Title: Carriage Cushion Cover (Octagons, Squares and Palmettes)
Date: early 19th century
Location: Sweden, Scania, Herrestads district
Materials: interlocked tapestry
Dimensions: 62 x 78 cm
Accession Number: SW 53
Other Notes:
The design of a lattice with ascending palmettes in each compartment can be found in European textile designs from the 13th century and earlier. Here the compartments formed by the lattice are octagons, attached to each other diagonally; squares are formed on the vertical and horizontal sides of the octagons. Traditional opinion may view the highly stylised drawing of the palmettes as a degeneration of a naturalistic form; a broader approach might conclude that this abstraction was devised for the medium of interlocked tapestry in order to cause a bold and dramatic effect. The colours here are characteristic of Herrestads, with brown, blue and yellow dominant.
Bibliography:
V. Hansen, Swedish Textile Art: Traditional Marriage Weavings from Scania: The Khalili Collection, London 1996, cat. 24, pp.80–1.
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