Textile c. 18th century

Curator: We're looking at a textile work, possibly from the 18th century, currently held at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. It’s cataloged as “Textile” and made with mixed media that include drawing, fiber art, and weaving techniques on paper. Editor: It’s surprisingly delicate, and intricate! I see a pale background densely populated with embroidered or drawn flowers and foliage—it’s cheerful, almost childlike. Is it a tapestry? Curator: Technically, its media is varied, making it hard to classify as simply tapestry; there’s fiber work combined with illustrative and mixed media that push it past one strict categorization. But yes, functionally, perhaps originally, it would serve a similar decorative purpose. Note also that the anonymous artist employed a symmetrical floral border with a heraldic device within a circular frame in its center. It would seem that heraldry and decoration of the ruling classes found its ways into more everyday decoration. Editor: I am immediately drawn to how each flower, while similar in overall shape, displays a unique colour palette. And the central motif…is that a lion or some sort of dragon with a staff? The artist really focuses our vision inward from these surrounding natural forms to heraldry or possibly mythology? Curator: Given the period and its Orientalist context, the symbolism probably blends traditional heraldry, decorative exoticism, and personal motifs. The use of drawing and mixed media may reflect available resources within the maker's socio-economic circumstances, not just available artmaking materials. Editor: The raw materials speak as much as any historical record! In the outer field, there is no visual hierarchy as our eyes register equal compositional space to each of the flowers, fruits and stems, despite their unique palette of hues. Curator: The symmetry is rather insistent, but also suggests how art styles influenced needlework done in different social spheres. Such floral decorative works would make a statement about status within its societal context, demonstrating skill and cultivation of design from elite, international spheres of aesthetic interest and trade. Editor: Looking again, I see now that the floral border almost creates an elaborate frame to present this central scene. The embroidery's gentle tactility complements what I suspect would have been quite politically-driven statements made by its heraldic icon! Curator: Right. That tactility hints at the maker's context while speaking of craft histories of class. Editor: So while, initially, I took note of its naive charm, that effect probably speaks more to a set of visual and social conventions from which we look today across many generations. Curator: Yes, seeing the layers is crucial; surface charm versus embedded message of material availability and aspirational class markers, that is where an objects narrative complexities often reside.