ikat

Chiné à la Branche…French Floral Ikats

I’m back to writing about one of my favorite kinds of textiles – ikat. While many continue to associate the term with the very popular Central Asian style of the textile – think Madeline Weinrib pillows – this weaving technique was and is a global phenomena. Obviously I adore the Japanese version known as kasuri and you can read more about that here and here. But if you are tired or bored with ikat, I’ve got a version that I think has been underused, perhaps even unrecognized a bit. In modern parlance, I call them French floral ikats, for their soft western realistic flowers, but as I continue in the post, you’ll see there is a historical reason too. I’ve been thinking about them a lot lately as I have fallen in love with Parlor Textile‘s new fabrics this season, in particular their French Ikat in Classic Blue. I think it would make a gorgeous headboard for my 14-year-old daughter’s bedroom makeover. I’m looking for something that has both a mod prettiness and timeless lasting power. Can’t you just see it?

Reproduced from an 18th century piece of fabric courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, their French Ikat also comes in a pretty salmon pink colorway.

Kathryn Ireland has long had a loose floral Ikat which comes in a number of colors including this green and pink. You’ll notice both patterns have some banding – ribbons I like to call them – giving the flowers a bit of a striped backing to rest themselves on.

So why am I referring to these as French ikats? Well, ikat fabrics are not just all-the-rage today. Cue up mid-18th century France to discover an earlier ikat craze. Inspired by silk road imports, chiné à la branche was the French answer to the technique. Manufactured mainly in Lyons, these silks were woven in just the way you might expect. Warp threads were dyed in small bunches (thus the term “branche”) before the weaving, yielding the blurred pattern. They were extremely time-consuming to make and thus expensive so no surprise that they have historically been associated with Louis XV and Louis XVI, and more notably by Marie-Antoinette for the fabrication of her court clothes and for the upholstery of luxury furniture. And why the “chiné”? Just like “blanc de Chine” it connotes the idea that the style came from the east – although not really from China in this case – just that general direction.

Like all French fashions in the 18th century, it traveled to England as well, where it was often referred to as “Pompadour silk” for obvious reasons. Even to the modern viewer, all of these dresses just scream impressive and expensive, which they were.

You can see the stripes and the blurry flowers in this detail of the dress on the right above.

Harder to find are examples of antique chiné à la branche used for upholstery as I imagine it took a much harder beating than the fancy dress. In this small worn example we see the definitive stripes and banding that give the fabric the extra visual structure that you don’t always find in traditional ikat.

After industrialisation, chiné à la branche, which was both slow and costly, finally disappeared, leaving in its wake the modern version in which the pattern is printed onto the warp in lieu of hand dying. Last year I used Lee Jofa‘s Lambelet Stripe in Rose Amethyst to upholster the cushion on my antique French caned and painted chaise at the beach house.

I searched for a long time as the piece called for a special fabric in that it needed both a nod to the past and one to the present. Again it was the combination of the stripes with the ikat flowers that made it perfect – modern and traditional at the same time. In retrospect, I think Parlor Textile’s new French Ikat in the pink would have been a lovely choice for this piece too had it been available.

Charles Faudree has a fabric line for Vervain that includes this Ruby Ikat in a few colors, including this purple and green. It’s a more casual take on a very formal style…

…although shown here in Veranda in a more typical way on a Rococo bench. But I do think these fabrics are ripe for reinvention and mixing in today’s interiors.

One final example has my eye humming – this wild watercolor floral called Malvasia from Rubelli. The pattern is taken from a vintage sketch in the Rubelli archives. Not really the same thing at all but I do think you could have a lot of fun with this. And I can imagine the 18th century ladies thinking it would make a fabulous dress!

Image credits: 1-2. Parlor Textiles, 3-4. Kathryn Ireland, 5. Victoria & Albert Museum, 6-7. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 8. eBay, 9. Lee Jofa, 10. me, 11. Vervain, 12. Veranda, 13. Rubelli.

Sep 13, 2013 By tokyojinja in Design Motif, Interior Design, Textiles Tags: Charles Faudree, chiné à la branche, floral ikat, French ikat, ikat, Kathryn Ireland, Lee Jofa, Parlor Textiles, Vervain

Thoughts for 2012…We Are The New Victorians

“There’s No Cultural Divide When It Comes To Design”
–House Beautiful, December/January 2012

Moorish Smoking Room, The Worsham-Rockefeller House circa 1881 Brooklyn Museum, — Moorish Smoking Room, Worsham-Rockefeller House c1881, Brooklyn Museum

The word Victorian has been rolling around my mind for months, but only partially because that is the official period in which our beach house was built. As an adjective, Victorian means buttoned up and prudish. For most people, when they hear it, they think of ornate embellished houses and furniture, but for me, the word has a different connotation, as seen from a design history perspective. After “trying on” many revivals – Medieval, Gothic, Rococo, Renaissance – in the early Victorian period, the opening of Japan in 1854 , the discoveries of archaeologists in Egypt and an interest in all things exotic and foreign created dramatic new styles in interior design. The Aesthetic Movement in the later part of the 19th century highlighted art in the production of furniture and design for the home, partially as a response against the Industrial Revolution. Maybe it is a stretch to make the comparison, but I feel that for the last decade or so, interior design has been traveling down this same path, only with a much paler and lighter color scheme. For a while, I assumed the desire to weave an eclectic mix of objects from different time periods and nations stood out to me because I was living abroad and doing just that. But the overt prevalence of it everywhere has turned it into its very own style, whether in a modern or traditional context. Simultaneously, the recent movement towards homemade and authentic goods comes as a similar response to our consumer culture and poor economy.

While not wanting to be overly literal about this idea, the much written about December/January 2012 issue of House Beautiful (the title, by the way, of an influential lecture given by the touring Oscar Wilde in 1882) makes this same point and can be used to illustrate it perfectly. Joni over at Cote de Texas, did an interesting post last month comparing the home below, designed by Mark Sikes and Michael Griffin, with her own (and I thank her for the photos as the magazine is not making them available online), but I am going to use it for my own comparative purposes. The living room, well worth clicking on and enlarging, has influences from around the globe. Blue and white porcelain abounds, from Chinese garden stools to Japanese hibachi as planter, African Zebra skin, French style chairs and a massive gilt console.. The giant antique Chinese lacquer cabinet is the kind of universally useful piece I always recommended purchasing back when they could still be easily found in Hong Kong and China. On that note, you’ll be hearing more from me on Chinese antiques later this month when I do a special series for Chinese New Year week.

Just pages away is another spread, designed by Katie and Jason Maine, whose style proclaims them clearly Michael Smith alumnae, called “The New Global,” featuring an amazing English Japanned lacquer secretary from Therian, a piece that reads similarly to the Chinese cabinet above. Other worldwide influences include an English arts & crafts mantel, Oushak rug, and antique cloisonné lamps, and again, it is worth clicking the photo to see it in detail. Watch for an upcoming post on Japanned furniture too.

Their dining room is an absolute tour-de-force, featuring Indian motif wall panels by Iksel in lieu of…

…the slightly more expected Gracie or de Gournay paper seen just pages before in the Sikes/Griffin home. But in either case, both rooms are an extraordinary mix and actually quite similar in their details – extravagant wall covering, Chinoiserie chairs, statement making chandelier.

I have been following the work of the Iksels for a while, as they represent exactly the kind of cross-cultural trend I am talking about. The living room from their Paris apartment is almost a literal version of a Victorian space, only lighter and softer in color.

And I have always loved this tented bedroom from the apartment, and shown it before here.

Ten years ago, few people had heard of ikat or suzanis. Now there is not a photo spread to be found without them or some other ethnic textile, whether in small doses…

…or large.

Modern design is not left out of the equation either in this project from by Pamela Shamshiri of Commune Design. While using a different set of diverse objects and styles, the mix is still there. It kind of cracked me up that the magazine has full on re-discovered the Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi, the beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete, although in their desire to throw the term around (they use it at least three times) I am still not sure they truly understand the meaning. The house has the “weathered, organic” feeling they describe, but every detail is utterly and absolutely perfect. For some authentic local wabi-sabi, look back here. That said, the house is beautiful and there is as much going on in this dining room as those above.

For local folks, I’ll be tracking down some modern icons like the Wegner Wishbone chairs above in an upcoming “Shop Talk” post on the mid-century modern antiques and furniture available along Meguri-dori.

Again, the warm rugs, kilim pillows and other global textiles are the perfect counterpoint to all the wood.

The rooms most directly referential to Japanese design are the kitchen (and if you like this you might want to look here)…

…and the bath.

For the full article with more photos, click here. Interestingly enough, this house is shown as being a 2008 project in their portfolio, making it not that new…And as for not that new, I am sure I saw the February issue already on the news stand as I ran through the airport two days ago.

For me personally, this global aesthetic runs rampant through my Tokyo home and is definitely starting to appear in the beach house. I only had a few days in New Jersey over winter break, but managed to move a few projects along and here are a few sneak peaks. Our bedroom is shaping up – remember how I said there isn’t a photo spread without a suzani? We are using a long narrow one as a window valence.

The guest room is still waiting for its lampshades…

…but a bargain vintage find, sent off to be reupholstered will go from hideous yellow moire to lovely linen floral (draped for example in the photo). Guest room chair checked off my list!

Downstairs there is a little Belgian meets Scandinavian meets English floral prettiness going on, but it is temporary, as my Bunny Williams OKL purchase is slated for the kitchen.

I wish I had more to report on from the house, but three days right before Christmas is not a lot of time…More details on these rooms soon!

Here’s to 2012!

Related Posts:
Some Resolutions for 2011 and Bamboo in January

Image credits: 1. via Brooklyn Muesum, 1,4, & 7. House Beautiful December/January 2012, photo credit: Amy Neusinger, via Cote de Texas, 2-3, &8. House Beautiful December/January 2012, photo credit: Victoria Pearson, 5. Elle Decor December 2006, photo credit: Simon Upton, 6. Domino February 2008, photo credit: unknown, 9-13. House Beautiful December/January 2012, photo credit: Amy Neusinger, 16-18. me.

Jan 9, 2012 By tokyojinja in Furniture, Interior Design, Kitchens, Lacquer, Porcelain and Pottery, Renovation and Decoration Report, Rugs and Carpets, Textiles, Then and Now Tags: Commune Design, ikat, Iksel, Maine Design, suzani, Victorian, Victorian house

For Fabric Fanatics…Textiles Asia and Carol Cassidy

Fellow blogger Style Court is on fire these last few weeks, writing about everything I am interested in from dhurrie rugs to Laotian weavings. I have been meaning to do a quick post on textiles, with some new and old discoveries, and she has inspired me.

A few months ago I came across a new publication called Textiles Asia, founded by Bonnie Corwin in 2009 and published 3 times a year. The journal is aimed at both experts and novices and was started to fill the void left by the closing of the Textile Society in Hong Kong. Recent issues have featured everything from articles on the Mitsui family’s collection of Kosode (kimono) to Aboriginal Batik. The format is clear, the articles well-written and it has an impressive board of contributors. Subscription information can be found on their website and Tokyo locals can find it at the Tokyo American Club or the Iwatate Folk Textile Museum.

Uchikake and pattern from Mitsui collection — Floating Fans paper pattern and robe, Wedding Uchikake, Mitsui Collection, 19thC

The May 2010 issue has an article about traditional Lao wedding ceremonies and the significance of the dress worn on that day. Laotian textiles

are some of my favorites, particularly after visiting there. Laos is one of the few places left in the world where intricate hand-woven fabrics are a part of everyday life. Traditional weaving techniques were almost lost to the chaos of the war, but have been revived and are now flourishing. Much of that revival is due to Carol Cassidy, who opened her workshop in 1990 and brought a new worldwide focus and market for these products.

Cassidy’s work is a contemporary take on this ancient art form. “I start with traditional patterns and techniques and I modify, interpret, translate, adapt…” Using vintage and antique pieces, such as the Lue people skirt below, Cassidy stylizes, expands and modernizes the motifs, creating her own art. Cassidy estimates that about half of her patterns have been inspired by the different woven bands in this exact skirt.

The scarves below have a band with a signature motif that she uses all the time, found in the skirt above. In addition to personal items like shawls and scarves, Cassidy and her weavers make wall hangings and she has also collaborated with interior designers and architects to produce fabric for upholstery, using a special wide loom.

I have a number of her pieces, including this large weft ikat laying over the back of the chair. If you look back at the skirt, you can see that this piece is a stylized version of the large band of zig zag ikat on the top of the skirt. On the other hand, the pillow is made from a woven textile bought in the marketplace, not from Cassidy’s atelier, but still you can see the use of the traditional motifs. I had it made into a Laotian sarong. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, it was never a good look for me, so I had it turned into a pillow.

For more on Carol Cassidy and weaving in Laos see American Weaver Revives Old Laotian Art and In Laos, It’s all About Weave in The New York Times. Cassidy also has a number of publications including the one shown above, Beyond Tradition: Lao Textiles Revisited and Weaving Tradition: Carol Cassidy and Woven Silks of Laos. Best of all, go and visit and see them in person!

Image credits: 1. Textiles Asia, 2. from Textiles Asia January 2010, images courtesy of the Bunka Gakuen Costume Museum, photo credit: Tamiko Tanaka/Tami Art, 3-4. from Beyond Tradition:Lao Textiles Revisited, photo credit: Irving Solero, 5. Asia Store Blog at the Asia Society, 6. me.

Mar 3, 2011 By tokyojinja in Books, Movies & TV, Textiles Tags: Carol Cassidy, ikat, Laos, Textiles Asia, weaving