The Mezzaro & Other Textiles (an update)

The person you see in the video is J.C. Bordes. He’s a local artisan with shops here in Mazamet, in Labastide Rouairoux and in Albi – and he makes woodblock printed fabrics the old fashioned way (watch the video, it’s interesting). His shop’s name is Les Toiles de la Montagne Noir (fabrics of the Black Mountain.) I’ve mentioned him before as I love the shop and our summer guests got us a wonderful set of towels from there last year. I contacted him regarding the Palampore/Mezzaro panels from number 42 to get his opinion, and he was extremely helpful. He dated them to the first half of the 19th century and attributed them to the atelier of Luigi Testori in Genova. So they’re definitely Mezzaros and not Palampores. Here’s a decent picture:

Also in textiles this week… here’s an exceptionally fine Aubusson piece. It looks very much like the work of Sallandrouze de Lamornaix. You might know the name because of the very famous Elephant Tapestry at the Louvre (of which reproductions are very popular.) The choice of flowers, foliage and colours are all very Sallandrouze, particularly the wisteria and morning glories (very uncommon in tapestries.)