My book budget is busted — which is why I was thrilled to walk into my local branch library and find a design blockbuster right there on the new books shelf. Susan Meller’s
“Russian Textiles: Printed Cloth for the Bazaars of Central Asia” is a book that demands attention by virtue of its size — 10.5” x 12” — as well as its color: cherry red. And that’s just the background for outsize swirling flowers and vines.
You’ve never seen most of these designs before because they are all from Meller’s personal collection and are being reproduced in the book for the first time. There are more than 190 patterns that cross the borders of history, culture, and design. They are visual documentation of the cultural riches of today’s countries of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan — the area that imported these fabrics from Russia where they were created and manufactured from 1860 to 1960.
But what amazes me looking at the images in this book is knowing that these beautiful fabrics were used inside garments as linings or as backing on wall hangings. There are bold florals, paisleys, tiny block prints like Pierre Deux, faux ikats, intense color, mesmerizing patterns and yet rarely seen! Perhaps that’s why they are so powerful and compelling.
Four essays place the people and the textiles in context, including “The Social Life of Cloth” by Kate Fitz Gibbon who covered a similar topic when she was in Madison in 2007 to deliver the Ruth Ketterer Harris Memorial Lecture, annually presented by the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection.
I can’t think of too many patterns today that could hold their own against these images. The fabrics I photographed with “Russian Textiles” are from the Ume Komachi collection by the Japanese design group, Kokka. Ume, a Japanese plum, is one of the most traditional Kimono motifs, according to Kokka which has revived various plum patterns into contemporary arrangements. I bought them from Purl in NYC but both designs are now out of production. I think the strong red as well as the red/green combo subtly reference these Russian Textiles.
If you’re flush, the book costs $50. If you have $500 to burn, you can buy a DVD with over 200 high-resolution jpeg images from the book like the one directly above. Purchase of the DVD includes a license allowing for royalty and permission-free use of the designs.
The morning after I found the Russian book, I zapped into the same library’s monthly sale and found a first American edition of Katrin Cargill’s “A Passion for Pattern” in virtually perfect condition. For $2. Photos are by James Merrell who’s done so many design books including the must-have “Living with Decorative Textiles.”
Cargill has written dozens of design books and this meets my standard for purchasing: logical format, excellent pictures, a few little projects, lots of inspiration. I felt I’d had my money’s worth (and I mean the $40 original cover price) by the third page of the introduction.
There, spread across two pages, is a room that combines a yellow and taupe striped chair and its dotted pillow with dining chairs whose seats are red and white toile de Jouy. They are drawn up tp a solid red settee and a table dramatically covered in an African Kuba cloth (misidentified in the book as Kente). There are Kuba-covered pillows on the settee as well. The walls are neutral but the adjoining room — which is very visible — is almost totally toile. A carpet in caramel, golds, cream and navy runs from one room to the other.
As someone who loves African art and textiles, I’ve never thought they were easy to use in a room — especially one with French antiques. This combination is a triumph! Is it the most masterful room in the book? Luckily, no; there are more than enough ideas to keep one's imagination busy for quite some time.
Now I just have to wait a few years for someone to donate the Russian Textiles book to the library sale.
Photos: The fabrics with "Russian Textiles" are from the Ume Komachi collection by Kokka and are out of print. The woman's Munisak coat is early 20th century, lined in pre-Revolutionary fabrics and appears on page 80 of Susan Meller's book. An old sample of a Givenchy design for Fabriyaz is in the Cargill cover shot and African Kuba cloth appears in the 2nd Cargill photo.
You are lucky the Meller book is in your public library. Eventually I'd like to have the DVD :)
Posted by: style court | Tuesday, September 16, 2008 at 09:19 AM
We have a wonderful public library system here and they get the latest art and garden books pretty quickly. The branch I frequent the most is moving into a beautiful, new, light-filled space in a few months which will be a great neighborhood celebration.
The DVD would be a real treat to own. But that will remain just a dream for me.
Posted by: Each Little World | Tuesday, September 16, 2008 at 09:28 AM
Russian fabrics for linings... Wow! I'd have to walk around all day with a secret smile on my face if my suits were so designed.
Posted by: Easy and Elegant Life | Tuesday, September 16, 2008 at 11:13 AM