Piece
Unknown Artist
1760–70
Medium
Silk
Dimensions
Overall: 12 x 20 1/2 in. (30.5 x 52.1 cm) (loom width)
Classification
Textiles-Woven
Culture
French
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1920
Accession Number
20.57.321
Tags
Art Historical Context
This exquisite silk textile fragment, woven in France around 1760–70, captures the lavish spirit of the Rococo era. Measuring just 12 x 20½ inches—precisely the width of a standard loom—it features delicate motifs of flowers and leaves, hallmarks of the period's love for nature-inspired ornamentation. Produced during the reign of Louis XV, such pieces were crafted in Lyon, Europe's silk-weaving capital, where master weavers transformed fine silk threads into luxurious fabrics for gowns, upholstery, and furnishings. The Rococo style emphasized asymmetry, lightness, and playful elegance, and th...