Panel 1860 - 1880

This is a decorative panel created by Mathevon et Bouvard. We see here a repeat-patterned textile, likely made in France, given the French names of its makers. The imagery here is significant. Note the flowers and other decorative patterns which would have been associated with luxury. This would have been produced for an aristocratic or upper-middle-class market in need of interior decoration. The textile industry in France had, by this point, been formalized by institutions like the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. And the textile industry was also deeply tied to the history of colonialism and global trade. These kinds of decorative panels are a fascinating window into the culture of their time. We can use sources like inventories of aristocratic collections, and pattern books from textile manufacturers to understand the social world in which objects like these circulated.