The Queen of Flowers Brocade

photo St Tyl

There are so many beautiful ways to use fabric but certain designs may or may not be appreciated until put into the right setting. It would be hard for a silk enthusiast not to appreciate La Reine des Fleurs, but the beauty of these long flowing garlands is impressive and, as with large scale diagonals, presents a very defined character. This 19th century design is still hand woven in 100% silk by Tassinari & Chatel -  for the article at St Tyl, click !

La Verdure

Martine Aballéa Le jour et la nuit

Man has always wished to tame nature, to bring it inside. John Hopper of The Textile Blog believes it to be our greatest inspiration and source of creativity. Though many today may feel increasingly distanced from nature, the subject is so much a constant source of marvel and decorative exploration that it could never be dropped from the textile artist's repertoire. A verdure is characterized by the use of foliage and plant forms which cover the surface of a fabric almost entirely. Any appearance by man is incidental.  Eloge de la verdure is a tapestry exhibit that explores the subject through mille-fleurs and various plant forms, landscapes, and the changing seasons from the 16th century onward to signed works by Monet, Buri, Hadju, Alechinsky, Prassinos et Traquandi...

Verdure à feuilles de choux
Tapisserie des Flandres, XVIe siècle

Photo : Mobilier national/Isabelle Bideau

Dom Robert Mille Feurs Sauvages tapestry d'Aubusson 1961

Jean Lurçat Jean (1892-1966)
Le Printemps, 1946
Tapisserie d’Aubusson
Paris, Mobilier national

Photo : Mobilier national/Isabelle Bideau

Milva Maglione (1934-2010)
Vent de printemps dans l’après-midi, 1962
Tapisserie des Gobelins
Paris, Mobilier national

Photo : Mobilier national/Isabelle Bideau

Jacques Monory Velvet Jungle 2012 Tapisserie des Gobelins

Eloge de la verdure 
at the Galerie des Gobelins
jusqu'à 1 jan 2014

La Reine des Fleurs: from bedroom to ballroom and onward

photo St Tyl

La Reine des Fleurs woven document from 1895 Tassinari et Chatel.
There is something classic and modern about the unusual design disposition of this
beautiful brocade on a ground of cannetillé. 

Cannetillé is a weave that is similar to cannelé or a more sophisticated reps with horizontal ribs that have been worked into little pavés or alternating squares or lozenges. (My own black and cream design used on the sides of this blog shows a close up of a modern cannetillé technique.) The pattern is still hand woven today in 100% silk for those privileged enough to acquire it. The brocading technique requires very attentive weaving wrong side up; mirrors are installed underneath the loom to survey the progress on the right-side.

photo Marc Walter
from La Soie en Occident by Jacques Anquetil

The same looping garlands of roses in a different coloration are found
in this ball gown by Worth taken from a truly marvelous book with sublime photography. The book is entitled Silk in English. Worth used plainer fabrics such as taffeta and satin earlier in his career but used pronounced, large-scale designs such as this toward the end of the 19th century.

( You may recognize some of Marc Walter's more recent photography in 
Un Certain Goût Pour L'orient / Exotic Taste: Orientalist Interiors and 
Versailles just out this month) 

photo Versailles

In the apartments of the Duchesse du Barry at Versailles, we see the brocade draped
à la reine and with coordinated passementrie.

photo Anthony Denney

This seems to be a 1950s interior with a 18th century bed à la Polonaise and comfortable armchairs 

decoration by Antoinette Bernstein.

photo: Delprat

 Here, several fabric designs served as inspiration for this spectacular rug designed by Patrick Norguet  made by Tai Ping in 2010. In the foreground, La Reine des Fleurs which blends into other florals from the Tassinari archives, Courson, Compiègne, Choisy. More on this rug project here.

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing
A flowery band to bind us to the earth...
Keats

La Reine des Fleurs is still produced on special order at Tassinari & Chatel.