Images(2)

Brocaded Silk Textile

Dateca. 1740

OriginEurope, France, Lyon

MediumSilk and metallic threads

DimensionsOHl: 34 1/2 × Selvage OW: 21 1/2in. (87.6 × 54.6cm); irregular shape

Credit LineGift of Helen Scott Townsend Reed

Object number2022-159

DescriptionThis is an irregular shaped silk and metallic brocaded silk textile in shades of brown, white, yellow, green, pink, fuchsia, melon, and puce on a blue ground with supplementary floral sprigs. The design consists of a metallic meandering (fur) ribbon with scattered sprigs and boughs of flowers in generalized shapes. The textile is made up of four pieces.
Label TextLyon, France, was one of the largest producers of luxurious silk textiles in the eighteenth century. About one third of the population was involved in the silk industry, which involved spinners dyers, printers of paper for the patterns, designers, weavers, and the merchants who sold the final products. French designs for brocaded silks often consisted of generalized floral shapes with the addition of expensive metallic threads. Whereas English designs were usually based on actual botanical specimens.
ProvenanceNo known provenance other than donor.