Fleurs Stylises c. 1898

Arthur Silver designed 'Fleurs Stylises', a linen textile, sometime in the late 19th century. It exemplifies the aesthetic principles of the English Arts and Crafts movement, which idealized handcraft, natural materials, and pre-industrial modes of production. The Arts and Crafts movement was an explicit critique of industrial capitalism, its factory system, and its degradation of craft labor. 'Fleurs Stylises' speaks to this critique in a number of ways. The stylized flowers are presented in repeat, showing Silver's embrace of mechanization. He was, after all, a design director for a company that mass-produced textiles. Yet the stylized and botanical forms nod to the movement's desire to reconnect with nature and to re-establish a harmony between the built environment and the natural world. The social history of art helps us understand the complex and sometimes contradictory ways that art objects can embody cultural values. Primary sources such as company records, design manifestos, and critical reviews can enrich our understanding of works like this.