Cover for Collection of New Flowers of Taste for the Manufacture of Persian Cloth, Invented and Drawn by Jean Pillement 1765 - 1770

Johann Heinrich Hess created the cover for "Collection of New Flowers of Taste for the Manufacture of Persian Cloth" with etching and engraving techniques. The image appears during a period when Europe was enamored with the exotic allure of Persian textiles and designs. In this context, the detailed botanical illustrations are more than mere decoration. The image speaks to the complex relationships between trade, artistic imagination, and cultural appropriation. The "flowers of taste" suggests an intersection of nature, art, and commerce. Pillement positions himself as an inventor, a creator of new tastes. Consider how this reflects the era's obsession with novelty and luxury. The cover serves as an invitation, appealing to those who sought to translate the exotic into the familiar. It reflects how art can both shape and mirror our desires, our identities, and our ever-evolving tastes.