Lampas

Silk lampas woven by Scalamandré Silks in 1995 for the White House Blue Room. The pattern is based on a c. 1816 French design.

Lampas is a type of luxury fabric with a background weft (a "ground weave") typically in taffeta with supplementary wefts (the "pattern wefts") laid on top and forming a design, sometimes also with a "brocading weft". Lampas is typically woven in silk, and often has gold and silver thread enrichment.

History

Lampas weaves were developed around 1000 CE. Beginning late in the 17th century western lampas production began centered in Lyon, France, where an industry of providing for French and other European courts became centered.

Gallery

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  Lampas textile in silk and gold, Iraq, 14th century, Musée de Cluny

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  Silk furnishing fabric, lampas weave, Italy, late 17th-early 18th century, Honolulu Museum of Art

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  Man’s bizarre silk sleeved waistcoat, France, c. 1715. Silk satin with supplementary weft patterning bound in twill (lampas). LACMA M.2007.211.40

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  Man’s coat, France, 1745-1750. Silk plain weave with supplementary weft patterning bound in plain weave (lampas). LACMA M.2007.211.795

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  Lampas brocaded with silk and chenille, rewoven for the billiard room of the petit appartement of Marie-Antoinette at Versailles.

References

• Abbott, James A. A Frenchman in Camelot: The Decoration of the Kennedy White House by Stéphane Boudin. Boscobel Restoration Inc.: 1995. ISBN 0-9646659-0-5.
• Colenman, Brian and Dan Mayers. Scalamandre: Luxurious Home Interiors. Gibbs Smith: 2004. ISBN 978-1-58685-408-9.
• Jenkins, David. The Cambridge History of Western Textiles. Cambridge University Press: 2003. ISBN 978-0-521-34107-3.