The Pearl Carpet of Baroda

I realized I had not made mention in any of my blog posts the Pearl Carpet of Baroda, which sold in a Sotheby's auction in March of 2009, and which I must say is one of the most incredible handmade objects I have ever seen. This carpet was made in 1865 for the Maharajah of the Indian province of Baroda, and measures 5' 8" by 8' 8". From afar and at first glance, one would think that it looks like an elaborately woven carpet with an intricately designed floral motif. But upon closer inspection it slowly becomes very apparent that the designs are comprised not of multicolored yarns, but in fact this carpet is completely covered in precious and semi-precious stones.





According to the Sotheby's listing for the carpet, a mind boggling estimate of 1.5 million natural pearls were strung and incorporated into its design. Accenting the pearls are diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires & multicolored glass beads.






The Pearl Carpet of Baroda is truly a masterpiece of design and craftsmanship, and extravagant beyond belief. It is on the surface modest in size, but this decadent display of a Maharajah's wealth could very well be hard to match. In March of 2009 it surpassed the estimated price and sold at auction for 5.5 million dollars. wow.

Sparkle Studio Flower Pins Made With Antique Fabrics

This is a small selection from the first phase of flower "corsage" pins made from vintage textiles that will be available on Sparkle Studio very soon. Each measures approximately 5 inches in diameter and has a pin and clasp backing so that it can be fixed to accessorize a jacket or handbag. Pieces are cut from remnants of silk, cotton or leather and include elements of costume jewelry, rhinestones, buttons, etc. Also available will be care instructions on how to keep their shape over time so that they can be enjoyed over and over again. First is an evening flower made from gold metallic leather, with a vintage earring set into its center.





I leave the petal edges of the silk flowers frayed on purpose, trimming them down should any get too long. The full shape of the fabric flowers that we will have for sale can easily be kept up. Simply have on hand a can of store bought fabric starch, lightly misting the petals until they are damp. I then gather up the petals as if the flower is still closed, and wrap a rubber band around the damp petals to sit overnight. The next day simply remove the rubber band and shape the flower in a full shape while the petals are stiff yet possibly still damp.





Here I used antique velvet pieces to construct this rose, and I beaded the center with pink seed beads.





Below are two pins that are both made with vintage Fortuny fabrics, and both incorporate vintage jewelry elements in their centers.

Bjork at the 2001 Golden Globes...

William Morris Fabrics - "Garden Tulip"

William Morris (1834 - 1896) was not only a designer, but also a writer and scholar. He created many of the most recognizable fabric and wallpaper designs of the Arts & Crafts movement. Under his direction, Morris & Co. was a hugely successful company that still produces many of the original designs today. In my years working with vintage and antique fabrics we only came across one original set of curtain panels that had the hand sewn "Morris & Co." labels on them. Most of the draperies which were of a linen and cotton mix, were incorporated into pillows, however I managed to save for myself and my meager collection of "special" pieces two long strips (badly faded, shown below) of "Garden Tulip," which was originally designed by William Morris in 1885. Please read more about Mr. Morris and see more designs here. It seems as though the reproduction of "Garden Tulip" now sells for roughly $152.00/yard. Also below is a photo from the company site showing "Garden Tulip" in use as upholstery and drapes.

June Valentine by Sparkle Studio

Yes, the timing's a bit off, a Valentine in June? Perusing my small collection of vintage postcards and French chromos which I'll cover in a future post, I happened upon one of the few Valentines that I kept for myself all these years. It's a heart-shaped card, probably from the late 1930s, that's a bit tattered yet has retained its appeal to me. I scanned it and touched it up on the computer, and printed some out on photo paper. I ended up over the course of yesterday made a first edition series of 15 of these, adding red grosgrain ribbon, sequins & superfine glitter to blank cards made primarily from recycled cardstock. I was going to lay down a ground of thinner solid fabric but I'll surely be making more cards incorporating vintage textiles. Keep in mind that the wording which says "I'll tell the world you're my Valentine" is much clearer in person; each card is blank inside and will come with an envelope and in its own cello sleeve.

Fortuny, Part 2: Identifying Designs

Wow, I don't know if I would call it "closure" but it just feels like the things I have made with Fortuny fabric have all that more meaning, now that I am able to clearly identify each pattern I worked with. I have seen on several different sites and read in various articles that Fortuny now runs approximately $500 per yard, although I have not yet determined if this is the standard price range, or on the higher end of the pricing. I would imagine that there are patterns that are more common, or designs printed on cotton as opposed to silk would obviously be less expensive. I will look further into this and get back to you!


Above are pillows I made with a deep burgundy & silver fragment that I have not identified yet. I have a few fragments remaining that are very fragile, and it measures approximately 24" from selvage to selvage, with no visible Fortuny stamp. Below is one of several lampshades I recovered using fragments of what I can now identify as the Farnese Frieze design in Majolica Green & Silvery Gold, as listed by the Olde World Pillows site. This design seems to still be in production, although the pieces we acquired seemed to have some age to them, they were originally cushion covers.





Below are two pillows in yellow and white of the Delfino pattern. The Fortuny pattern book lists this particular pattern as having design elements from the 17th century, from the time of King Louis XIII.

Fortuny Upholstery Project

Anyone with some knowledge of antique fabrics would agree that coming across vintage Fortuny fabric of any kind is an exciting event. Mariano Fortuny (1871-1949) was a Spanish artist that truly embodied the idea of "Renaissance" artist, which culminated in the design and production of some of the most gorgeous fabrics. Fortuny etched, painted, sculpted, photographed and designed.

We knew from photos basically what various Fortuny patterns looked like, but none of them were ever marked with a name so we were never sure. One year, however, we purchased a set of six very large drapery panels from a reputable dealer who confirmed that they were indeed Fortuny. At the time it was an incredible find, and we had every intention to resell the panels as a full set, since it seemed to us to be a crime to break them up. As it turned out, the client that purchased the set actually brought them back a month later and asked us to use the fabric to RECOVER an overstuffed set of furniture including a sofa, armchair & ottoman. The thought of cutting into the fabric pained me, but this is what the client was paying us to do (and as it turned out I still have lots of smaller pieces and scraps!). Below is a pic of the armchair "in progress," unfortunately I have not found the photos of the sofa yet. As shown in the photo above, I made piping from the same fabric as well for all the pieces, which along with the constant pinning unpinning and repinning made for a length project, one which also resulted in a gorgeous custom upholstered set of furniture.



Recently I came across a site that sold pillows made with very expensive antique fabrics and trims, and to my surprise I noticed that they catalogued and had photos of all the Fortuny fabric patterns. I was thrilled to see the design of the panels that we sold several years back, and discovered that this particular pattern is called Pergolesi, and that the colorway of the panels we sold has been out of production since the 1940s.