An 18th century French silk brocade

Circa 1750-1770, probably woven in Lyon

The faded madder gros de Tours ground with a pattern of meandering twisted lace ribbons and floral sprays in green, yellow, blue, white, and pink, consisting of joined panels, all of full width, edged with silver lace braid and lined with yellow taffeta, to which has been attached an old descriptive label typed on linen ‘BROCCATO A NASTRI E MAZZETTI DI FIORI / EPOCA LUIGI XV (1750 circa) / GALLONE ARGENTO FINO A MANO’ (brocade with ribbons and bunches of flowers / Louis XV period (circa 1750) / handmade silver braid).

Vide: The Meandering Pattern in Brocaded Silks 1745-1775, Chiara Buss, publ. Ermenegildo Zegna, Milan, 1990, pp.58-71, Seidengewebe – Kunstgewerbemuseum der Stadt Köln, Barbara Markowsky, publ. Cologne 1976, pp. 339-342, and Baroque and Rococo Silks, Peter Thornton, publ. Faber & Faber, London, 1965, pl. 95b-97a, for illustrations of similar silks. The V & A has a brocade of comparable colour and design, acc. no. CIRC.325-1935.

205cm (80⅝”) x 106cm (41¾”)