Object in Focus

‘Bizarre’ Fabrics

 

Fig.1. Silk fabric with 'bizarre' motifs (MUO 6013), Museum of Arts and Crafts, Zagreb

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Prepared by: Nina Katarina Simončič, University of Zagreb

Read the full paper here.

During the eighteenth century Croatia had a modest level of textile production and expensive fabrics came to Croatia via trade with larger European centres. Fabrics with ‘bizarre’ motifs will be used as an example to show the growth of these trade networks in late seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century Croatia, through which Western fashion influences arrived in Croatia.

Fabrics with ‘bizarre’ motifs (Fig. 1) were very popular in late seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century Europe, especially in Italy, England, and France. Cora Ginsburg describes these motifs as a group of designs of Asian-like inspired motifs and Baroque ornaments that were sometimes woven in the East to suit the demands of the lucrative European export market.[1] Vilhelm Slomann applied the term in Bizarre Design and Silk (1953) to categorise a large number of silk fabrics (German. Bizarre Seiden, English. Bizarre silks). A decade later Peter Thornton identified the period in which these designs were made as 1685 to 1720, while another decade later Barbari Markowsky suggested a period of 1695 to 1720. According to Ackermann (2000), the term was first used by Ernst Scheyer in his doctoral dissertation on Chinoiseries in 1928, but without proper definition. Ackermann also said that ‘bizarre’ fabrics were woven for a relatively short period of time, between the very end of the seventeenth century and the first twenty years of the eighteenth century. They were produced mostly in Europe for wealthy clients. He also points out that the term ‘bizarre’ fabrics means a specific style of pattern, not a specific weave. ‘Bizarre’ style was described as a flowery décor filled with abstract elements. A dynamic composition gives the full ‘bizarre’ effect. Luxurious ‘bizarre’ motifs were emphasized with gold and silver threads, while floral decoration was made out of coloured threads. It is assumed that production of these fabrics was influenced by Chinese and Indian textiles that were imported into Europe. Ackerman describes two categories of ‘bizarre’ fabrics. The first category, ‘pre-Bizarre’ (Vortstufen), shows fabrics more typical of the Baroque style, while his category of ‘semi-naturalistic flowers with Rocaille elements’, such as those with ‘vertical stripes’ and ‘lace-patterns motifs’, presents fabrics decorated with typical elements of Rocaille-Rococo style, dated between 1710 and 1740.[2]

[1] Cora Ginsburg, ‘Panel of bizarre silk satin’, Chinese Export for the European Market, ca. 1708–10. http://coraginsburg.com/catalogues/2009/cat2009pg4-5.htm

[2] Hans Christoph Ackermann, Seidengewebe des 18. Jahrhunderts I. Bizarre Seiden, Abegg-Stiftung, 2000, pp. 41-75 and 264-390.

 

 

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Visual sources

Fig.2. Skirt (MUO 6013), Museum of Arts and Crafts, Zagreb

Fig.3. A sleeve of a dalmatic (MUO 2904 / MUO 2911), Museum of Arts and Crafts, Zagreb

Fig.4. Residentia Bassae;POXEGA; CERNIK;BIHAK; LIKA et CARBAVA; CLISSA;HERCEGOWINA Amsterdam, 1669

Fig.5. Johann Van Der Bruggen, REGNUM CROATIAE 1737, Vienna 1737

Fig.6. Johann Van Der Bruggen, REGNUM SLAVONIAE 1737, Vienna 1737

Fig.7. Johann Van Der Bruggen, REGNUM DALMATIAE 1737, Vienna 1737

Fig. 8. CARL SCHÜTZ, NEUSTE KARTE DER KOENIGREICHE BOSNIEN SERVIEN CROATIEN UND SLAVONIEN Samt den andraenzenden Provinzen TEMESWAR; DALMATIEN; HERZEGOWINA RAGUSA; STEZERMARK; KAERNTHEN; KRAIN; FRIAUL; GRADISKA UN ISTRIEN, Vienna 1788

Fig.9. JOSIP PARTAŠ, FRANJO KRUŽIĆ ZEMLJEVID KRALJEVINE HERVATSKE sa označenjem granicah sada obstojećih POKRAJINAH, Zagreb, 1862

 

 

 

Bibliography

Ackermann, Hans Christoph. Seidengewebe des 18. Jahrhunderts I. Bizarre Seiden, Abegg-Stiftung, 2000.
Bajić-Žarko, Nataša. Split kao trgovačko i tranzitno središte na razmeđu istoka iz apada u 18. stoljeću, Književni krug, Split, 2004.
Bezić- Božanić, Nevenka. Umjetnički dodiri dviju jadranskih obala u 17 i 18 stoljeću, Zbornik radova, Književni krug Split, 2007, 121- 127.
Bizzare Silk, in The Grove Encyclopedia of Decorative Arts, editor Gordon Campbell, Volume I, Oxford University Press 2006 , pp 113-114.
Borders of Croatia on Maps from 12th to 20th century, The Museum of Arts an Crafts , Zagreb, 1992.
Braudel,Fernand. La Méditerranéeet le Monde Méditerranéen a l’époque de Philippe II, Paris, A. Colin, 1949.
Čoralić, Lovorka: Prilog poznavanju prisutnosti i djelovanja hrvatskih trgovaca u Mlecima (15-18 stoljeća), Povijesni prilozi 22, 41.-73, (2002).
Diversis,Filip de. Opis slavnoga grada Dubrovnika. Predgovor, transkripcija i prijevod s latinskoga: Zdenka Janeković-Römer. Zagreb: Dom i svijet, 2004.
Ginsburg Cora: PANEL OF BIZARRE SILK SATIN,
Chinese Export for the European Market, ca. 1708–10. http://coraginsburg.com/catalogues/2009/cat2009pg4-5.htm
Herkov, Zlatko. Povijest zagrebačke trgovine, Jugoslavenska akademija, znanosti I umjetnosti u Zagrebu, Zagreb, 1987.
Horvat, Rudolf. Kaptolski cehovi u Zagrebu, Tiskara braće Kralj, Zagreb, 1936.
Horvat, Rudolf. Povijest trgovine obrta I industrije u Hrvatskoj, AGM, Zagreb, 1994.
Ivoš, Jelena. Liturgijsko ruho, Iz Zbirke Tekstila Muzeja za Umjetnost i obrt, Muzej za umjetnost i obrt, Zagreb, 2010.
Karaman, Igor. Zagrebački trgovci u 17 i 18 stoljeću, Historijski zbornik, god. XXIX-XXX, 1976-1978.
Markowsky, Barabara. Europaische Seidengewebe des 13.’14. Jahrhunderts. Koln :Kunstgewerbemusem, 1976.
Razzi, Serafino. Povijest Dubrovnika. Dubrovnik: Matica hrvatske – Ogranak Dubrovnik, 2011.
Slomann, Vilhelm. Bizarre Design in Silk. Copenhagen EjnarMunksgaard, 1953.
Thornton, Peter. Baroque and Rococo Silks, Faber and Faber, London, 1965.
Stojan, Slavko. U salonu Marije Giorgi Bona, Monografija 12, HAZU, Dubrovnik 1996.
Valentić, Mirko. Gradišćanski Hrvatiod XVI stoljeća do danas, Povijesni muzej Hrvatske, Zagreb, 1970.

 

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