167 - Michel Dubost (after), The Court of the Lions, chiseled velvet,

Michel Dubost (after), The Court of the Lions, chiseled velvet, created for Ducharne in 1922, chiseled velvet on a cream-colored satin background, with raspberry and wine-red motifs depicting the Court of the Lions at the Alhambra in Granada. Notes: A masterpiece by Honoré Laulier (1910–1976), Best Craftsman of France in 1949, hand-woven (15 cm per day); the panel submitted to the competition measured 1.95 m—this is a sample. Framed (with a slight mark), 43 x 55 cm. Michel Dubost, initially a professor of textile design at the Lyon Weaving School, was recruited as artistic director by François Ducharme; he then became “the skilled and refined conductor of his looms” before founding and directing his Parisian design studio. From a trip to Spain, he brought back a fascination with Arab palaces, which inspired several of his famous designs, including “L’Alhambra” and this “Cour des Lions.” “Above all, he seeks in a design a sense of unity. As he comes across things, he captures an image that stands out: a flock of pigeons behind the columns of the Alhambra, a bowl of fruit (ill. no. 89), or does in a garden. He selects one or two dominant colors, two patches whose shapes he outlines, striving to recreate the original impression. Thus was the idea for the fabric born. Art et Décoration, 1925/1, p. 25.