Wall Covering with Classical Figure (late 1700s - early 1800s): Art, History and Details

Wall Covering with Classical Figure (late 1700s - early 1800s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Philippe de Lasalle (French, 1723–1805); Camille Pernon & Cie (French).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

France developed a thriving silk industry in Lyon with the goal of becoming the fashion center of Europe. Employment soared to some 20,000 workers by the time of the French Revolution in 1789. Designs changed annually, colors established new fashions, and spectacular silks were produced during the late 1700s. Philippe de Lasalle, trained as a painter by François Boucher, became the celebrated chief textile designer for Camille Pernon & Cie, purveyors to King Louis XVI (reigned 1785-90). Lasalle’s floral style with large and balanced designs, enhanced here with a fashionable classical figure, displays his preference for lighter forms without the opulent gold thread of earlier brocaded silks.

Object facts

• Title: Wall Covering with Classical Figure
• Date: late 1700s - early 1800s
• Creator attribution: Philippe de Lasalle (French, 1723–1805); Camille Pernon & Cie (French)
• Culture: France, late 18th-early 19th Century
• Type: Textile
• Technique: Silk: llampas (satin weave and plain weave variant), brocaded, appliquéd, embroidered
• Dimensions: Overall: 210.2 x 61 cm (82 3/4 x 24 in.); Mounted: 218.4 x 71.1 cm (86 x 28 in.)
• Collection: Textiles
• Department: Textiles
• Accession number: 1945.97

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Hawley, Henry H. Neo-Classicism: Style and Motif. [Cleveland]: Cleveland Museum of Art; distributed by H.N. Abrams, New York, 1964.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.