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The Pheasants from the "Verdures of the Vatican" Series

A textile featuring two pheasants in the upper portion facing one another, strands of golden beads held between them in their beaks, symmetrical garlands above and below them, a golden structure near the middle, and curled ribbons embroidered near the bottom.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A textile featuring two pheasants in the upper portion facing one another, strands of golden beads held between them in their beaks, symmetrical garlands above and below them, a golden structure near the middle, and curled ribbons embroidered near the bottom.

Date:

c. 1799

Artist:

Designed by Jean Démosthène Dugourc (French, 1749–1825)
Manufactured by Camille Pernon & Cie
France, Lyon

About this artwork

Perhaps the last great name connected with the French silk industry in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries is that of Jean-Démosthène Dugourc. A designer of costumes and stage decorations for the French opera, he was also the superintendent of buildings and designer of Garde-Meuble for the Duc d’Orléans. Dugourc was the most outstanding interior decorator of his time, and from 1774 to 1790 he produced designs for the silk manufacturer Camille Pernon of Lyon. Educated in Italy for a time, Dugourc was familiar with the classical antique motifs that Raphael had revived in his fresco decorations for the Vatican Loggie, part of the papal palace in Rome. In fact, the French designer titled a group of textile patterns Verdures of the Vatican. The Pheasants, which was designed for the Spanish royal palace in Madrid, is part of this series. The elaborate composition encompasses a lavish, symmetrical interplay of birds, baskets, strings of pearls, garlands, and ribbons—all realized with the excellence of workmanship that made French silks so desirable.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Textiles

Artists

Jean-Demosthene Dugourc (Designer) , Camille Pernon (Producer)

Title

The Pheasants from the "Verdures of the Vatican" Series

Places

Madrid (Exported to), Lyon (Object made in), France (Object made in)

Date

Made 1794-1805

Medium

Silk, satin weave with plain interlacings of secondary binding warps and brocading wefts; embroidered with silk in chain (tambour work) and satin stitches

Dimensions

242.5 × 44.5 cm (95 1/4 × 17 1/2 in.)

Credit Line

Purchased with funds provided by Mrs. Chauncey B. Borland

Reference Number

1945.12

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

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https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/52679/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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