Matelassé is a quilting done on the loom rather than with a needle, and it is used here to raise a winding pattern in relief off a silk ground. The figure is drawn by special weft threads carrying a metallic light, so the surface reads as armour or vestment: formal, heavily worked, faintly liturgical.
What keeps it from stiffening is the drawing. The pattern winds rather than repeats squarely, and a 36 cm vertical against a 34.5 cm horizontal repeat gives an almost square unit that never quite settles into a grid. Ten colourways, all held within a metallic range. At 504 g it has real body, and no abrasion figure is quoted, which tells you where it belongs: curtains, blinds and cushions rather than seating. 140 cm wide, made in Italy.
