VIOLA red/white

Repeat: 5,8 x 5 cm. Width 145 cm. 

Anders Berch collection 1741-72 Nordiska Museet, Stockholm. Nr 70.
Sample mounted on playing-card with the text: No 35. Lizeré à deux harnois 6 à 8 quart. om dagen. (translated: No 35. Lizeré with two harnesses, 6-8 quarters per day). End of piece with marking: P.F. No 748.

The original silk is woven with a white warp and two wefts red and white. They alternate and float on the face side in the pattern otherwise they are bound by the warp faced rep structure of the background (Gros de Tours) and are bound on the reverse. The French name of this technique is Liseré. The marking on the end border is the initials of the (unidentified) manufacturer and the number of the loom. It indicates that the silk was woven in Stockholm, probably around 1750. Small patterned fabrics of this kind was used mainly for men’s costumes, often as coat, waistcoat and breeches in the same fabric. The note refers to how much of this silk that could be produced in one day - around 90-120 cm.