Flower Embroidery Design for Silk Manufactory of Lyon

c. 1790

Flower Embroidery Design for Silk Manufactory of Lyon, c. 1790. Jean Baptiste Pillement (French, 1728–1808). Black and colored crayon on wove paper; sheet: 22.2 x 24.4 cm (8 3/4 x 9 5/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Muriel Butkin 2019.67 This drawing features a floral design intended for use by the silk manufactory in Lyon, a city with a long tradition in this industry. Jean Baptiste Pillement’s chalk drawings were translated not only into fabric, but also prints, which circulated and spread his style widely. Here, he used a small range of colors and repeated forms to create an appealing decorative motif. Jean Baptiste Pillement not only created designs for silk manufacture, he also is credited with inventing a new technique for printing on fabric.