Joseph-Marie Jacquard, inventor of the Jacquard loom, c1850. Woven silk portrait of French silk-weaver Jacquard (1752-1834), produced on a Jacquard loom. Jacquard invented a method of weaving intricate patterns using a system of punched cards. Surrounding the portrait is a printed border showing the punched cards which carried the pattern, paper for designing patterns, and shuttles, and bobbins for weaving.