Nice People Have Curtains: "Capricious Fancy: Draping and Curtaining the Historic Interior, 1800-1930" by Gail Caskey Winkler
A plate from The Decorator’s Portfolio (1885) shows the whimsy and somewhat illogical taste of the late 19th century, featuring everything from a Japanese fan to Medieval weaponry.
“Nice people have curtains,” was often mentioned in my first days of decorating at Parish-Hadley, followed by, “nice people do not have draperies”. Furthermore, the term “drapes” was deemed déclassé.
At Parish-Hadley we were also required to trim curtains with a complement of tapes and fringes so that they would be properly weighted, and hence fall more beautifully, along with eliminating any rough edges. In short, the rule was, and remains in our sphere that, “No curtains should be delivered untrimmed.”
This advice from Parish-Hadley reflects the role of Sister Parish and Albert Hadley as decorators working at the end of the golden age of curtains in interior decoration. Their imparted wisdom resonates with me and predisposes my admiration for a new book by Gail Caskey Winkler, Capricious Fancy: Draping and Curtaining the Historic Interior, 1800-1930.
Well illustrated with images from antique sources, it is a visual delight and extremely informative. Her thesis is that curtains evolved through the technological advances made during the Industrial Revolution. Mass production allowed for a more affordable and wider range of fabrics, while an increasing number of print sources, especially those able to render images in color, disseminated the ever changing fashions in draping windows, beds, rooms, etc. She also writes that Paris, the traditional epicenter of luxury goods, was the source or influence of almost every curtain design throughout this period.
Today, at Jayne Design Studio, we usually make simpler curtain panels that offer little evidence of the grand designs that preceded ours. Only occasionally do we make elaborate pelmets, or valances, with swags and jabots. The curtains we made at Drumlin Hall were based on a design from a book that, in fact, Winkler illustrated other plates from. These curtains are some of the handsomest we have ever conceived.
The drawing room curtains at Drumlin Hall are shown, right. Left, the source image from which these curtains were adapted.
The stenciled window shade was also adapted for these windows by artist Lucretia Moroni’s studio, Fatto a Mano.
A more expansive view of the drawing room at Drumlin Hall
Our more typical curtain designs resemble these which were created for a Pennsylvania bedroom. However, be assured, we maintain, as much as taste and circumstance will bear, the rich tradition Capricious Fancy records and almost all of our curtains are trimmed.
Simple (but trimmed) curtains in the bedroom of a Pennsylvania house
The following is a link with further information on Gail’s great book from the University of Pennsylvania Press website. Bear in mind that the few plates shown below cannot fully convey the book's beauty and I suggest you also use the link to buy this grand piece of scholarship now.
And, here is a selection of plates from the book.
Percier and Fontaine’s bed design for “Mme. M” published in Recueil de décorations intérieures (1801) was highly influential throughout the 19th century.
Le Mésangère’s diluted copy of Percier and Fontaine’s design, as published in Meubles et Objets de Goût (1804), made it a more accessible commodity.
An exuberant French Empire bed with an asymmetrical arrangement of curtains and giltwood elements as published by Hallavant and Osmont (circa 1810-1815).
An American design for “continued curtains“ after a French prototype from The Repository (September, 1815)
Another design for continued curtains from Rudolph Ackermann’s A Series, Containing Forty-four Engravings in Colours, of Fashionable Furniture; Consisting of Beds, sofas, Ottomans, Window curtains, Chairs, Tables, Book-cases, &c &c. , 1823
Designs from The Cabinet-Maker & Upholsterer’s Guide, 1826
Examples of geometric valances from The Upholsterer's Pocket Collection of Fashionable Designs, c. 1835
A plate from Desire Guilmard’s Le Garde-Meuble ancien et moderne, 1850. Illustrating Winkler’s thesis about the dissemination of French prototypes, this design was copied in black and white and published in Godey’s Lady’s Book in October, 1851.
Two examples of elaborately draped fireplaces from the Album de la tenture (circa 1850) define mid-19th century French taste.
Jules Verdellet’s Manuel Géométrique du tapissier (1851) was an invaluable resource to drapery workrooms throughout the mid to late 19th-century, being republished continuously from 1851 to 1883. This particular illustration is the earliest depiction of “square” pleats and “cup” pleats.
Another illustration from Verdellet which shows methods for cutting covers for chandeliers, sconces, and clocks.
A "Salon de repos" from La Disposition des appartements, written by E. Maincent and published around 1885. The original series includes eighteen double-page plates with “exploded” room views, four of which illustrate the exotic taste popular in the latter part of the 19th century, including the design above. This room shows a hammock along with many other Middle Eastern elements.