Illustration: H. Mourceau. Tapestry panel, 1867.
The French tapestry company of H. Marceau was based in Paris. It was therefore well placed to enter a substantial level of exhibit at the 1867 International Paris Exhibition.
Marceau sold original tapestry work, yet with an antique feel to many of the pieces which often represented the style of seventeenth and eighteenth century French and Italian work. Although retailing tapestry work the company sold much of their work as furnishing fabric for upholstery. However, some pieces were destined for portieres and border work for curtains for example. However, as can be seen in at least three of the illustrations shown here, small framed decorative work was deliberately produced in order to be made available for chair seat and back covers.
Illustration: H. Mourceau. Tapestry panel, 1867.
The company won a gold award at the Exhibition for its contribution to tapestry. It is perhaps telling as to the state of tapestry work during this period, that work that could conceivably be classed as derivative should be praised so highly at an international exhibition. Although the work is no doubt decoratively pleasant, there is very little that could be classed as particularly creative, and more telling still, there is very little in the finished pieces that denotes any firm links with the 1860s.
Contemporary tapestry work during this period is somewhat unremarkable. It is not until later in the century that we start to see any work that could be conceived as belonging to the nineteenth century, and much of this derived from both Britain and Scandinavia. France, although by no means limited creatively, did have a vested interest in pursuing tapestry production that highlighted and strengthened the perception that its output in the eighteenth century could not be bettered. In some respects this was true, particularly when concerned with the international market which, even well past the mid-nineteenth century, was still pursuing a standard whereby the elegance of the eighteenth century French interior style was very much sought after.
Illustration: H. Mourceau. Tapestry panel, 1867.
Many of the customers for this particular decorative style would have invariably come from the new merchant classes, those in Britain and America who had made large amounts of money in a very short time, often through the use of industrial processes. Many of these individuals had little if any elegant historical roots of their own, and so were therefore determined to provide substantial elegance within their homes for personal affectation as well as public show.
Although it often seems, at least from a British perspective, that this period was one where the Gothic Revival dominated the interior landscape, with medievalism in all its different forms, it has to be remembered that there was still a large market for faux eighteenth century decoration particularly on the international stage and with a special emphasis on work derived from France.
Illustration: H. Mourceau. Tapestry border, 1867.
Some of the work retailed by Mourceau might well have been produced for a range of domestic and public spaces. Although much of the original eighteenth century work would have been produced for a small and private aristocratic clientele, in the nineteenth century there was much more of an egalitarian market. The middle classes and the newly rich as already stated, fuelled a proportion of this market. However, the expansion of the railways for example, also meant investment in a whole range of hotel complexes which were very often much larger than the old style of hostelries that had been used for coach services. These new hotels which were very often run by railway companies themselves, started to invent interiors that cushioned and flattered customers. While some were set within the Victorian Gothic revival style, particularly in Britain, many more chose to portray the perceived elegance of the eighteen century real or imagined. In this respect the seemingly entrenched traditional decorative styles produced by companies such as Mourceau, makes much more sense, certainly when seen within the context of the market.
Illustration: H. Mourceau. Tapestry portiere and broders for curtains, 1867.
Although much was to change within the remaining three decades of the nineteenth century and then into the twentieth, the production of eighteenth century styling has never truly disappeared. There is still both a deep-seated need for at least a portion of the population to surround themselves with the requirement, real or imaginary, that was deemed necessary to the eighteenth century gentleman or aristocrat. In this respect there is also still a healthy market in supplying traditional styled decorative work from that period, a proportion still coming from France.
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