Skip to main content
Home

Main navigation

  • Visit
  • Exhibitions & Events
  • Art & Design
  • Search

Visit Main Menu Block

  • Hours & Admission
  • Accessibility & Amenities
  • Tours & Group Visits
  • Visitor Guidelines

Exhibitions and Events Main Menu Block

  • Exhibitions
  • Events

Art and Design Main Menu Block

  • The Collection
  • Projects & Publications
  • Past Exhibitions

Footer Main

  • Become a Member
  • Give
  • Who We Are
  • Opportunities
  • Rent the Museum
Z0047744.jpg

Introduction

Queen of the Insects

The Art of the Butterfly
December 11, 2009 - May 9, 2010

Transformative, ephemeral, and otherworldly, the iridescent and fragile beauty of the butterfly has enchanted designers and artisans around the world for hundreds of years. Always fashionable, the butterfly motif has adorned a wide variety of design objects, from porcelain and prints to jewelry and textiles. Fragility of the butterfly perfectly suited to the textile arts, akin in materiality and texture. Luminous silks, brocades and metallic threads, alight the surface of the textile, like a butterfly on the wind.

The works on display illustrate the universal impulse to capture the fleeting art of the butterfly. Juxtaposed with its often decorative usage in western design, the traditional symbolism of the butterfly in Asian art is explored and decoded as a design inspiration and as a material in itself. The human desire to preserve this resplendent and potent image of metamorphosis and rebirth has made it a universal design icon.

To capture the essence of this elusive creature has proved a challenge to many-- from artists to poets, musicians, and scientists. The careful observation and study of the natural world undertaken by all these professions alike, is a principal imparted on many a design student in their foundation studies, both for the RISD student today, and as was the case in 1917 as recorded in the text Jewelry Making and Design. An Illustrated text book for Teachers, Students of Design, and Craft Workers in Jewelry.*

"Just as soon as the student is able to look at any part or unit of the butterfly and see in it endless possibilities in design he will never be hampered for ideas, he will see more possibilities in a single motif than ever before, and his pencil will not work fast enough to record these ideas."

Special thanks to Christina B & Kate from the Athenaeum

Selected Objects

RISDM 35-419 v_01.jpg

Chinese

Skirt, ca. 1835
Z0048001.jpg

French

Textile length, 1930-1940
Z0047655.jpg

Damien Hirst, designer

Limited Edition Butterfly Print Hoodie, 2008
Z0048550.jpg

Chinese

Robe, 1800s
Z0022843.jpg

English

Wrapper, 1800s
Z0047744.jpg

Vlisco, textile manufacturer

Eclat de Nature, 2009
Z0047979.jpg

Japanese Edo, Japan

Textile, 1800-1849
Z0013190.jpg

French

Textile, ca. 1800
Z0048286.jpg

Indian Chinese, China, (for the Parsee market in India)

Blouse, early 1800s
Z0048546.jpg

Chinese

Robe, 1821-1851
Z0048125.jpg

Japanese

Katagami (hand-cut paper stencil), 1800s
Z0048126.jpg

Japanese

Katagami (pattern paper), stencil, 1800s
Z0048128.jpg

Japanese

Katagami (pattern paper), stencil, 1800s
Z0048127.jpg

Japanese

Katagami (pattern paper), stencil, 1800s
Z0048129.jpg

Japanese

Katagami (pattern paper), stencil, 1800s
Z0048131.jpg

Japanese

Katagami (pattern paper), stencil, 1800s
Z0048133.jpg

Japanese

Katagami (pattern paper), stencil, 1800s
Z0048130.jpg

Japanese

Katagami (pattern paper), stencil, 1800s
Z0048246.jpg

Japanese

Katagami (pattern paper), stencil, 1800s
Z0048132.jpg

Japanese

Katagami (pattern paper), stencil, 1800s
Z0048283.jpg

Indonesian Javanese

Sarong, late 1800s
Z0046947.jpg

Hanae Mori, designer

Dress, ca. 1981
Z0027747.jpg

Iida Shinshichi

Gown
Z0046944.jpg

Chinese

Robe, 1800s
Z0046949.jpg

Chinese

Robe, 1800s
Z0045725.jpg

Liem Soen Tjaij (Tjay)

Sarong, 1905 - 1915
RISDM 35-421 v_01.jpg

Chinese

Skirt, early 1800s-mid 1800s
Z0047980.jpg

French

Textile length, 1930-1940
Z0048426.jpg

Chinese, China

Serving dish, Late 1800s
No Image Available

Chinese, China

Butterfly Serving Dish, 1800s
Z0048429.jpg

Chinese, China

Butterfly Tureen Cover, late 1800s
Z0049534.jpg

Chinese, China

Butterfly Tureen, late 1800s
RISDM 34-661ab.jpg

Chinese

Sleeve band, 1800s
Z0047988.jpg

Chinese

Sleeve band, 1800s
Z0047987.jpg

Chinese

Sleeve band, 1800s
Z0047997.jpg

Chinese

Sleeve band, 1800s
Z0047993.jpg

Chinese

Sleeve band, 1800s
Z0047986.jpg

Chinese

Sleeve band, 1800s
Z0048431.jpg

Chinese

Brooch, early 1900s
Z0029842.jpg

Chinese

Young Girl Holding a Butterfly Cutout Suspended from a Pole, 1800s
Z0048434.jpg

Chinese

Kingfisher Wedding Headdress (dianzi), mid-to late 1800s
Z0048435.jpg

American

Hair ornament, 1920
Z0048442.jpg

American

Hair ornament, ca. 1900
Z0005901.jpg

Japanese

Textile, 1900s
Z0053906.jpg

Chinese

Coat, 1800s
Z0012649.jpg

Possibly French, China

Fan, ca. 1890
No Image Available

Chinese, China

Bowl, 1800s

More objects +

Exhibition Checklist

Queen of the Insects : The Art of the Butterfly

December 11, 2009 - May 9, 2010
View Checklist PDF

RISD Museum

  •  Facebook
  •  Twitter
  •  Instagram
  •  Vimeo
  •  Pinterest
  •  SoundCloud

Footer Main

  • Become a Member
  • Give
  • Who We Are
  • Opportunities
  • Rent the Museum

Footer Secondary

  • Image Request
  • Press Office
  • Rent the Museum
  • Terms of Use