Antique Velvet Applique & Gold-Embroidered Textile Panel

Antique furnishing textile: cut silk-velvet applique applied to a natural linen ground, the large symmetrical foliate and acanthus design outlined and detailed throughout in couched gold metallic embroidery. Aesthetic and Art Nouveau taste, late 19th to early 20th century. The kind of panel used as a wall hanging or a table cover, and frequently cut down for cushions.

Couched metallic work is entirely hand-done, and it is the detail that separates a period panel from a revival one. Held to the light the gold thread still throws warmth across the velvet. Stretched on a frame it becomes a large-scale textile artwork for a fraction of what a comparable painting would cost.