Address: Werner Abegg-Strasse 67
CH-3132 Riggisberg

entrance fees:
sFr. 5.- adults
free for children and schoolclasses

Of Gardens and Castles

Naturalistic Silks from the eighteenth century

28 April to 10 November 2002

With their rich colour scheme and the abundant use of gold and silver threads, these silks are counted among the highlights of decorative art. Their detailed desings reflect the highly specialised weaving techniques, which allowed for a refined representation of complex compositions.

Use and re-use
Most of the silks shown here were originally intended to be made into ladies' dresses. Skirt panels can be recognised by the fact that their desings is concentrated in the lower paret of the fabric. Discarded garments were frequently given to the church and the precious silks later re-used in the making of liturgical vestments.

Variants
Some silks have survived in the form of several variants. These exhibit the same composition, but differ in the colours of the ground and motifs or in the direction of the design.

Naturalism
Silk designs in the naturalistic style first evolved in France in the 1730s. The designer Jean Revel played a major role here. He allegedly invented the so-called points rentrés-effects, by means of which gradual colour transitions and shading could be achieved in the representation of plant motifs.