Swatches

Italian Makers
Fabric Panel
ca. 1450-1500
silk velvet with gilt-metal threads
Art Institute of Chicago

Italian Makers
Fabric Panel
ca. 1480-90
silk velvet with gilt-metal threads
Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich

Italian Makers
Fabric Panel
17th century
silk damask
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

French Makers
Fabric Panel
ca. 1750
silk brocade
Art Institute of Chicago

French Makers
Fabric Panel
ca. 1770-80
silk brocade
Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto

French Makers
Fabric Panel
ca. 1780-90
block-printed and hand-painted cotton
Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto

Netherlandish Makers
Fragment of Table Carpet
ca. 1650-70
wool and silk tapestry-work
Denver Art Museum

Charles Francis Annesley Voysey (designer)
Fabric Panel
ca. 1890
printed cotton-and-silk blend
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

Constance Irving for William Foxton Ltd.
Fabric Panel
ca. 1925-30
roller-printed cretonne
private collection

Russian Makers
Fabric Panel - "Construction Site"
ca. 1920-30
machine-printed cotton
private collection

House of Scalamandré
Fabric Panel
"Ancient Horses frightened by Voice of the Oracle"
1949
screenprinted cotton
Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto

American Makers
Fabric Panel - "Tumbling Blocks" Patchwork Pattern
ca. 1890-1900
roller-printed cotton
Denver Art Museum

Helen Grey-Smith (designer)
Fabric Panel
ca. 1960
screenprinted cotton
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

Helen Grey-Smith (designer)
Fabric Panel
ca. 1960
screenprinted cotton
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

Unknown Maker
Fabric Panel
(Bauhaus Study Sample of Furnishing Fabric)
ca. 1926
wool, cotton, rayon
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

Lena Bergner (weaver)
Fabric Panel
(Bauhaus Study Sample of Dress Fabric)
ca. 1930
cotton
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

Penelope's Song

Little soul, little perpetually undressed one,

do now as I bid you, climb

the shelf-like branches of the spruce tree,

wait at the top, attentive, like

a sentry or look-out. He will be home soon,

it behooves you to be

generous. You have not been completely 

perfect either; with your troublesome body

you have done things you shouldn't

discuss in poems. Therefore

call out to him over the open water, over the bright water

with your dark song, with your grasping

unnatural song – passionate,

like Maria Callas. Who

wouldn't want you? Whose most demonic appetite

could you possibly fail to answer? Soon

he will return from wherever he goes in the meantime,

suntanned from his time away, wanting

his grilled chicken. Ah, you must greet him, 

you must shake the boughs of the tree

to get his attention,

but carefully, carefully, lest 

his beautiful face be marred

by too many falling needles. 

– Louise Glück (1996)