Roccoco Bookmark

Some bookmarks are an afterthought. This one has three hundred years of history behind it — and it is loud, in the best possible way. A hot pink ground packed with carnations, tulips and feathery white foliage, with flashes of coral, yellow and teal, mirrored into a perfectly balanced repeat.

The design comes from the work of Anna Maria Garthwaite (c.1690–1763), a clergyman's daughter with no formal training who moved to Spitalfields at around forty and became one of the most sought-after textile designers in eighteenth-century London. Working in watercolour, she produced as many as eighty patterns a year for the weavers on her street, and her flower-filled designs helped define what we now call English Rococo. Her original drawings survive in the V&A.

48 × 162mm with a purple satin ribbon threaded through the top, it lies flat in any book and makes a properly pretty small gift — for a book club, tucked inside a birthday card, or for anyone who loves florals, pattern and a bit of design history.

Come and see the full Museums & Galleries range in the shop — there's always more on the shelves than we can fit online.

Key features

• Vivid pink Rococo floral design by Anna Maria Garthwaite (c.1690–1763), one of the leading pattern designers of eighteenth-century London
• Carnations, tulips and lacy white foliage in a mirrored repeat, with coral, yellow and teal highlights
  
• 48mm × 162mm
• Museums & Galleries, the British art-stationery publisher behind the V&A, Tate and British Museum ranges
• Flat enough to post inside a greetings card
• Perfect for book lovers, floral fans, book club gifts and stocking fillers
  

FAQ

• Who was Anna Maria Garthwaite? An English textile designer who lived and worked in Spitalfields, London, from about 1730 until her death in 1763, creating over a thousand patterns. Many of her original drawings survive in the V&A's collection.
• What is Rococo? An ornamental style that spread from 1720s France, full of flowers, leaves, shells and curving forms. Garthwaite's flower-led patterns are the English version of it.
• What size is the bookmark? 48mm wide by 162mm tall.
• Is it suitable as a gift? Yes — a lovely little gift on its own, and light enough to post.