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Z0047136.jpg

Junya Watanabe, designer, Dress, 2008. Museum Purchase

Introduction

“Insnared with flowers, I fall on grass"

June 10, 2014 - March 8, 2015

“Insnared with flowers, I fall on grass” "The Garden,” Andrew Marvell (1621–1678)

Floral motifs long have been a mainstay of textile design. By the early 15th century, as expanded trade routes connected the world in ways never before experienced, patterning burgeoned into a hothouse of new and exotic species. Design, art, science, and trade followed the same paths, mingling to yield innovations on many fronts. Botanists exulted in a new wealth of cultivated plant varieties whose forms were documented in prints, many of which served as inspiration for textile
pattern design.

Made in Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, India, Persia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas, the works in this gallery reveal not only the importance and versatility of flowers in design language, but also a network of design communication that remains important to this day.

Spanning 1500 BCE to now, the RISD Museum’s extensive costume and textiles holdings include more than 26,000 objects. The displays in this gallery are curated to encourage the study and creative interpretation of a broad range of objects by juxtaposing different cultures, time periods, and media.

Selected Objects

RISDM 14-403 v_01.jpg

Philippine

Scarf Length, mid 1800s
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William Morris, designer

Lodden (furnishing textile), 1884
RISDM 82-308-48g v_01.jpg

Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo, designer

Furnishing textile length, ca. 1920
Z0028058.jpg

Persian, Persia

Woman's jacket (yahl, ausin sambusedar), ca. 1850-1900
RISDM 1996-84 v_01.jpg

Mexican, Mexico City

China Poblana, ca. 1925
RISDM 1991-027 v_01.jpg

Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) Native North American

Bandolier Bag, 1875-1899
RISDM 37-006 v_01.jpg

Indian, India Coromandel Coast

Mat, late 1700s
RISDM 55-284 v_01.jpg

Indian Parsi? Parsee? Chinese, China

Blouse (Choli), early 1800s
Z0020813.jpg

Indian or Portuguese, Portugal

Marriage Quilt (Colcha), 1700s
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William Kilburn, textile designer

Dress, ca. 1790
RISDM 50-155 v_01.jpg

Portuguese Spanish, Andalusia

Textile Length, ca. 1800
RISDM 69-136-18 v_01.jpg

French, Jouy

Fleurs Tropicales et Palmiers (Tropical Flowers and Palm trees), 1787
Z0029671.jpg

Indonesian Javanese, Java

Skirt Cloth (Kain Panjang), ca. 1946-1950
Z0047136.jpg

Junya Watanabe, designer

Dress, 2008
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Suno, design label

Dress, 2009
RISDM 2013-69 v_03.jpg

Oscar de la Renta, design label

Woman's Pantsuit, late 1990s
RISDM 2013-32 det_01.jpg

Sabrina Gschwandtner

The Enchanted Loom (Part II), 2010

More objects +

Exhibition Checklist

“Insnared with flowers, I fall on grass"

June 10, 2014 - March 8, 2015
View Checklist PDF

RISD Museum

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