Art Institute of Chicago

Utrecht Velvet

Attributed to William Morris (English, 1834–1896)

Date

Design c. 1871

Medium

Cotton and silk, plain weave with supplementary pile warps forming cut solid velvet; stamped

Culture

England

Department

Textiles

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

This stamped furnishing fabric imitates, in design and technique, 18th-century velvets made in the Netherlands and known colloquially as “Utrecht velvet.” The city of Utrecht was a center of stamped velvet production. Manufacturers there impressed patterns into cut solid velvet with a heated copper roller. The compressed pile created the illusion of velvet woven with varying piles, which would have been more time consuming to produce. This reproduction catered to consumer desire for high-end, historically inspired furnishings.

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