Fantastic Ornament: French Color Design

113 Pages·2018·50.27 MB·English

by  Dover

DOVER PUBLICATIONS, INC.
Mineola, New York
Publisher’s Note
This unique collection draws upon spectacular textile designs created in Lyon,
France’s third largest city. More than five-and-a-half centuries of silk
manufacture in Lyon led to the city’s reputation as the “silk capital.” The
industry was founded in the mid-fifteenth century by Louis XI, and by 1540, the
city had developed a monopoly in the trade. The silk industry thrived in Lyon
until the late eighteenth century, when the chaos and deprivations of the French
Revolution nearly destroyed it. Several decades later, however, with the
patronage of Napoleon and Josephine, silk began to regain its place in Lyon, and
well into the twentieth century, Lyon continued to enjoy its reputation as a
preeminent producer of designs in silk. Today, this aspect of the city’s history is
explored and celebrated at the Fabric Museum (La Musée des Tissus).
The brilliant work of Lyon’s designers lives on in these patterns from a
studio sourcebook of the early 1900s. The craftsmanship displayed in the more
than one hundred plates included here reveals a mastery of floral patterns, as
well as some quite modern abstract motifs, hinting at early influences of Art
Deco design. Against backgrounds of soft pastels, rich intense hues, or the
deepest blacks, the dozens of intricate patterns show a range of imagination and
artistry and a joy in their creation.
Copyright
Copyright © 2018 by Dover Publications, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Bibliographical Note
This Dover edition, first published in 2018, is a new compilation of color plates gathered from an early-
twentieth-century hand-painted studio sourcebook. A Publisher’s Note has been provided specially for this
edition.
International Standard Book Number
ISBN-13: 978-0-486-82295-2
ISBN-10: 0-486-82295-8
Manufactured in the United States by LSC Communications 82295801 2018
www.doverpublications.com