Friday, September 1, 2017

Swatches from 19th-century France

Block-printed Cotton by Thierry Miegs & Cie
ca. 1880
France
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Roller-printed Wool Twill
1860s
France
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Block-printed Cotton
1820
France
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Come from Satan, come from God – who cares,
Angel or Siren, rhythm, fragrance, light,
provided you transform – O my one queen!
this hideous universe, this heavy hour?

from Hymn to Beauty (1857) by Charles Baudelaire, translated by Richard Howard (1982)

Block-printed Cotton
ca. 1800
France
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Block-printed Wool
1860s
France
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Silk Velvet, cut and uncut
ca. 1850-1900
France
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Silk Satin
ca. 18000-1820
France
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Silk Satin
ca. 1800-1825
France
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Glazed Cotton Chintz, resist-dyed
ca. 1890
France
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Roller-printed and Block-printed Cotton
ca. 1800-1825
France
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design  Museum

Roller-printed Cotton
ca. 1840
France
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Silk Satin
ca. 1800-1825
France
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Silk Twill
ca. 1800-1825
France
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Silk Satin Moiré
ca. 1870
France
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Roller-printed Cotton
ca. 1850
France
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum