Textile Design with Paisley Motifs and Abstract Rosettes

Vertical panel with a textile design that is part of a group of 266 textile designs by the American artist Robert Bryer, possibly made for United Designing Co., since most of the designs carry a stamp of the "United Designing Co. / WOrth 4 - 8975". Some of them also contain a stamp in the verso of the "Original Designing Company, Inc."

The collection contains a great variety of designs, from the more traditional floral and stripe patterns, to thematic designs based on various travel destinations, with palm trees and other holiday attributes. Especially interesting among these are patterns inspired by textiles and paintings of Native American tribes, including the Inca, Navajo, Aztec and Maya. The patterns are composed of semi-abstract figures distributed across the design in a regular or, in some cases, a more casual fashion. The spontaneity of designs and the use of floral and animal motifs suggest they were created for printed textiles in the forties.

This textile design is made up of paisley motifs flanked by abstract rosettes with five petals around square red pistils and two small red pearls over a maroon background. The paisley motifs and rosettes are rendered alternatingly: the paisley motifs colored with yellow have rosettes with white petals and the pearls framed with black, and the paisley motifs colored with black have rosettes with yellow petals and the pearls framed with white. This design presents a play on traditional "chintz" textile motifs that was common in the production of American textiles during the 1930s and 1940s.