Length of upholstery silk 1771 - 1772

This length of upholstery silk was woven in France in the late 18th century by Philippe de Lasalle. The Rococo style of art and decoration that developed in France in the early 1700s celebrated asymmetry and free-flowing natural forms. This silk panel reflects that fashion, which was promoted through the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, and the Royal manufactories. This artwork served as a kind of advertisement for the luxury silk industry of Lyon, with its imagery of playful nature, a celebration of aristocratic leisure. Such textiles were part of the visual culture of the court and its imitators, who used them to signal their social status. They reveal the economics of the period, and remind us of the exploitation of labor and resources that allowed such luxury goods to be produced. To understand the artwork’s place in the history of decorative arts, you might want to investigate period room interiors in museums, or study the pattern books of the silk factories themselves. The survival of such objects reminds us that art is always embedded in social relations.