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Japonisme at la manufacture Prelle

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photo St Tyl

Once again the Manufacture Prelle showroom offers an enlightening look into its archives with a thematic exhibition.  Twice a year, the venerable Lyon silk weaver opens its Paris showroom at the place des Victoires, making marvels of textile culture come to life by placing them in their historic and aesthetic context for an appreciative audience.


photo manufacture Prelle
 The atmosphere is hushed, heels click on the parquet that gives an occasional creak. This rarefied world of shimmering, elegant fabric is for a time inhabited by dragons, phoenixes, butterflies and cranes who roam the material's silken threads.These very creatures first came over with Japan's trade openings to the western world in the 1850s, then multiplied and were fertile in the imaginations of textile designers until the 1930s. On view are a sampling of original Japanese fabrics as well as the Prelle fabrics they inspired during the period. We might say that the woven archival documents here establish the paternity of a long line of descendants at Prelle. And what's more, the Japonisme of the mid-century was almost a second genesis for the world of arts in the West. 

photo St Tyl
The current showing  juxtaposes richly colored silk fabrics with Baccarat crystal and silver from Christofle in order to better communicate the rage for Japanese style in the decorative arts of the epoch.  Imposing period furniture, provided by galerie Chadelaudand galerie Marc Maison, serves to vary the sensuous surfaces and complete the picture.

photo manufacture Prelle

It was the discovery of a collection of over 150 katagami, or Japanese stencils in the archives that gave impetus for the exhibit. 


photo St Tyl

These katagami, bought by Eugène Prelle in the 1860s,  were studied for elements of flora and fauna and geomtric shapes then used to inspire the manufacture's own woven silk designs. Certain designs were created by designer Eugène Prelle himself. Throughout the exhibition we can admire the framed katagami as instructive in our understanding of the derived fabrics and as beautiful objects in their own right.

Tissot c.1860 source 
The second half of the 19thcentury fell under the powerful spell of Japan. Even the Goncourt brothers succumbed; these collectors and supreme literary powers of the 19th century often expressed  their fervent and exclusive devotion to the 18thcentury in matters of art and decoration and declared that they disliked any styles outside of their siècle de joli  be it Greek, Medieval, Renaissance --- with one exception,  the art of Japan.

Gustave Léonard de Jonghe L'admiratrice du Japon c. 1865source
Japan's prints and decorative objects were to change the face of Western arts. At first, there was a rush to create rich and exotic interiors using imported screens, ceramics, and other art objects that were destined for boudoirsand fumoirs. All the shops for the home had at least a Japanese corner for furnishings and bric à brac and there was a proliferation of the style in French-made furnishings and objects. 

George Hendrik Breitner, Girl in Red Kimono, 1893–95
source
The owners of these objects found it fitting to wrap up in a kimono to be in harmony with their surroundings.  The gradual freeing up of forms and motifs is evident in these paintings whose characters pass from observers to participants to integral parts of the whole.


Pierre Bonnard source
Pierre Bonnard source

Little by little, less passively, more subtly and profoundly, artists and artisans integrated not just motifs but Japanese design concepts, with their penchants for asymmetry, important negative space, and bold, flat pattern and contrasting colors. 


 source


The world of textile design, despite the technical constraints of repeats developed
 in a similar spirit. The stage was set for Art Nouveau, Art Deco and beyond. These concepts would influence a great part of modern art whether fine or decorative.

image source: BnF

Highly instrumental in spreading the Japanese aesthetic was Siegfried Bing and his journal, Le Japon Artistique, published from 1888-1892. Naturally, Eugène Prelle was in possession of the journal. 
 Said Bing in the introduction of the first issue,

Le seul patronage auquel cet ouvrage désire se soustraire est celui de la soi-disant 'mode' des choses du Japon, qui s'est un moment abattue sur nos salons. Elle n'a rien de commun, en effet, cette mode de clinquant, avec un art délicat, tantôt aristocratique et tantôt populaire, mais dont toujours la sobriété et la distinction constituent la loi fondamentale. Loin d'être soumis aux caprices d'un engouement frivole, cet art est désormais lié au notre d'une façon impérissable. C'est une goutte de sang qui est venu se mêler à notre sang et qu'aucun pouvoir du monde ne pourra plus en éliminer.


The only patronage which this publication wants to avoid is the so-called 'fashion' for things from Japan which has recently struck our sitting rooms. This garish fashion shares nothing, in fact, with a delicate art; it is sometimes aristocratic, sometimes common, but its fundamental law is always simplicity and distinction. Far from being subject to the whims of a frivolous fad, this art is permanently bound together with ours. It is a drop of blood now mingled with our own, which no power on earth will be  able to extract.



The exhibit is on view until the 29th of March.


Sheeted

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Magritte L'Invention de la vie 1928
source: abcgallery
They are on, aren't they?
Janvier  - le mois du blanc / January white sales

Magritte said his paintings were of

 des rêves qui n'ont pas pour but de vous faire dormir mais de vous réveiller.

dreams designed not to put you to sleep but rather to awaken you.

An army of handkerchiefs: Avec armes et bagages dans un mouchoir de poche

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"Il ne fallait donc pas se moucher dedans!"
"So I oughten't have used it to blow my nose!"

photo: St Tyl
 Mouchoir: linge de poche, ou vêtement de cou. (...) Les mouchoirs de cou, autrement dit fichus, se font en matières très differentes, depuis l'indienne et la soie jusqu'a la gaze, la blonde et la dentelle. C'est une des parties essentielles de la parure.
Handkerchief: pocket linen or clothing for the neck. Kerchiefs may be made in very different materials, from cotton indiennes to silk  and gauze, 
orris and lace. 
It is one of the essential parts of attire.
Dictionnaire universel du commerce, de la banque, et des manufactures...1838-1841



 photo St Tyl
"Handkerchief" comes from the French word couvre-chief, head covering. Hand-headcovering? Let's not even consider headkerchief and neckerchief.

Pictured above: "Le medecin dans la poche." 
Very handy indeed!

Avec armes et bagages dans un mouchoir de poche 
is an exhibit about printed handkerchiefs as used in the army.

photo St Tyl

Aretes et os dans le gosier
Fish and other bones in the gullet

photo St Tyl

Coups à la tête  -  Douleurs de dents
Blows to the head  -  Tooth aches

photo St Tyl

 Mouchoir des connaissances utiles/ handkerchief of useful knowledge

detail: "How to remove old rust stains from linen and cotton fabrics"



photo St Tyl

"Sizing for cloth of wool, silk, gauze and other articles of the sort"

photo St Tyl

"How to recognize if a wool cloth contains cotton" 


The humble handkerchief as a societal phenomena. This exhibit shows just how important this ordinary little item could be in the context of soldiering and its use as means of communication before being supplanted by films for the enlisted. Of the mutiple intentions and uses - historic, commemorative, fashion accessory, first aid supply, article of hygiene-  I've chosen to show the instructive side of these little squares of cloth.  

If we were to transport them into a fuller context of society, we might speak of gesture, modesty, flirtatiousness, theatrics, affectation, romantic souvenirs.... Snif...anyone have a Kleenex?



How to woo

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photo St Tyl

This is the continued story of "Amour x  4" from my other blog,
Le style et la matière. 
It is a tale of courtship that, though unsuccessful, undoubtably left a lasting, if amused impression on la belle -- and textile traces in the wardrobe that she brought with her to France.

photo St Tyl

Ann Coleman's father met the Mandarin, Mr Woo, on a journey to China in the 19th century. Around 1877, Mr Woo traveled to the United States to study the American postal system in view of modernising the Chinese Imperial Post. As a guest of the Coleman family in Pennsylvania and in keeping with Chinese customs of propriety, he asked for the hand of the last born daughter, Ann, who was two years old at the time. Mr Woo gave many presents to his host as proof of his intentions including his portrait and this embroidered coat.

The coat in question is at the château of Villandry which Ann Coleman later called her home with her husband Joachim Carvallo.

New heritage at Tassinari et Chatel

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photo Gésbi /St Tyl 

The fabrics produced at Tassinari & Chatel are among the most sumptuous, most refined, most sought-after in the world of historic silks. In addition to exclusive made-to-order lengths for decorators and historic buildings, its Collection Patrimoine  is comprised of historic re-editions that span the centuries from the Renaissance to Art Deco, a treasure for  textile connoisseurs  the world over. Rare are the manufacturers today capable of  producing cloth of this level of technical and artistic perfection, but with a foundation that dates to 1680, this monument of textile history from Lyon has more than what it takes. Through the years, noble stones - Pernon and Grand Frères - have enriched the edifice. Today, the firm continues in the good hands of Patrick Lelièvre of the group Lelièvre.

So what is new in 2013?  The savoir-faire gained through the centuries has met with the ancient tradition of contemporary design. After all, those cherished historic designs were contemporary at some point! Following in the footsteps of Revel, Pillement, and more recently Lalique and Karbowsky, Mr. Jean Boggio has worked with the mill to create new fabrics every bit as worthy of the silkweaver as his predecessors. It's is history in the making.



photo Gésbi /St Tyl taken at the Tisserand Bronzier d'Art  stand of Maison & Objet
Majestic lampas (brocade), Ispahan

photo Gésbi /St Tyl  taken at the Tisserand Bronzier d'Art stand of Maison & Objet

Not many designs have been more fertile in textile history than the pomegranate. Ispahan places the mythical fruit among heady roses in a swirling Persian garden, at once lavish and playful.

photo Gésbi /St Tyl 

Baroque spirit and bizarre style: this may be Jean Boggio's first textile collection but he is no novice to textiles. He has not only chosen the quintessential textile fruit for Ispahan, but his design calls to mind that brief but exuberant period of Bizarre silks from 1695-1820, where fruit, flower and fantasy (very strange objects sometimes) are caught in a vortex creating lively, asymmetrical, sometimes surreal designs. The 18th century fabrics typically have a juxtaposition of brocaded decor with damask vegetal or shadow elements that give a moving, 3D quality. Here, note the artistry of multiple weave patterns in the decor. Instead of a damask ground, there is finely etched foliage created by the weft.


photo Gésbi /St Tyl 

The preliminary drawing of Jardin d'Eden from the hand of the artist, Jean Boggio...

photo Gésbi /St Tyl 

and as interpreted on the looms of Tassinari & Chatel.

photo Gésbi /St Tyl 

The effect is exotic and modern in this smooth, etched satin. Funny, I see a wink to very ancient techniques, 
just a suggestion of a Safawid incised twill here in this luscious, breathable atmosphere somewhere along the Silk Road. 

photo Gésbi /St Tyl 
Soliman Border
To my way of thinking, borders are some of the most refined textile elements for --- 
the elegant underlining of the contours of the velvet settee, drawing your eye to the moldings of the ceiling, tailoring the edges of the curtains.... We don't see enough borders, so it's nice to see this one and to know that Ispahan is available as border, too.



photo Gésbi /St Tyl 


Breaking with the vegetal world, but continuing the vocabulary of the designer, Petrouchka represents an acrobatic frolic with the stars, sun, and moon as props for the joyous jugglers who dance in pairs over this silk and linen brocatelle. 


photo Gésbi /St Tyl 
Cushions made of Petrouchka and Soliman 

photo Gésbi /St Tyl 

The exotic baroque world of jeweler-silversmith and furnishing designer, Jean Boggio, is filled with themes of dreams, dance, and jungle flora with a style that has a certain affinity with Armand Albert Rateau.(I've written of the furnishings here.) The aesthete has an exhuberant, warm style and is clearly smitten with Tassinari & Chatel; he has an entire collection of vests fashioned with silks from the Collection Patrimoine that he wears close to his heart!

Wooly desks

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source lainesdespyrenees
Are you ready for a little etymology today? 
So many words and expressions relate to fabrics and weaving if you scratch the surface a little.


In French, bure refers to a rough, resistant cloth of heavy weave that is associated with hooded monks, watchful shepherds, and scruffy peasants from the Middle Ages. The name for the cloth derives from burel, a heathery quality of brown, black or ecru wool.

source Orpostal

This cloth was also used to cover tables. Henri Havard described the wool rugs that protected tables from ink and lessened the noise of clattering coins for money changers. 

source planetefacility

In the 14th century, this wooly rug became known as a bureau
By the 15th century, it was not only the rug but the piece of furniture - be it bench, table or chest -  together with the rug that was known as a bureau. The meaning, as we all know, went on to include a room for work at a bureau/desk and further, an administrative organization, i.e., bureau de poste, bureau de style, bureau of investigation....

The other side of fabrics

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Esther by John Everett Millais
"The painting depicts Esther, the Jewish wife of the Persian king Ahasuerus, as she prepares to enter the presence of her husband. As she is uninvited, she risks death, but does so to inform him of a plot against the Jews.
Millais borrowed the Yellow Jacket, a gown given to General Gordon by the Chinese emperor after his defeat of the Taiping rebellion. In order to create a culturally unspecific effect, he turned it inside out, producing the abstract patterns visible in the painting."

Wikipedia explains this intriguing detail. The source of information is
Millais, J.G.,The Life and Letters of John Everett Millais

photo Gésbi-St Tyl

A wealth of silk on the back of some Tassinari & Chatel  fabrics.

Esther's gown is brocaded, which accounts for the great expanse of yellow ground. Tiny shuttles have been worked over certain zones on the loom, similar to embroidery. The above lampas fabrics
have supplementary decorative wefts that are lightly bound to the reverse ground cloth when they are not worked into the pattern of flowers on the front. The binding warp extends from selvedge to selvedge, the reason for an entire cushion of silk across the back of the fabric.


Another kind of textile: Marc Bankowsky

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all photos from M. Bankowsky

There's nothing quite like fabric in the material world, but that doesn't mean it is inimitable. In fact, I collect or at least mentally record the instances I find other media that express the drapes and folds of textiles, so I'll start showing you some I've found. 

I've admired this screen for several years, but  I've just learned that the designer, Marc Bankowsky, had spent many years of his creative career weaving and making impressive textile installations . A true textilian,  he participated for several years at the Biennale internationale de la tapisserie Laussane and has exhibited his textile sculptures at the Musée d'art moderne of Paris and the Centre Pompidou

 Bankowsky's work has been directed towards the decorative arts since the 1990s. He also sculpts and makes very appealingly fanciful furniture of bronze. You can find a full range of his work in bronze, plaster and polyester resin on his site.

Textiles clearly remain important for the artist.
 This hinged screen has something of the drape and drama of Staff swags from the 30-40s as do 
the series of  pieces that follow. 


console



pedestals



frame



Ribbons

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photo © Julien Faure
Some pretty ribbons to wrap up the week.

photo © Julien Faure
When you give a bouquet of flowers, why not make it even more special by wrapping a really pretty ribbon around the stems? As Louise de Vilmorin once said, 
they have the advantage of not wilting.

The talented Mme de Vilmorin had just the right, light touch in expressing things of the sort and didn't shy away from writing about little things like ribbons.

Le ruban n'est pas un ornement superflu puisque son rôle est d'embellir. L'enfant lui-même y est sensible, et je ne connais pas de petite fille dont les mains ne se tendent avec avidité vers le ruban qu'une grande personne dénoue en ouvrant un paquet. Les ficelles sont pour les garçons mais ils n'en savent pas moins qu'un paquet, pour être beau, a besoin d'un ruban.
The ribbon is not a superfluous ornament because its role is to beautify. Even a child is responsive to it. I can't say I have ever seen a little girl who didn't reach out eager hands toward the ribbon a big person was untying to open a package. Strings are for boys, but they know, nevertheless, that for a package to be pretty, 
it needs a ribbon.


There's no escaping it; the making of such intricate patterns can't be rushed. With so much artistry, time, energy and talent poured into these little bands of fabric, Virginie Wittmer, creative director at Julien Faure says that the high quality ribbons made by her company are like concentrates of humanity.


Moire, mi amore!

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photo Dedar

I'd been predicting a comeback for moire. Not that it had ever disappeared entirely, but let's just say that it needed to be rejuvenated. Well, its day has come again. Dedar has produced a beautifully crafted moire called, Amoir Libre, that sends out a ripple of shimmering waves with the beauty of an abstract painting.

photo Dedar

 The true mechanical technique of water marking a fabric is based on folding a dampened, usually ribbed fabric in two so its selvedges meet, then calendaring it between two heated cylinders. Pressure is applied to the ribs of the fabric in such a way as to flatten the warp and weft threads, creating patterns that sculpt its surface. The result is an irregular play of matt and sheen that make formations of veins, loops, stripes and eyes. Patterns that have been mastered and catalogued have entrancing names - moire antique, moire française  moire musique, moire miroir, moire égyptienne -
and moire libre. 


photo Dedar

Dedar has chosen to create a moire libre, a free-style moire in which no two meters of fabric are alike. There is plenty of pattern, but no repeat. 


photo Dedar

In moire libre, the hand of the craftsman who guides the cloth provokes irregular undulations, 
creating a one of a kind pattern. It is an expert's game of chance, only partially predictable.
Its name is a pretty play on words; Amoir libre, like amour libre, promises not to be monotonous.


photo Dedar

The plain fabric comes in 27 colors and is accompanied by two coordinates, such as Lozange (above) and Pavillon. For the coordinates, the moire has undergone a two-step printing process with lacquered pigments and flocking for relief. For a further look, Dedar.

Textiles from the Domaine de Madame Elisabeth

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La gazette d’été pour Madame Élisabeth, 1792,
Archives nationales © Archives Nationales /Pierre Grand

The property of Madame Elisabeth youngest sister of Louis XVI, is open to the public for the time of an exhibition which will last until the 21st of July. Princess Elisabeth of France, known as Madame Elisabeth, is intimate figure among the entourage of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette.  She was the generous, humane  and witty sister who never married, having intentionally chosen 'to remain at the foot of the French throne rather than to be seated on the throne of another country.' Orphaned at the age of 3, perhaps she felt her remaining family more important than any thing else. Her fidelity would later cost her life; 
the exhibit is entitled, Madame Elisabeth, princesse au déstin tragique


The graceful art de vivre of the years immediately preceding the Revolution is demonstrated through art, furnishings and artifacts, such as this Gazette des atours d'été, a catalogue of swatches for dresses worn in the year 1792. This was the last year before her imprisonment at the Temple with the royal family which was spent at the château des Tuileries. The dress of this year became necessarily more simple and no embroderies are noted among the pages of this gazette. Habitually, the use of a Gazette des atours is considered to serve in the choice of clothing for the day by placing a pin in the fabric samples. The lack of pin traces here suggests instead a document for inventory or accounting purposes.


by Adélaide Labille-Guiard 1788
MV 7332 © RMN / EPV
The Domaine de Madame Elisabeth, a gift from her brother Louis XVI, is situated in the Montreuil sector of Versailles. In the princess' day, Montreuil was a village outside of Versailles and Mme Elisabeth, known for her charity to the villagers was called the Bonne Dame de Montreuil - the Good Lady of Montreuil. Notice the beautiful rendering of airy lace collar and of the folds and pleats in the good lady's bodice!


Caraco ou « pierrot » et jupe, vers 1789,
musée Galliera © L. Degrâces et Ph. Joffre / Galliera / Roger-Viollet


This ensemble from 1785-85 made of cotton and linen batiste is embroidered in chain stitched multi-colored silk.  It represents the new freedom of fashion in the second half of the 18th century, whose silhouettes flowed more with the natural lines of the body. Ladies left off the hoops et whale bones for their more frequent informal country gatherings. The caraco camisole worn over a light cotton corset and supple skirts, not necessarily of the same  fabric, constituted the first clothes to be worn en negligé . This is the casual wear of the period.


Tapis Marie-Antoinette, 1791-1793, Marie-Antoinette et Madame Élisabeth,
château de Versailles © RMN-Grand Palais / Ch. Milet
The importance of needle work for women of the royal court is well-known. Marie-Antoinette and Mme Elisabeth began an immense project after their departure from Versailles for the Tuileries in 1791 which they likely continued during their confinement at the Temple Prison.  It was a rug intended for the throne chamber of the Tuileries Palace, embroidered square by square in wool on canvas. The design of flowers on a dark brown ground is very simple. 


© RMN-Grand Palais / Ch. Milet
Mademoiselle Dubuquoy-Lalouette who supplied the wool and canvas, retrieved the worked squares of canvas and stored them until the Restoration. She had them assembled to make up two large rugs and added decorative - commemorative borders. The above inscription reads,

Tapisserie faite par Marie-Antoinette et Mme Elisabeth pendant les deux dernières années de leur vie

Tapestry made by Marie-Antoinette and Mme Elisabeth during the last two years of their lives



more on the exhibit link here


Textile traces: Marie-Antoinette's last rug

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photo St Tyl
My last posting made me think of another rug I had seen that is associated with Marie-Antoinette. In many ways the rug I just showed you at the Domaine de Madame Elisabeth, made with her own hands, could be considered her last.  Here, this relic, the fragment of a rug pictured above, is said to have been located in the Marie-Antoinette's prison cell at the Conciergerie.  It is not much to look at, but it is document of the past.

source: monuments-nationaux

In color, it  resembles the rug in the painting by Gervais Simon, La reine dans son cachot

photo St Tyl

The painting was commissioned by Louis XVIII is part of the Expiatory Chapel of the Conciergerie today,

photo St Tyl

where walls are covered with silver tears and draped with black hangings, traditional signs of mourning.


Contemporary rugs: Chevalier éditions

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Rugs still...  now for something joyous underfoot!

photo espace-chevalier
Rug Paris by Julien Kolmont de Rogier 
wool and silk

photo espace-chevalier
Rug Panier by Stephen Burks
wool and silk


Radiation
photo espace-chevalier

Rug Radiation by Eric Gizard
wool and silk

Stries
photo espace-chevalier

Rug Stries by Stephan Lanez
wool and silk

Circle 7
photo espace-chevalier

Rug Cirle 7 by Stephan Lanez
wool

I can't stop pointing to the beauty. Every moment and place says, 

"Put this design in your carpet!"



Djalâl ad-Dîn Rûmî
1207-1273

for more rugs, Chevalier Editions

Material swagger: Monsieur Jean-Yves

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Félix Moati monsieur Jean-Yves fait son cinéma, Paris 2011
artistic direction Garlone Jadoul, photography Markus Lambert
How can the tie, that little bit of fancy folie for men, be up-dated 
into a fashion statement? 
Monsieur Jean-Yves has found the way. He has taken that object of lesser affection, the bow-tie, and with the artistry of his knots and the exclusiveness of his specially made fabrics, he is leading a sartorial revolution. The bow-tie - noeud papillon - has the zest of the outsider who wins us over. Those who chose the bow-tie in the recent past were always a little on the renegade side. The problem is, they weren't always as well-dressed as they wanted to be.  Lack of choice? There's no excuse anymore.


all photos: Monsieur Jean-Yves

Monsieur Jean-Yves' celebration of Cannes



The glory of fabric is key


a subdued peacock

authentic fine feathers

and it goes on. Really, the choice is difficult...


























Contemporary Parisian dandies are not legion but they are everywhere. Up to them to peruse these haute façon accessories to find their own. Tying is optional, do-it-yourself or pre-tied, some bows will fête the most special occasions and others will add spank to a simple denim shirt.   
If you do not find your bonheur in his vast and varied collections,
Monsieur Jean-Yves also has a bespoke tie service.

Those of you who know me, know I've always liked ties and any way of celebrating the day with a bit of color and precious textile. Monsieur Jean-Yves has found the way to do so by unify tradition and technology with the spirit of the times.



Persan textile tales: the rose and the nightingale

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    photo St Tyl

     It's not easy to get a good picture in a dark setting and this one is dim and grainy. Textile tracking is that way. It leads us into dark spaces and demands that we stand close and sometimes, to use a little imagination.  This lovely 17-18th century Persian textile is from the recent exhibit Mille et une nuits at l'Institut du monde arabe. The exhibit explored the influence of The Arabian Nights on art and craft, from its its initial spread to Europe with translations in France by by Antoine Galland in the very beginning of the 18th century and a more poetic, sensuous version 200 years later by Dr Joseph-Charles Mardrus. 
    Scheherazade by Barbier

    This second version of was even more influential; where would literature, theater and fashion, painting, opera, photography and film be without these stories? Scheherazade saved her life and changed her own destiny by telling wondrous tales each night to a cruel king and she changed ours, too. 


    photo St Tyl
    This fabric, whose frequently seen theme seems purely decorative, yet it is related to a very recognizable tale of the Thousand and one Nights. The Savavid motif was often used in painted miniatures and lacquered work as well as textiles. It refers to the story of the great and pure love of a nightingale for a beautiful white rose. The nightingale so loved the rose that he continued to sing to her despite the piercing thorns that would be his demise. The blood shed by the nightingale would forever give roses a beautiful red tint.


    A closer look shows the delicacy of the brocaded silk motif on a sumptuous ground of silver and gold threads in this variation of samitum or weft-faced compound weave. The fabric was loaned by the Musée des Tissus, Lyon.

    Metropolitan Museum
    More more rose and nightingales in staggered rows

    Metropolitan Museum


    Musee des Tissus Lyon
    The museum in Lyon has the same fabric as the Metropolitan Museum

    Iranica on line

    Iranica-on-line describes this Persian theme in more detail. We also learn of another case linking textiles to roses:

     "The role of roses in Safavid cultural life may also be seen in references to customs now fallen into disuse, such as the “festival of roses” (ʿid-e golrizi) and the presentation of floral bouquets (Herbert, pp. 261-68; Della Valle, II/2, pp. 115-16; Francklin, I, p. 84; Tavernier, p. 144). These references, taken together, evoke a luxury- and pleasure-loving society. Such a “culture of flowers” was undoubtedly encouraged by the economic prosperity of the Safavid period. In a telling example, the bi-colored rose gave its name to an important Persian innovation in weaving technology, the two-sided (do-ruʾi ) silk.



    Truly wall-to-wall

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    © Palazzo Grassi

    The Rudolf Stingel exhibit at the Palazzo Grazzi in Venice has a very special scenography. 



    © Palazzo Grassi

    © Palazzo Grassi photos Stefan Altenburger


    see more of Rudolf Stingel's art and photos by Stefan Altenburger here: 

    Nureyev rests in peace below a draped carpet

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    There has always been cross-over and borrowing in the decorative arts. The links between mosaic and textile motifs are evident, particularly in Byzantine and Coptic art. 
    Author and archeologist, Gabriel Millet, called mosaics colorful, durable carpets for all eternity.
    The comparison couldn't be more fitting for today's post. 

    Ezio Frigerio chose to create an amazing modern mosaic that imitates not just the pattern, but the folds, drape, and rich colors of a rug, for the funerary sculpture he was commissioned to design for Rudolf Nureyev.


    P1020934
    photo: kinettelamossa


    The sculpture, an armature of metal with bronze fringe covered with mosaic, drapes Nureyev's tomb in the Russian cemetery of Sainte Genevieve Sous Bois south of Paris. Frigerio was Nureyev's set designer and a  friend who knew him well. He wished the design to be very personal and had the idea of ​​a big multicolored carpet to drape the tomb with “all the suggestions of Oriental art that were so close to the spirit and profound nature of his great departed friend.”* 


    Nureyev was an enthusiastic collector of carpets and textiles and the association of rugs with a nomadic lifestyle seemed appropriate for the legendary dancer exiled from the USSR. From his very first entrance into the world, he was already in movement when his mother gave birth to him aboard a Trans-Siberian train skirting the sparkling Lake Baikal in southern Siberia.

    House and Garden photo of Nureyev in the last year of his life at Li Galli 
    Frigerio was inspired by a Caucasian rug in Nureyev’scollection.  It was one of his favorites and one that he chose to take with him when he travelled. Even in his final days of suffering from AIDS, he brought his rugs with him to his Li Galli island retreat near Amalfi. 


    Rudolf Nureyev funerary sculpture 
    1996, Studio Akomena in collaboration with the Paris Opera

    the story of of the sculpture told by Sabina Ghinassi

    Salon des Fleurs Chateau de Compiègne

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    photo St Tyl

    This is the Salon de Fleurs in the Château of Compiègne, formerly a royal and imperial residence. I wandered these rooms over the week-end when I went to see the exhibit Folie Textile, a wonderful show that explores the exuberant production and use of textiles at the time of Napoleon III, 1848-1871. That exhibit and some important restoration work in historic sites is making the 19th century weigh heavily in decorative world's time line these days, provoking a certain rediscovery of  decorative arts of the mid to late part of the century. More on that soon, but for today...

    The Salon des Fleurs was a game room for Empress Josephine - specialty tables are scattered for playing  trictrac, quadrille, bouillotte. 
    (Trictrac is backgammon. Does anyone know the names of these other games in English?)

    Compiègne, le salon des Fleurs
    source: Napoleon III
    An important thing to remember is that in the 19th century very often fabrics were used that were woven for a prior reign (new olds) and older decors were sometimes kept by the various regimes that succeeded each other - Louis XVI, Louis XVIII, Charles X, Louis-Philippe, Napoleon III.  The reasons: availability, economy, emulation.

    During the Second Empire of Napoleon III, the salon was used as a bed chamber for the Imperial Prince  The young prince scratched the date 4 décembre 1868 into the marble table 
    and

    Compiègne, salon de jeux du Prince impérial
    Bourdelin, (c) RMN

    played his games in another well-dressed room. 

    photo St Tyl

    The Salon des Fleurs takes its name from its decoration. The oil panels painted in 1809 and 1814 
    by Dubois were  based on the work of Pierre-Joseph Redouté.

    photo St Tyl

    The armchairs and settees by Jacob-Desmalter are covered in Gobelins tapestry.The 18th century floral design by Louis Tessier of was chosen by the Empress Josephine and delivered in 1809 - once again,  
    an example of  the blending of stylistic frontiers. 

    photo St Tyl
    detail of the canapé

    The ground of the tapestry is a fair lilac shade with a band 
    of crisp, violet grosgrain to give  the finishing touch. 
    These tones will deepen in textile design as the century progresses even to deep purple and become very popular with the advent of color-fast aniline dyes.

    photo St Tyl
    A tender, watercolor quality still comes through in this 1st Empire /18th century tapestry.

    Uplifting Clouds at Kenzo

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    photo St Tyl
    It has been cloudy lately in Paris - even inside at Kenzo at la place des Victoires.

    photo Kenzo
    day clouds

    photo Kenzo
    night clouds
    photo Kenzo

    There's always an eyeful of original fabrics there. 

    more on their site Kenzo

    A fabric for Clémentine d'Orléans at the Grand Trianon

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    Marie-Clémentine d'Orleans Princesse de Saxe-Cobourg-Gotha 
    in a painting by Winterhalter
    The last king of France, Louis-Philippe had a particularly intelligent daughter, Clémentine d'Orleans 1817-1907, who became the princess de Saxe-Cobourg. This youngest daughter was so well-known for her ambition and intelligence in political  matters that she received the nickname of 'the Medici of the Cobourgs.' French history is filled with intelligent, influential women and we are reminded of many through the objects they left behind. Before her marriage and installation in the Cobourg palace in Vienna, the young woman naturally she lived with her family in the Palais Royal, the château des Tuileries, and the Grand Trianon. 


    source:stylirex
    The curator of the Grand Trianon recently found a chair in storage that has been traced to Cléméntine. The bare bones of the chair, similar to the above reproduction, were in need of adequate upholstery and a fine silk to attest to the memory of this most accomplished princess. Tassinari & Chatel has agreed to share some of what goes on behind the scenes in the case of  such a recreation. Those interested in European textile history will recognize the names of Pernon and of Grand Frères, encompassed now by Tassinari & Chatel. The silk weaver's rich past is attested to by 100,000 textile archives.

    photo Tassinari & Chatel
    Research was first conducted in the Livre de Commandes (order book) of the period . Many a decorative project can be traced there, including those for Malmaison, Fontainebleau, the Elysée, Versailles, the White House, the Ritz... to name but a  few. To make research more of a challenge, certain orders are written in an ancient and obscure stenographic text to assure the extreme discretion demanded by clients concerning their projects.
    This particular chair was not found in the records, but the project was not to stop there.


    photo St Tyl
     Silk weaver and curator reviewed many designs of the period, until one stood out, a floral by the artist, Grandbarbe. Grandbarbe was very much appreciated for both the original designs of his early career and the re-interpretations of earlier designs for this period that was just beginning to become eclectic and historicizing. It may be that the spirit of Clémentine was guiding their choice because the design fit the proportions of her dainty chaise gondole perfectly!

    photo Tassinari & Chatel
    The woven document from the archives is of great finesse. Here, the record clearly states that the fabric, a brocaded lampas was designed by Grandbarbe in Louis XVI style and provides a sketch of the design.







    photos St Tyl

    As we have seen before, here, the back of a fabric is just as eloquent as the front. To the left, the back of the original mid 19th century archival document. The lampas technique is used for the grisaille patterns of foliage pearls and vases on a satin ground;  the brocaded effect is as if embroidered  is seen in the 'extra' blue, pink and green threads. This is a sure sign of hand woven fabric. The cloth such as this would have been woven face down as the weaver brocaded the colorful flowers with tiny espolins or brocading shuttles. A corner of the document is stamped Grand Frères, the name of the entreprise during most of the 19th century.

    photo St Tyl
    If the woven document still exists, 
    the mise en carte or technical drawing had been lost to the sands of time.
    It was necessary to reconstruct this essential element 
    that serves to command the loom before the weaving could begin. 

    photo St Tyl

    Even with today's computer technology the mise en carte is a long painstaking process 
    for a design as rich as this one.
     It took approximately 100 hours to complete the drawing. 

    photo St Tyl
    then and now

    Here we have the original document on the left woven in a width of 54 cm. The weaving for the restoration was reproduced in the same proportions by inserting the design onto an expanded field of satin 
    within the space provided by modern loom widths. In fact, two full panels were woven side by side between the selvedges in the 130cm width; the fabric here has been cut down the middle.

    photo St Tyl
    then and now

    The modern version is made entirely in the lampas technique where decorative wefts are 
    completely attached to the back of the fabric by a second warp. 
    While the fabric loses the extreme lightness of handle of the original, it gains strength - 
    an excellent idea for upholstery.

    photo: Grand Trianon
    Louis-Philippe, the so-called roi bourgeois, did not wish to occupy the château of Versailles, but installed his family next to it in the Grand Trianon. There he found it necessary to make some changes to accommodate a different lifestyle - and his 8 children.
    Clémentine occupied apartments that had first belonged to
    Mesdames de Maintenon and de Pompadour, then to Napoleon I.
    Her freshly upholstered chair can be found there today.

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