a late-19th-century Templeton stair-carpet sample with a Persian palmette and cloud-band design, pile woven in chenille strips, 84.5 × 66.7 cm. See also GSA DC 077/8 (Templeton 'Special Seamless Axminster' stair runner, c. 1880s–1930s; not confirmed as chenille). Sources: https://catalogue.gsaarchives.net/index.php/james-templeton-co · https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Templeton_%26_Co · https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O352290/carpet-james-templeton · https://catalogue.gsaarchives.net/index.php/dc-077-8 Research note (Oct 2026): from search results; pages not opened.