Bizarre Silk Panel

Bizarre silk panel featuring the easily identifiable overlay of green on green damask plus metallic brocading of fantastic shapes , floral bouquets and other elements in strange juxtapositions. Bizarre silk were woven mostly in Italy and France. They were used mostly for garments but also as furnishing material for the upper class. Their time frame is from around 1690s through 1720s. By 1720 fashion decreed gowns with full soft folds and delicate designs of scattered sprigs and florals replaced the heavy, busy bizarre silks. However as they were so costly instead of being tossed out they were donated to the church where they were reassembled into ecclesiastical garments and altar covers and that is how they most often survived.