A Collection of French Hand-Painted Silk Weave Designs

Lyon, France: [circa 1849-80].

Price: $5,000.00

A collection of 45 hand-painted patterns for silk velour and satin patterns created on thick sheets of graph paper by designers at the factory of André Donat, a manufacturer of silks at the Place Croix Paquet, in Lyon, France. All 45 sheets are cut to various sizes, with most ranging from an average size of roughly 15” x 17” up to 20” x 40”, but including several smaller patterns, one of which measures 7” x 6”.

Neatly handwritten in ink on the back of all but a few sheets is the date on which the design was made and specific notes as to the design, including in some instances instructions on how it should be set up on the loom. Most of the designs were created between 1849 and 1863, with a few dating up through 1882.

Donat’s silks were displayed at the Great Exhibition of 1851, and several were awarded prize medals. Two separate exhibition catalogue entries describe Donat as a silk manufacturer of “Waistcoats and dresses, fancy watered silk; grenadine, satin, poplin, &c.” and of “vestings and silks for cravats, in plain, figured, and broché satin, and grenadine.”

Many sheets show signs of use in the factory, including some with additional pencil notes. Scattered creasing at the edges and at some folds; the four largest sheets are folded in half with partial light splitting along the folds, very good overall.

A scarce survival of hand-painted designs notable for their striking three-dimensional effects and vibrant colors.


Item #445141

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Item #445141 A Collection of French Hand-Painted Silk Weave Designs. Donat, Co.
A Collection of French Hand-Painted Silk Weave Designs
A Collection of French Hand-Painted Silk Weave Designs
A Collection of French Hand-Painted Silk Weave Designs
A Collection of French Hand-Painted Silk Weave Designs
A Collection of French Hand-Painted Silk Weave Designs