Stravinsky is a damask arranged as tiles. Instead of the half-drop that usually sends a damask travelling diagonally up a wall, the motif is set in a square block repeat across the full width, so the pattern forms a grid: formal ornament held inside a modern structure. The block repeat is also the reason it can be used across a broken wall without the pattern appearing to slide.
Over that grid runs an aged patina effect. The surface is broken and mottled as though the print has weathered, so the crispness of the damask is offset by something worn. Two tones do the whole job, figure and ground, and the restraint is what keeps the design contemporary. The combination of classical drawing, tile geometry and distressed surface gives it a character none of the three would have alone.
Colourings range from chalky and soft through a strong green to several worked in metallic, and the design changes register considerably between them, quiet and architectural in the pale versions and far more theatrical in the metallics. The square repeat makes setting out straightforward and works well on walls broken by openings. A hall, a dining room or a study takes it, particularly alongside plain modern joinery. It belongs to the Mariinsky Damask collection, where the damasks are all given the same modern structure.
