Fantastical Beasts

A beautiful escape from reality, the imaginative depiction of Fantastic Beasts in French textiles. Beasts from fairy tales or myths & legends always capture our imaginations and remind us of thrilling tales told to us as children. Beauty & the Beast. Perhaps there is a bit of the Beast and some of the child in all of us, which is why we love these imaginative images so much.

Art Nouveau, Art Deco & Late Victorian French Prints

Here are a selection of late 19th century and early 20th century French printed fabric, some I have had for a while, some have sold a while ago and a few I obtained last week on my successful buying trip.

The first five are light and airy, quite cheap and basic corded cottons, a fabric I believe is known as 'rep'. They all date to around the 1930s, and are Art Deco in style, they would have been used for curtains and quilts. French Art Deco was much more sinuous and closer to art Nouveau than most other countries, but I like that! I find some very angular more typical Deco designs less appealing.

The next 3 are Art Nouveau panels dating to btween 1895-1910, their sinuous styalisation typical of the period. Art Nouveau flowers always look so glamerous!

The final prints are Victorian, and date to about 1880, cluttered, styalised, full of pattern and over-blown gorgeousness. So typical of an era that had gone through and was still going through such momentous change; this is reflected in the new technology brought to bear in the textile industry, and in the influence on design & pattern of many different cultures.

Victorian Berlin woolwork: The Young David playing his harp to soothe King Saul

This is a beautiful Victorian Berlin woolwork picture, quite large, and entirely worked in petitpoint in wool with silk highlights on canvas.

It depicts a scene from the Bible's Old Testament, with the young David playing his harp to soothe the torments of King Saul. The colours are beautiful, bright and unfaded, and I like the sinister, brooding feeling that is conjured by the intensity of Saul's gaze and the worried expression on the face of the woman juxtaposed with the innocence and rapture of the young David as he makes music.

Beautiful Birds & Butterflies

Beautiful birds & butterflies as depicted in French 17th, 18th & 19th century textiles; printed toiles and cottons, lace, tapestry, needlepoint and more. Motifs to cheer the heart in the middle of Winter when all is cold, damp and drear outside. A reminder that we will soon be celebrating Mid-Winter, which helps up to get through the dark days, back to the beginning again with the start of Spring. People throughout history have brought images of nature into their homes all year round through the use of textiles, paintings and ornaments, Even in todays high-tech, urban culture, we are still drwan to such images to decorate our interior spaces, be they naturalistic or styalised.

Some spectacular embroidered & beaded antique evening bags

With the party season almost upon us, I thought I would look out a few pretty little antique evening bags to sell.
The geometric beadwork bag is French Art Deco, and is really heavy for its size, completely encrusted front & back with tiny glass beads in an elegant cream, brown and black pallette, a pefect example of Deco restraint and elegance.
The bird & roses beadwork bag is again French, made with the tiniest coloured glass beads, most likely mid 19th century with its typical Victorian-style design, but I think the beaded panel has been sewn to its navy silk velvet back at a later date.
The black velvet reticule is beaded all over with hand made white glass beads and embellished with gold metal thread decoration. I think it dates to anything from 1900-1930, and is either Indian, or inspired by Indian textiles.
The last bag is a superb example of mid to late 19th century needlepoint, to the naked eye, it looks like a machine woven design, but on closer inspection, the exquisite stitches are revealed, stitched onto very fine canvas, the background has been left unstitched. The frame is beautiful, gilt metal with little imitation pearls, and it is lined with pale green grosgrain silk.

All of these very different bags are incredibly beautiful in their own way, but they are all a little delicate for me, I am a bit of a clumsy so & so, I would probably break anything as dainty as these beauties, so I will be sticking to my gorgeous 1930s, indestructable and capacious lady's leather Gladstone Bag to be on the safe side...