Florence
Design c. 1890, made 1890–1917
Medium
Cotton, twill weave with supplementary pile wefts forming cut solid 'velvet'; block printed
Dimensions
184.4 × 68.7 cm (72 5/8 × 27 in.); Repeat: 43.1 × 32 cm (17 × 12 1/2 in.)
Classification
textile
Department
Textiles
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
145349
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Rather than velvet, this upholstery fabric is velveteen, the distinction being that the pile for velveteen is made from supplementary wefts (horizontal fibers), rather than supplementary warps (vertical or longitudinal fibers). Velveteen, often made of cotton, has a less dense pile than velvet and usually is cheaper to produce. Printed designs on velveteen, such as this one, reflect modern efforts to imitate the luxurious sensation of velvet pile while offering consumers a more durable and less ...