AHDS (Arts and Humanities Data Service) Visual Arts has launched The Textiles Collection at the University College for the Creative Arts at Canterbury, Epsom, Farnham, Maidstone and Rochester.
In a digital form, this resource shows the visual and tactile subtleties of textiles in a 2-D background.
Every image describes qualities of its subject, expresses folds and drapes, communicates the fibre, structure and finish of woven clothes, and displays pattern, repeat and scale in printed clothes.
With above 3,000 artefacts, The Textiles Collection tells the viewers about Coptic textiles from 800 - 1000 AD and also speaks of 20th-century fabrics.
The collection is also useful as educational resource for practitioners and historians, said Linda Brassington, Senior Lecturer in Printed Textiles at University College for Creative Arts, Farnham Campus.
She added that the richness of this collection has supported practical study of woven and printed textiles for over 40 years.
The AHDS Visual Arts is one part of the Arts and Humanities Data Service aiding the discovery, creation and preservation of digital resources in and for research, teaching and learning in the arts and humanities.