{"id":4981,"date":"2022-11-07T18:34:53","date_gmt":"2022-11-07T18:34:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brickhousefabrics.com\/blog\/?p=4981"},"modified":"2022-11-07T18:43:31","modified_gmt":"2022-11-07T18:43:31","slug":"asian-and-oriental-fabrics-are-popular","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brickhousefabrics.com\/blog\/asian-and-oriental-fabrics-are-popular\/","title":{"rendered":"Asian and Oriental Fabrics Are Popular"},"content":{"rendered":"

We are seeing a lot of interest in Asian fabrics,
\nin particular those from the Orient-
\nmainly those with
\nChinese and Japanese inspired patterns.<\/p>\n

But, what makes a pattern Oriental or Asian?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"ORIENTAL<\/a>
ORIENTAL DRAGON FABRIC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

Both fabric designers and decorators use association
\nto give a sense, or idea, of a subject.<\/p>\n

Put an Eiffel Tower on a fabric,
\nand the association is Paris or France.<\/p>\n

Add a pagodas or a dragon to a fabric,
\nand the association tends to be the Orient,
\neven though both are present in many cultures.<\/p>\n

The point, from a decorator’s point of view, is to give the idea,
\nthe sense or feeling of something\u00a0 specific,
\nfor the total decorating scheme that they envision.<\/p>\n

They are not trying to give a correct, scholarly visual treatise on a subject.
\nThis can be very irritating for those that have more knowledge.<\/p>\n

And, I totally understand this irritation!<\/p>\n

I don’t know how many ocean fabrics we have had with gold fish in them.
\nThis drives me nuts!!!
\nGold fish are not salt water fish- they are a fresh water fish!!!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

But, take a look at the reef fabric- goldfish-
\nnext to seahorses!!!<\/p>\n

I was annoyed with Thomas Paul as well!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

One year a pattern came out, and it had a lot of shells, etc.
\nAnd one was a sea urchin- which was drawn upside down!
\nI didn’t buy it.
\nThe rep wondered why.
\nI said, the urchin is not correct!
\nHe could not believe this matters,
\nbut these things do.<\/p>\n

I am not alone in this.
\nI have one customer who will not buy anything with a crab on it-
\nshe says people think they look like bugs,
\nand won’t buy her products!<\/p>\n

Here is an older pattern showing a fox hunt,
\nwith riders blowing horns.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nA woman in England,
\nupholsters the tops of stools with horse patterns.
\nShe would not buy it.
\nThe horn was a French horn,
\nnot one that would have been used in\u00a0 England when on a hunt.<\/p>\n

From the fabric designer’s point of view,
\nthe horn was negligable…
\nfrom an expert’s point of view
\nit was an important detail.<\/p>\n

Another case in point had to do with an older Waverly horse pattern-
\nPolo Promenade.
\n( I always thought this was an odd name for the pattern,
\nas it had nothing to do with polo! )<\/p>\n

\"\"
WAVERLY’S POLO PROMENADE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The woman riding side saddle has her skirt falling to the right side of the horse.
\nMost side saddles are built so that the riders legs are on the left , or near side, of the horse,
\nwith the skirt of the habit
\nfalling to the left as well.<\/p>\n

I was sent a vehement message on how wrong this pattern was.
\nBut, I had done research on this,
\nand while rare,
\nthere was the odd saddle,
\ncalled an off side side saddle,
\nwhere the\u00a0 legs of the rider, and the skirt of the riding habit,
\nwent to the right, or off side, of the horse.
\nAnd, there are people who now are making them,
\ndue to people with hip problems.<\/p>\n

So, we all have our foibles!
\nAnd, those with knowledge about a subject can be picky.<\/p>\n

______________________________________<\/strong><\/p>\n

And, what, might you ask is the point of this?<\/p>\n

This is mixing of elements for textile designs is nothing new.<\/p>\n

Whether it was because early print makers and weavers were intrigued by
\nthings they had not seen before,
\nor because they were targeting a certain market,
\nfabric designs have always drawn on a wide variety of designs elements
\nto produce interesting patterns-
\nwhether correct or not.<\/p>\n

Indienne fabric patterns are a good example of this.
\nThe Indienne Tree of Life patterns used both
\nEuropean flowers and patterns,
\nas well as Asian and Indian flowers and patterns.
\nThis blending of cultural things resulted in new and exciting designs.<\/p>\n

You can read about the development of textile patterns here:<\/p>\n

French Toile Fabrics- A Look at Patterns<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

______________________________________<\/p>\n

When it comes to Asian and Oriental fabric patterns,
\nthere is a lot of cross over from the many different cultures that exist there.
\nThings we associate with a country or culture
\nmay have a basis in several cultures,
\neach with their own unique characteristics.<\/p>\n

For instance, dragons, Foo Dogs, and pagodas,
\nare common across several different cultures,
\nbut each of these have details that vary due to their origin.<\/p>\n

A fabric artist doing a rendering for a pattern
\nmight not respect these differences.
\nAnd, the decorator working on a project
\nmight not research the authenticity of the details of a pattern.<\/p>\n

One has to know about a subject
\nto be able to to understand the naunces of a pattern.
\nAnd, unless one has some familiarity with a subject,
\none really can’t judge how accurate a pattern is.<\/p>\n

That said, I don’t feel most fabric companies or home decorators
\nare concerned about pattern accuracy.<\/p>\n

So, every year fabrics come out,
\nand are used in home decorating,
\nwhether correct or not.<\/p>\n

It is a personal preference as to what one wishes to incorporate
\ninto one’s decorating scheme.
\nAnd it is up to each person to decide how accurate you want your rooms to be.<\/p>\n

Here are some of the patterns that we have at the moment.<\/p>\n

For dragon patterns we have three-<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"BLUE
BLUE ASIAN DRAGON FABRIC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The blue dragon pattern shows the dragon emerging from a
\nswirl of clouds.
\nIt is also available in bold red orange.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"RED
RED ORANGE DRAGON FABRIC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The third dragon\u00a0 has the interest of
\nboth the dragon and antique porcelains.
\nI like the tonal blue background.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"BLUE
BLUE DRAGON PORCELAINE FABRIC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We have one Foo Dog fabric.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"FOO
FOO DOG LION FABRIC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And there are two lantern patterns.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

RED LANTERN FABRIC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is also available in a deep green,
\nand my favorite,
\na taupe brown.<\/p>\n

For me,
\nfabrics tell a story.
\nWhen I look at the taupe one,
\nI see fall fabric,
\nand I envision a wooden walk way,
\nalong the side of a traditional Japanese house.
\nIt is a chilly evening, just past dusk.
\nThe lanterns are lit, and swaying in the wind.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"TAUPE
TAUPE BROWN JAPANESE LANTERN FABRIC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The second pattern is very different!
\nWhile these look like traditional lanterns,
\nthey are actually wind chimes.
\nIt is lovely!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"JAPANESE
JAPANESE LANTERN WIND CHIME FABRIC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While antique porcelains are used fairly commonly in Asian fabric patterns,
\nthey often have a European feel,
\nas many porcelains were being produced for Europeans.
\nOne of the fabric has a wide variety of
\nantique porcelains.
\nWe have it in a colored version,
\nand in an all blue version.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"ANTIQUE
ANTIQUE PORCELAIN FABRIC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the most popular design elements
\nused in Asian themed\u00a0fabrics is the pagoda.
\nWhile it may have an association with China or Japan,
\npagodas are important in many different cultures,
\nand prevalent in many different countries.<\/p>\n

The two fabrics we have at the moment are very different.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"ORIENTAL
ORIENTAL TOILE PAGODA FABRIC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While the purple pagoda fabric has a graceful presence,
\nthe tropical toile pagoda fabric
\nhas the feel of a mid-century pattern.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"ASIAN
ASIAN BLUE CHINOISERIE FABRIC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The most intricate of the Asian patterns
\nis the Imari fabric.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"ANTIQUE
ANTIQUE IMARI PORCELAIN CHINA FABRIC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0This is a woven upholstery fabric.
\nIt is filled with color and design!<\/p>\n

For other patterns see the<\/p>\n

Asian Fabric category.\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

and also see the\u00a0<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Oriental Fabric category.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

________________________________<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We are seeing a lot of interest in Asian fabrics, in particular those from the Orient- mainly those with Chinese and Japanese inspired patterns. But, what makes a pattern Oriental or Asian?  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brickhousefabrics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4981"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brickhousefabrics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brickhousefabrics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brickhousefabrics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brickhousefabrics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4981"}],"version-history":[{"count":35,"href":"https:\/\/www.brickhousefabrics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4981\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5022,"href":"https:\/\/www.brickhousefabrics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4981\/revisions\/5022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brickhousefabrics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brickhousefabrics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brickhousefabrics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}