Textile length
Medium:Silk brocaded cannetillé with gold and silver threads
Geography: France or Italy
Date: 1740-1750
Period: Rococo
Object number: 2009.125.7.2
Credit Line: This acquisition was made possible by the generous support of the Louise Hawley Stone Charitable Trust.
DescriptionOne of two lengths of dress silk. Design of a garland of flowers in a semi-naturalistic style. The gold crescents at the centre of the largest flowers may indicate that this silk was made for the Ottoman Empire; in this case, it would be an interesting example of a Rococo silk made for export. The cannetillé warp floats add a monochrome geometric pattern to the ground: ground patterns were often formalized in the mid-century, and repetitive diaper patterns were common. Rococo silks of the 1740s and 50s are less naturalistic than the Revelesque silks of the 1730s: the metal flowers (tulips, viburnum, etc.) are necessarily less naturalistic, more stylized than those woven in coloured silks.
