#c401 $2,600
Two Fortuny Sévigné stenciled cotton drapery panels, 1950s
Mariano Fortuny started as a painter like his father. Perhaps overshadowed by the father's reputation as a painter, the son became intrigued by the father's large collection of antique fabrics. Mariano abandoned painting to become the greatest textile designer in history.
Starting in 1899, he produced his celebrated textiles in the 15th-century Palazzo Orfei in Venice, now the Fortuny Museum. The popularity of Fortuny's designs had spread from the cultured elite to the broader public just when Europe was feeling impoverished after WWI. The expensive silk and velvet fabrics hand produced in his small workshop could not meet the demand.
In 1919 he faced two imperatives: the need to increase production and to use less expensive fabrics. His solution was a new company, Società Anonima Fortuny. After much experimentation, Fortuny settled on long-staple Egyptian cotton as the ground cloth for his new creations. Although his factory output was considered mass production by Fortuny's standards, it still required a high degree of manual labor to achieve the desired effect.
Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo, self portrait painted shortly before his death.
This fabric is stenciled with the Sévigné pattern, based on a 17th century French design produced for Madame de Sévigné. It was purchased in Italy by a traveling American in the late 1950s. When the fabric was made into drapes, the selvedge edges with the Fortuny identification were cut off so that the fabric would not pucker. The well documented Sévigné pattern can be found in the Fortuny literature. Each panel is finished on the outside edge and bottom with a Fortuny stenciled border.
The dramatic revival of interest in Fortuny fabrics has been a major fashion trend in recent years. His magnificent fabrics were meant for wall hangings and furnishings. Although Fortuny stenciled patterns are still produced today, lovers of textile art appreciate the superior quality of the vintage pieces. These panels together total 5.6 yards, making them an excellent buy at approximately $464/yard.
The Marquise de Sévigné (1626–1696) was one of the greatest masters of the French language. Known for their wit and vividness, her letters were collected, published and circulated during her lifetime without her permission. The discovery of new letters of hers is a cause of excitement in the French literary world.
One of the newly discovered letters is particularly dramatic, recording a personal encounter with the English political philosopher John Locke. Here is a witty excerpt of the letter to her friend Count Grinaud in 1688, the year before the publication of Locke's immortal Two Treatises of Government, the philosophic basis of Jefferson's Declaration of Independence. (Jefferson had a bust of John Locke at Monticello).
King James, having trodden upon the English rights, has ceased to be their rightful king. The ancient contract is thus dissolved, and King James is forcibly shown to the door. Whereupon the English, or at any rate M. Locke's friends, have joined together in a new social contract...What, I ask you, could be more natural than that? Ah, Grinaud, now I hear the laughter that shall only pass your lips next week as you read this. You shall turn to your lovely Comtesse and exclaim, "Alas! Our unfortunate friend, Mme. de Sévigné, has gone mad, and is raving about the state of Nature, and the social contract, and the philosophy of the English."
The condition is almost excellent. One panel has a 1" tear on the side edge near the bottom.
Each panel is 49" wide by 101" long (2.8 yards).
