Chinoiserie Fragment Tapestry Blanket

This fragment belongs to the eighteenth-century European vogue for chinoiserie, a decorative style built from Western designers' fanciful imaginings of Chinese life rather than direct study of Chinese art. Large-scale furnishing fabrics of this kind were block-printed or woven to upholster seating furniture and to sheathe entire walls in fashionable interiors. Surviving fragments like this one are now preserved in museum textile collections as evidence of the style's decorative ambition.

Jacquard-woven as a soft, double-sided tapestry throw with fringed edges — a warm layer for the sofa or bed.