Possibly woven in Tours or Lyon. Magnificent colour with lots of silver. The length of piece indicates it was a skirt length from a formal ladies gown. As always with this period brocades it is difficult to ascertain what the motifs are meant to be. This would look wonderful mounted and framed.
The yellow damask ground woven with exotic motifs, in a triple linear design, the dark areas are flat silver strips wound round a purple silk core, the lighter areas silver wrapped round natural coloured silk interspersed with rust coloured silk, the selvedges of rust with a fine natural line.
43 x 21 in; 1.10m x 34 cm wide
Very good condition. No stains, tears. The top of the length has a narrow piece inserted horizontally and a rectangular piece to one side. Of course if this was a skirt length, as I would imagine it was, the top of the skirt often had these inserts, to use up the precious fabric scraps.
An Elegant Art. Fashion & Fantasy in the Eighteenth Century. Los Angeles County Museum 1983. The Elegant Art of Woven Silk. Natalie Rothstein. p 61
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