EDINBURGH.- A unique archive, the extensive J&D Paton collection has the scope to rewrite our understanding of tartan. The samples record the firm’s production from its foundation in the 1820s to its closure in the 1960s, including rare examples of tartans woven for women's fashion, textiles created for Queen Victoria and the Royal Family during the Highland revival, military fabrics supplied to the Scottish regiments and previously unrecorded clan tartans.

The firm reached the height of its popularity in the late 19th century with prolific production continuing through both world wars. At its peak, J&D Paton employed around 500 people across four factory sites near Tillicoultry, in Stirlingshire. Family run for five generations, the company produced internationally-renowned tweeds and tartans, winning awards for fine fashion textiles sometimes woven through with silk.

Each sample in the archive is unique, serving as a working record for the identification of clans, patterns and colours essential to the weaving process. This rich library provides a rare detailed picture of the history of mass manufacturing at a time when tartans were expanding into new fashions and global marketplaces. Meticulously cared for by the Paton family for over two hundred years, the collection will now be catalogued and made available for research at the National Museums Collection Centre in Edinburgh.

Dr Mhairi Maxwell, Curator of Modern & Contemporary History at National Museums Scotland said “Tartan is one of the most recognisable symbols of Scotland and the exceptional J&D Paton collection is of immense importance to ongoing research into the history of the iconic textile. We have only just begun to uncover of the stories woven through this remarkable archive and I’ve no doubt there are many discoveries waiting to be made, all thanks the generosity of Stuart Paton and his family.”

Stuart Paton, former Director of J&D Paton, said: “I am delighted to find a long-term home for the collection with National Museums Scotland. The donation is made in memory of my godfather Captain Paton a long-time chairman of the company, in the hopes it will become a valuable asset for those researching and learning about Scotland’s textile heritage for generations to come.”