Antique French Chrysanthemum Damask Linen Dinner Napkins, Monogrammed Rmr, Set of 6 | C. 1910

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Before the Art Deco movement had a name, it had a feeling.
A loosening of the Victorian grip. A turn … Read more Before the Art Deco movement had a name, it had a feeling.
A loosening of the Victorian grip. A turn toward the natural world rendered in a new geometry — not the sinuous tendrils of Art Nouveau but something crisper, more structural, more confident. These six antique French linen dinner napkins, dating to circa 1910, are woven in exactly that moment. The damask pattern is a full-ground chrysanthemum — the flower rendered in precise, repeating bloom across the entire cloth, visible as a shift of light against light, white against white, depth without color. It is one of the most sophisticated textile effects in the French linen tradition, and here it is executed at its finest.
The monogram RMR sits at the center in an oval cartouche, the three letters interlaced in the bold, architectural style that the great Parisian linen houses reserved for their most considered work. Not a cipher hastily applied but a composition — designed to sit within the chrysanthemum field as though it had always been there.
Six napkins. Twenty-four by twenty-two inches — the generous proportions of formal French dining, when the napkin was understood to be part of the table's architecture. From a Martha's Vineyard estate, the collection of a woman who understood exactly what she was looking at.

Details
Set of 6 | Antique French linen | c. 1910 | Full-ground chrysanthemum damask | White | Oval cartouche RMR cipher monogram | 24" x 22" | Hand-hemmed edges | Excellent vintage condition | Martha's Vineyard estate collectio See less