Stunning Lyon or Tours brocade with graduated trees. What species do you think they are? The quilted petticoat can be sold with or without the robe.
the bright yellow ribbed silk with three graduated trees growing from a rocky hillock, large roses on extended stems, one group in pink the other magenta, an old knarled tree entwined with green flowerheads with roses at the base, all in shades of deep pink, magenta, mid and dark green, brown and yellow, with silver coloured silks in the background, the selvedge with a bold blue stripe, tapes for the polonaise, pattern repeat 18 in or 45 cm high, the silk 19 3/4 in or 50 cm wide,
The gown with large square neck with drawstring tapes, front eyelet hole and cord lacing, squared lower bodice front, three quarter below elbow sleeves, the skirt pleated into the bodice and with side slits for access to pockets beneath, the back bodice boned from 4 in or 10 cm down and pointed into the skirt, the bodice lined with linen and sewn with yellow twisted thread, the inside skirt with two pairs of tape ties, for the polonnaise,the bodice lined with coarse linen, golden yellow twisted silk thread used throughout, very fine yellow silk to lower skirt and part hem, back shoulder to front hem 57 in or 1.45 cm, bust approx 38 in or 95 cm.
This expensive fabric was much loved and re made in the 1770's. The lacing panels on either side of the inside of the bodice have been resewn. There is some later thread to the outside shoulder and back outside facings, perhaps where it came undone. The bodice has been pieced but when worn with a fichu would not notice.The bodice lining has underarm staining but this does not appear on the silk. There is lightweight yellow silk to the inside lower sides and some of the base of the skirt.
Lesley Miller, Senior Curator (Textiles), Furniture, Textiles and Fashion at the V & A has generously given the following information.
I would date this silk to the 1760s, as it is comparable with the Galy-Gallien designs/mises-en-carte (Both Clare Browne and Christine Aribaud are of the same opinion). It is rather more difficult to attribute it to a manufacturing centre as its width is narrow which suggests Tours (48-49.5cm or 5/12 of a French ell being their usual weaving width). However, we know from V&A T.373-1972 (pattern book) and from complaints from weavers in Tours that the Lyonnais also decided to take up this width, probably for obvious reasons as it saved them silk. They thus wove in this width and wider by the mid-18th century. It is impossible to suggest a designer. We can trace about a dozen designers active in Tours in the mid - late 18th century, of whom Louis Durand was only one. At least two of that dozen were natives of Lyon and my guess is that there was much more input and buying in of designs than has currently been traced (after all Lyon had over 800 designers across the century, while Paris which is very near Tours had many others who were multi-disciplinary). No signed design by Durand, or design owned by a manufacturer who wrote on it that is came from Durand, exists, to my knowledge.
I would treat with caution Peter Thornton's identification because he laid the groundwork for our understanding of the chronology of silk design in Europe, and what each European centre was producing, but as a result he did make some sweeping assertions that are now questioned - in particular, his views on the muddy colours of Tours silks. Unfortunately, the Tours silk industry has not been studied much, an those who are interested in maintaining the heritage have not worked on the 18th century. The collection of textiles at the Musee des Beaux-Arts is small as is the collection of designs and I do not remember seeing anything like this. This collections were given by a Tours manufacturer and may well contain pieces of silk from Lyons as the Tours industry copied Lyons, especially once it began to diminish in this century. Thornton's identification of Durand is based on a petition/letter to the municipality in the late 1760s when the industry dipped and he found himself without the means to support his family. His claims to being the designer in most demand/highly regarded in Tours at that time, must therefore be treated with caution and he was putting together a case for financial support. Interestingly, the baptisms of his children took place in Tours, but he did not marry there.
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