Faced with increasing foreign competition, especially from France, Genoa’s weavers created a niche specialization by weaving silk furniture upholstery. This decorative, polychrome velvet, achieved using multiple differently colored warps, is a fine example. Glorious velvets like this proved exceedingly sought after throughout Europe for embellishing suites of upholstered seating. This satin velvet was displayed in European Textiles and Costume Figures, on view at the Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences (visible at center left in the photograph of 1938), and at Walton High School (visible at center right in the photograph of February 9, 1939)[Elizabeth Cleland, 2020]

Tessuto a più catene con rovescio legato

Velluto soprarizzo laminato allucciolato operato ad un corpo/armatura in taffetas lamianto prodotto da un ordito e una trama di fondo in seta gialla e una trama lanciata in oro filato legata in taffetas all'ordito di fondo/trame broccate in oro filato e riccio eseguono il disegno mentre le profiature sono in velluto rosso tagliato

Floral velvets like this one are often referred to as jardinière velvets, using the French word for garden in reference to their bold, symmetrical floral patterns, or Genoa velvets, referring to the city where they were first produced. It is difficult to date this type of velvet precisely, as it was fashionable for formal interiors over a period of many years. The same type of design-large flowers and scrolling leaves symmetrically arranged to cover the entire width of a textile-also appears in monochrome damasks of the period.Velvet is distinguished from other flat textiles by its pile weave. This texture was created by an extra warp, in addition to the warp necessary for the background of the fabric. The pile warps were passed over small rods to create the loops of the pile. A polychrome velvet required as many extra sets of warps as it had colors in the pile, in this case four colors of velvet pile on a white satin background. Jardinière velvets usually had a combination of cut and uncut loops, giving further texture to the design. In this example, the combination of cut and uncut velvet on a smooth satin surface gives it an especially rich character, as all of the surfaces reflect the light differently.

These are part of a set of four double doors made for the Golden Gallery in the Palazzo Carrega-Cataldi, now the Chamber of Commerce in Genoa. The doors were purchased and brought to New York in the late 1890s by the American architect Stanford White.

Down the middle of the red velvet curtain is a strip of velvel with a yellow silk ground and a large conventional floral design of red cut and uncut velvet.  Trimmed with gold braid and fringe.

1675~ / 1725~, Genoa

1675~ / 1725~, Genoa

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