I have been reading a really lovely blog called Aesthetic Oiseau by Daniela M. Shuffler. Daniela lives in Washington and documents her design adventures and shows pictures of her pretty little house that she and her husband have been renovating. I love to see how other people tackle renovations. Between projects Daniela post images of fabrics, rooms and accessories that inspire her, and a post about a 'quadrille' fabric caught my eye. I recognised this fabric as I had seen in a book that I own, but it was a stencilled screen. It is a very eye catching pattern. I love the centre motif and the leaf border that curls around a small checkerboard. Then the other night I was sorting my 'World of Interiors' magazines into date order
( yes, sad I know) and I naturally was having a little peek at the articles as I worked and I spied this same pattern used as upholstery fabric on a sofa. It was acknowledged with the name of 'Victor Hugo'. So I did some 'googling' and found that this fabric was produced by Pierre Frey and they have reissued it, under the name 'Le Manach Prints', and this pattern was named after Victor Hugo, famed author for Les Miserable, who is thought to have owned the original document that inspired this fabric. It seems that Victor Hugo too, was keen on interior decoration and design. He designed his own apartment in Paris and at one stage he owned a country house as well.He was very fond of chinoiserie and created very exotic richly coloured interiors.
But wait there is more to this story. Years ago when Max and I developed the decorating scheme for our red sitting room I adapted the border I saw on the screen and stencilled it as a border on our pale coloured pine floor. We were minimising the sanding of the black japanned edges and decided a painted and stencilled border would frame the old pine boards well.
( yes, sad I know) and I naturally was having a little peek at the articles as I worked and I spied this same pattern used as upholstery fabric on a sofa. It was acknowledged with the name of 'Victor Hugo'. So I did some 'googling' and found that this fabric was produced by Pierre Frey and they have reissued it, under the name 'Le Manach Prints', and this pattern was named after Victor Hugo, famed author for Les Miserable, who is thought to have owned the original document that inspired this fabric. It seems that Victor Hugo too, was keen on interior decoration and design. He designed his own apartment in Paris and at one stage he owned a country house as well.He was very fond of chinoiserie and created very exotic richly coloured interiors.
But wait there is more to this story. Years ago when Max and I developed the decorating scheme for our red sitting room I adapted the border I saw on the screen and stencilled it as a border on our pale coloured pine floor. We were minimising the sanding of the black japanned edges and decided a painted and stencilled border would frame the old pine boards well.
This is the fabric in question, I have taken this image from the Quadrille, China Seas, website that has many delectable fabrics.
This screen appeared in the book, The Art of Decorative Stencilling, Adele Bishop and Cile Lord, published by Thames and Hudson, London 1976. This screen is responsible for starting my stencilling career, many years ago as this was the first time I incorporated stencilled pattern as part of a scheme. Somewhere in all the traditional rooms I do you will find a stencilled detail. I just can't resist.
This fabric is known as 'Victor Hugo' and was supplied by the designer Alistair Colvin. This image appeared in the World of Interiors in June 1984 on page 154.The photo was taken by Fritz von der Schulenburg.
Another view of this sitting room from the World of Interiors, June 1984, photography by Fritz von der Schulenburg. The article was written by Christophe Gollut about his own flat.
Victor Hugo fabric, this appears on Le Manach Prints: Pierre Frey Magazine, 10/10/2013
Our stencilled floor border. This was completed in 1987 and we still like it today
Another detail of our antique and very imperfect floor, this is in front of the open fireplace.
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