Metrage van crème-wit lint van zijden gaas, waarvan de helft ingeweven banen c. 1900

Curator: This is a length of cream-white silk gauze ribbon dating from around 1900. The weaving creates both an open mesh and denser, solid bands. Editor: My immediate feeling is one of delicacy and restraint. It's beautiful, of course, but also remarkably understated for something that was likely intended as an embellishment. Curator: Exactly. The silk gauze, combined with the bands woven into the fabric, creates an intriguing duality. The solid bands suggest a structured aesthetic, yet the sheer gauze lends an air of ephemeral lightness. Considering this was made during a time of significant social and artistic change, it speaks volumes about evolving tastes. Editor: The choice of silk, in that particular shade of cream-white, also strikes me. White has so often been loaded with symbolism of purity or status. Given it’s meant for trimming or embellishment, could this also signal a sense of elevated status for those who wear it, and an adherence to very specific visual codes in turn-of-the-century fashion? Curator: Precisely! In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the rise of department stores democratized fashion somewhat. Decorative arts and even items like this ribbon became incredibly important for signaling one's position in society. Silk textiles also played a vital role in international trade, particularly involving Asia, so the ribbon carries traces of those global dynamics as well. Editor: Looking closer at the ribbon’s pattern, the alternating sections, do you see a kind of unspoken dialogue playing out between visibility and concealment, tradition and innovation? Curator: Absolutely, a continuous push and pull of the zeitgeist. Editor: I hadn't considered the ribbon in the Rijksmuseum archives as such a concentrated, albeit quiet, material witness to change. Curator: The layers of history woven within its delicate threads continue to reveal themselves, even after all these years.