Thursday, August 4, 2016

17th Century Redwork Cloth

I have a think for redwork and blackwork - and this piece from Bonham's July 2015 auction just really tickles me.  The overall wide pattern is really made ingeniously and bears closer inspection.

Bonham's Lot 607 30 Jun - 1 Jul 2015 

It isn't until you look very close that you see the design is made of a serpentine design that is mirrored.  The serpentines a vine of oak leaves and acorns (can't go bad with that!) with a standing cupid as well as a lion about to attack a small man.  



If you go to the website, you can magnify the images well enough to chart the design.  Here is a blow up of the acorn border - which would be great on a sampler!







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2 comments:

  1. D1-D2August 4, 2016 at 9:28 AM

    Lovely piece! There is so much detail to see

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  2. kbsalazarAugust 4, 2016 at 10:45 AM

    HIGHLY COOL!!! I've run into this pattern before - on a piece in the Hermitage. I've charted it for inclusion in my forthcoming book (both the main design and the acorn border). The biggest differences between this version and the Hermitage piece are that the other one is a single strip, rather than a 4-sided composition; and that the other one has a voided ground in a secondary color. The museum tags it as being 17th century, Italian: http://hermitagemuseum.org/wps/portal/hermitage/digital-collection/11.+Textiles%2C+Tapestry/263398/?lng=en

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