Sample
Unknown Artist
early 19th century
Medium
Silk on silk
Dimensions
L. 3 3/8 x W. 2 5/8 inches 8.6 x 6.7 cm
Classification
Textiles-Embroidered
Culture
French
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of The United Piece Dye Works, 1936
Accession Number
36.90.1721
Art Historical Context
This delicate silk-on-silk embroidered sample, created by an unknown French artist in the early 19th, offers a glimpse into the opulent world of French textile artistry. Measuring just 3⅜ x 2⅝ inches (8.6 x 6.7 cm), its petite scale suggests it was a swatch used by designers, weavers, or dyers to showcase patterns and techniques. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum Art's Department of European Sculpture and Decor Arts, it was generously gifted in 1936 by The United Piece Dye Works, highlighting connections between historical craftsmanship and early industrial dyeing practices. In early 19th-cen...