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A work made of opaque watercolor over etching in black ink on cream laid paper.

Mise-en-Carte (Point-Paper)

1760s

Designed for Germain Frères (French, active 1760s–70s) Lyon, France

Lyon

Designs for silk weaving were drawn by professional artists who had often trained in flower painting, a skill that could be deployed for the decoration of objects besides textiles. The designs were painted on the point paper grid, which then served as a guide to the person mounting the threads on the loom. The artists’ names do not appear on these technical drawings; only the companies that commissioned the designs and wove the silk are identified.

Opaque watercolor over etching in black ink on cream laid paper

Textiles