Friday 14 May 2010

Late 19th century & early 20th century french furnishing cretonnes














A definition of cretonne; ' A heavy unglazed cotton, linen, ... colorfully printed and used for draperies and slipcovers. [After Creton, a village of northwest France.] Here are few French furnishing cretonnes, mostly from the late 1800s, but a few from the early 1900s. They were made to last, and especially in France, where textiles were hardly ever thrown away, plenty still survive today. I like the unglazed finish of these cretonnes as opposed to the highly glazed, starched finish of chintz; the matt finish, especially in a linen or linen mix cretonne has a very pleasing look and texture that helps the fabric to blend into the overall look of the room without being too relective or shiny.

2 comments:

  1. I seen this name so much, but never really thought to research it. I love that the French made textiles to last and never got rid of them. We are such a throw-away society in the states.

    (I just made a comment on Morgaine's incredible story, but I did not see that it was published. Maybe it will later.)

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  2. What a beautiful blog! And such an interesting read too!

    Coco

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