The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Wall Covering, "The Pheasants" from the "Vatican Verdures" Series

after 1799
designed by

Jean-Démosthène Dugourc

(French, 1749–1825)
manufacturer

Camille Pernon & Cie

(French)
France, 18th century
lampas (satin weave and plain weave variant), brocaded, embroidered (chain, satin stitches); silk
Overall: 237 x 45.7 cm (93 5/16 x 18 in.)
Dudley P. Allen Fund 1935.237
Location: Not on view

Description

France developed a thriving silk industry in Lyon with the goal of becoming the fashion center of Europe. Employment soared to some 20,000 workers by the time of the French Revolution in 1789. Designs changed annually, colors established new fashions, and spectacular silks were produced during the late 1700s. Dugourc, an architect who studied in Italy, became a renowned textile designer for Camille Pernon & Cie, purveyors to King Louis XVI (reigned 1774–92). He created this elaborate, balanced composition as part of elegant wall coverings for the Casita del Labrador, near Madrid. Dugourc named the series after frescos by Raphael in the Vatican.
  • believed to have been made originally for the Royal Palace, Madrid; Guérault (sale, Paris, 1935); (P.W. French & Co.).
  • Underhill, Gertrude. "Two Eighteenth-Century French Silks." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 23, no. 3 (1936). p. 36-43 25137757
    Los Angeles County Museum. 2000 Years of Silk Weaving: An Exhibition Sponsored by the Los Angeles County Museum in Collaboration with the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Detroit Institute of Arts. 1944. no. 360, pl. 77
    Weibel, Adèle Coulin. Two Thousand Years of Textiles; The Figured Textiles of Europe and the Near East. New York: Published for the Detroit Institute of Arts [by] Pantheon Books, 1952. p. 161, no. 325, a
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 319 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 157 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 157 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 188 archive.org
    Jolly, Anna. Fürstliche Interieurs: Dekorationstextilien des 18. Jahrhunderts. Riggisberg: Abegg-Stiftung, 2005. cat. no 35, p. 178-182
  • Gallery 202 textile rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (June 29, 2009-June 14, 2010); (May 5, 2015-May 9, 2016).
    In Pursuit of Fashion: Decorative Textiles in 18th Century France. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 1, 1989-March 3, 1991).
    2000 Years of Silk Weaving. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 18-April 16, 1944).
    Autumn Flower Show. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 1-December 1, 1935).
  • {{cite web|title=Wall Covering, "The Pheasants" from the "Vatican Verdures" Series|url=false|author=Jean-Démosthène Dugourc, Camille Pernon & Cie|year=after 1799|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1935.237