Monday, January 9, 2012

Stunning Ligurian textiles

©albarosa simonetti

Having spent a week in Liguria, a beautiful region in Northern Italy, I had time to visit again Tessitura Gaggioli in Zoagli.  Established in 1932 now the Tessitura is in the hand of Sergio, his mother and his sister Paola and they create the most magnificent silk and hand woven velvets and damasks.

 

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The pieces above are all called Soprarizzo and they are the most beautiful and refined velvet made of 12.240 threads for the warp and 3.000 for the weft and it requires 200 movements of hands and feet to create only 1 centimeter. In a day only 40 centimeters of textile are created.

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The Tessitura produces also less expensive textiles, with computerized system, but results are always of the best quality.

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Giuseppe shows me how after two long beats and a short one of the treadle loom he passes the special tool to cut some threads, then he repositions between the threads the long metal stick  which you can see at the bottom, below his hand and the knife and the coordinate movements start again.

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A damask in pale yellow and cream is at its beginning.

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Here Giuseppe shows me the silk just arrived from the dyeing plant where raw silk (from China) is sent to be colored in the precise hues requested. Italy had a flourishing silk production for centuries but now silk is produced in China and bought raw to be spinned and woven here.

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Pure gold thread to start a new order of meters and meters of pale blue damasks with Florentine lilies in gold. It will take months but the result will be stunning as the other pieces created for public institutions, churches and private mansions: for instance Tessitura Gaggioli had also worked in the past for iconic decorator Mongiardino’s residence in New York.

 

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©albarosa simonetti

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Enchanting view of the Tigullio gulf outside the weaving factory’s windows.

Enchanting Liguria!

©2011 Brillante Interiors writes about new trends, timeless decor, iconic pieces, design ideas, or at times just musing about "a certain Italian way of doing things".

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10 comments:

MyFavoriteFrenchAntiques said...

Thank you for giving a great insight to this art. The plum colors were captivating!

peggy braswell said...

Just got an e-mail from a client, who has been to this town quite a lot but never this factory. Thank you for sharing. xxpeggybraswelldesign.com

MJH Design Arts said...

Albarosa--I am spellbound. I have never seen that actual production of fine silks. Now I truly appreciate the antique textiles that I love so much. Mary

Theresa Cheek said...

Be still my heart! These are some of the best hand woven velvets I have ever seen. The Soprarizzo pieces are simply divine!

Interior Design said...

I am not familiar with Ligurian textiles but this post helps me along. This post is amazing. I love it!

Parnell said...

Just discovered your work, blog and website. Amazing! I use to spend a lot of time in Italy. Your images bring back beautiful memories of the sophistication and modernity which is my Milan. Thank you.

Regards
Parnell Corder

Celeste said...

I love these textiles! And, seeing the loom first hand must have been fantastic! Thanks for sharing and for the pictures!

Monica said...

FABULOUS ! how much per meter? they are gorgeous and I see pilllows- Manito pillows ! ! !

Michael Yomtov said...

many thanks, albarosa, for showing this wonderful process and its results. even if
it is not my personal taste, just knowing that these fabrics are still there to choose
is enhancing to any design vocabulary, and
to life in general.

MOGGI68 said...

@Albarosa Simonetti.. Sono Giuseppe Gaggioli di ZOAGLI. Complimenti per le immagini. Se vuoi ho fatto una fanpage su facebook e puoi aggiungerne qualcuna. https://www.facebook.com/TessituraGaggioliZoagli

 
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