Le redoutable chat noir

Hommage to black cats! 

Still to this day, maligned and mistrusted, 

but always appreciated by artists 

for their 

graphic potential,

their clever and amusing ways.

and their mysterious demeanor.

Tonight's their night, after all.

All images from the site 

Le club des chats noirs.

Spirits of the loom

Hussein Chalayan
source Design Cat Walk

GHOST, n. The outward and visible sign of an inward fear.

"There is one insuperable obstacle to a belief in ghosts. A ghost never comes naked: he appears either in a winding-sheet or "in his habit as he lived." To believe in him, then, is to believe that not only have the dead the power to make themselves visible after there is nothing left of them, but that the same power inheres in textile fabrics. Supposing the products of the loom to have this ability, what object would they have in exercising it?

source Buzzfeed

 And why does not the apparition of a suit of clothes sometimes walk abroad without a ghost in it? These be riddles of significance. They reach away down and get a convulsive grip on the very tap-root of this flourishing faith."

from 

THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY

by Ambrose Bierce

House trained

This grizzly image has been jammed in the back of a file for some time. 

It's surreal and it fits into my old anthropomorphic furniture (animal-pomorphic?) and curio themes. 

It's a stunning piece of Americana -hard to look on today-

but it made me think of  Jean Baudrillard's book, Le système des objets

 where  he calls objects the perfect pets!

 L’objet est l’animal domestique parfait. 

C’est le seul " être " dont les qualités exaltent ma personne au lieu de la restreindre. 

Au pluriel, les objets sont les seuls existants dont la coexistence est vraiment possible, puisque leurs différences ne les dressent pas les uns contre les autres, comme c’est le cas pour les êtres vivants, mais convergent docilement vers moi et s’additionnent sans difficulté dans la conscience.

The object is the perfect pet. 

It  is the only "being" whose qualities glorify my person instead of restricting it. 

In the plural, objects are the only entities with whom co- existence is fully possible, since the differences between them do not pit them against one another, as is the case for living beings; 

instead submissively, they come together with me and are amassed with the greatest of ease

 in my consciousness. 

more on the chair's maker here

The tale of the three beds from the château of Effiat

This is not a tale of cottages. No, the story begins in a certain château in Auvergne.

Wikicommons

It was a proud dwelling built between 1626-28 by the Marshal of Effiat, Antoine Coëffier de Ruzé, counselor to Louis XIII and close friend of Richelieu.
 His château held at three beds,
They were sold at auction in 1856, as were the rest of the furnishings that had managed to be keep intact until then.

Through my various explorations this way and that, I realized that I had seen all three of these beds and had photographed them, although my pictures aren't all of the same quality. I thought I would reunite the beds here and supplement better pictures where needed.
My story is a simple one. A document really. There are no indignant bears or sassy little girls  - unless Time itself could be said to hold the role of Goldilocks!

photo:RMN Louvre

The most famous of these beds is today in the département des arts décoratifs at the Louvre. It is the perfect example of the bed à la française or the lit en housse (covered bed) of the mid 17th century and one of the few beds to come down to us from the period with its original textiles. With its hangings of Genoa velvet down, it makes a cube and has the solemn air of a catafalque. Underneath all that exhuberant fabric, the bed posts are said to be uterly simple. The luxurious aspect of beds of this time owed entirely to their upholstery and trim. In fact if few of these marvelous beds have survived, it is because the precious textiles wore out and the plain wood, usually of no value in itself, was probably burned.

Abraham Brosse

This engraving by Abraham Bosse shows the cords for raising the curtains - the 17th century gradually left the expression courtines behind for rideaux.
Otherwise tie backs were used to attach the curtains to the posts.

photo Cluny via Chest of books

An early image shows the hangings parted but we don't see the headboard.

photo: jpbraud decoration

It may have been like this one, Effiat bed No. 2  at the chateau of Azay le Rideau whose hangings have been beautifully reconstitued here.

photo Marc Walter

These seem to be the original bed textiles found in Jacques Anquetil's book La Soie en Occident.

photo: Le style et la matière

To quote Bill Pallot,

"Beds were greatly prized pieces of furniture in the 17th century 

and as such described very precisely in inventories. Louis XIII had one 

covered with purple damask and adorned with large gold embroidery, Richelieu 

owned another with tapestry of white satin and gold embroidery and Mazarin 

possessed several. Beds accompanied their owners in their travels. They were 

taken apart and placed in leather trunks. Often monumental in size, they 

were set in a corner of the bedchamber. 

Abraham Brosse

The space between the bed and the 

wall was called the 'ruelle' (narrow street). This was where private 

gatherings were held as it was customary to receive company at home while 

lying in bed."

photo: Le style et la matière

photo: Le style et la matière

photo RMN

Finally, my visit to the Musée de la Renaissance at Ecouen a few weeks ago permited me to see Effiat bed No. 3. Made in the late 16th century, it is the oldest of the trio but retains some 19th century modifications.

photo: Le style et la matière

The hangings are not original and the curators plan to restore it to its 19th century state as it was presented by Sommerard at the Hotel de Cluny in what was called the
chamber of Francois I.

photo: Le style et la matière

This ornately carved bedstead
has fine detailing on the foot posts

photo: Le style et la matière

and military cariatides at the head of the bed.

image: RMN

This engraving of the Musée de Cluny depicts the brimming cabinet d'amateur atmosphere that reigned in 1840. There must have been some indecision as to how to assemble the posts. Here the cariatides have been installed at the foot of the bed rather than at its head. 

 I have seen other beds with four cariatides or atlantes, never only two as we see here. 

© Léon et Lévy / Roger-Viollet

Here, somewhat later but still at Cluny, the columns have been switched around in the way 

which is today believed to be the correct assembly of the bed.

Cluny is now specialized in art and artifacts of the middle ages, Ecouen is the place to go for the 

15-17th centuries which is why this bed is located there now.

photo: Le style et la matière.

No pomme , no panache naturally, on this 16th century bed from Effiat at Ecouen, 

but nearby in the textile department is displayed a vase-finial which looks very much like those on the later Effiat beds in the Louvre and at Azay. 

From this angle, in a case, we get a good close look at its construction 

and next to it is a charming miniature bed, once considered to be part of a doll house.

(C) RMN-Grand Palais Gérard Blot
(musée de la Renaissance, château d'Ecouen)  

It is now recognized as an upholsterer's or embroiderer's maquette. 

 This is a model of  a Duchesse bed 

which really only became popular at the end of the 17th century.

 Louis XIV himself prefered four posts.

****

For another article on beds and my own 17th century bed - 

look here

 It is carved with a commemorative date of 1601 and the initials I.V. and C.G.. 

The date probably refers to a wedding date.

One day I may find out just who I.V. and C.G. were...

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulnes: Vertumnus and Pomona

Did you notice the image of a tapestry Vertumnus in my post on Teixidors? I found some better illustrations of this tapestry from 16th century Brussels. 

I find him a very attractive fellow, this Mr Change/Sir Seasons. Yes, I like change and all four seasons. Roman legend tells that Vertumnus changed forms seven times in order to win over lovely Pomona, goddess of  fruitful abundance. By turns harvester, labouer,

 pruner, gardener, soldier, fisherman, it was finally it was disguised as an old woman that he won Pomona's trust and convinced her to accept his love.

(I've been planning to disguise myself as Pomona this Hallowe'en and this dress inspires me.
Hallowe'en isn't a holiday in France and is really not understood,
but that won't stop me from having fun!)

These improved illustrations of the tapestry located in the Royal Palace of Aranjuez south of Madrid come from the site Flandes en Hispania, a beautiful place to view many Flemish tapestries on-line.
The description explains:

"The tapestries of Vertumnus and Pomona are, without a doubt, the greatest artistic representations of the tale as told by Ovid in his Metamorphoses (Book XIV, 623-771). According to the poet, the goddess lived a reclusive life in her land, where she devoted herself exclusively to her duties: the tending of her gardens. She was distrustful of the creatures of the woods and did not let outsiders – especially male ones – into her orchards. Ovid tells how Vertumnus, the god of the seasons who fell in love with Pomona, manages to approach the goddess and seduce her using his special power, the ability to transform himself into whatever form he desires. The Habsburg tapestry collections contained at least four series of the story of Vertumnus and Pomona, woven in gold, silver, silk and wool. The series currently on display in the Royal Palace of Aranjuez is one of these, series 18 in the National Heritage catalogue."

The pruning knife is Pomona's attribute.

                                                             Mouth watering seasonal fruit

"In the tapestries, the setting of the tale is Pomona’s marvellous garden, which is notable for the way it is innovatively depicted: a sort of stage with a sense of perspective. When all the tapestries are displayed together in one room, one beside another, they form a monumental interior garden – about 40m x 5m – in which figures of hot baths and caryatids stand out, holding up the exquisite pergolae. The compositions of these tapestries reflect the interest which was sparked by gardens in Renaissance courts, and the influence of iconographic programs first used on frescoes in northern Italy. However, the spectacular and luxurious settings in which the loves of Vertumnus and Pomona are told are related to the new forms of the 'architectural” garden which appears in literature such as the Poliphilo’s Dream, written by Francesco Colonna and printed by the celebrated Aldo Manucio in Venice in 1499.' "

for more: Flandes en Hispania

Carried away

photo: Le style et la matiére

Seen in Barcelona 

and re-discovered in Paris

as 

Kart by Deguedre