Plume is a banded stripe made of brushmarks. The bands are not printed as lines but built from short feathered strokes laid side by side, so each one has a ragged edge and an uneven density: the record of a hand moving rather than of a mechanical rule.
The Cole & Son studio drew it from mark-making traditions across a number of cultures, and it has the character of calligraphy rather than of pattern. The interest lies in the quality of the stroke, not in the figure it makes. The grounds are chalky and textured, and because the print sits into that texture rather than on top of it the wall keeps an organic surface. From across a room it behaves as a soft vertical; close to, it is a drawing.
A stripe this informal is useful where a conventional one would be too crisp. Rooms with imperfect walls and old plaster suit it, as do bedrooms, bathrooms and small sitting rooms, anywhere a vertical is wanted without a hard edge. Several colourways carry a metallic on a matte ground, giving the brushstrokes a low sheen under lamplight while the ground stays flat. It belongs to the Curio collection, where the interest lies in surface rather than in motif.
