Passmenterie

The discriminating and tasteful use of Passmenterie can transform an interior. There is now a revival of appreciation of this form of ornament. The original trimming of fabrics were the Macramé like fringes made by the warp threads (vertical ones) being tied off in a decorative manner on a tapestry.

The art of trimming curtains, furniture and all the soft furnishings of home have been well understood for centuries. The harsh wooden surfaces of Jacobean England were embellished with elaborate gimps, galloons, fringes and tassels. They were made from threads of silk, linens and wools, gold and silver was spun to make intricate lace like braids, worms and tassels. These were often used to trim the raised work or stump work pillows that were fashionable. The falconers helmet still has tassels.

In the 18th century smugglers brought braids from France to England where they complimented the damasks and silk furnishings adding to their richness and texture. The intricate trimmings of silk, wool or metal threads often cost more than the furniture itself. Mechanisation in the 19th century meant that the Victorians of England could choose from a vast range of Passmenterie.

The braid is the earliest and most basic of trimmings infinite uses, made especially in peasant cultures in great variety. Early fabrics were woven on narrow looms and stitched together, braids were used to hide the seams. The simple woven, twisted, knotted and patted braids evolved to from headers on elaborate fringes during the 18th century. In France during the neo-classical period braids were manufactured in the style of the day. Acanthus leaves, Laurel wreaths and acorns were woven in the Napoleonic colors of gold, crimson green and ultramarine. The braids were often woven in gold and silver thread.

Heraldic devices were common motifs such as the Napoleonic bee and even today in Spain one can buy braids with coats of arms of the ancient families woven in. Religious braids of great richness and complexity adorned chasubles often of piled silk velvets and gold embroiders of the saints.

Tassels are more complex than braids and they are purely for pleasure, but made with great skill. A five year apprenticeship was required to become a 'Passmenterie' and they are still made in the traditional manner.

Tassels appear in many cultures in varied designs the earliest being made from the warp ends of woven textiles. It can therefore be assumed that tassels are at least as ancient as weaving. Decorative embellishments were added when a people became aware of pattern and design. Trimmings evolved with cloth and are synonomous with it.

The Byzantine empire was established when Emperor Constantine moved the capital, Rome, to Constantinople in AD330. It was decreed that all Christians should be clothed. This was to the advantage of the emerging silk industry, leading to a demand for trimmings for costumes which overlapped into furnishings. These were exported to the west so that by the Middle Ages bed hangings, pillows and carriages were adorned with tassels.

In AD 540 Emperor Justinian aided by two Persian monks smuggled the precious silk worm eggs out of China initiating sericulture in then west. The influence of the Middle East was strong. fine tassels, threads and gilt braids were part of the Muslim culture. The Moors derived fine prized trimmings, adopted with enthusiasm by the Spanish. In this way the wealthy houses of Europe began to adorn draperies, hangings, canopies, chandeliers and pillows with braids, fringes and tassels in the Arab fashion.

Tassels may have originated in China. The Emperors courtiers would hold silk pendants attached to their robes to prove they concealed nothing under them. Chinese noble women attached tassels to their tiny shoes to draw attention to their bound feet.

Elizabethan inventories show trims, fringes and bone lace. Tie Backs were tassels or pairs of tassels used to hold back curtains, often of silk over a wooden core. The Earl of Leicester inventory of 1588 lists bed valences "fringed with deepe fringe of crimson and silver and the fine curteines of crimson satin" were "striped downe with a bone lace of silver" or of "gold and silver". Chairs were embellished with "clothe of goulde fringe".

The silk manufacture of Italy and France produced a wide selection of trims. In the late 17th century itinerant fringe makers provided trims for the great houses of Europe. One such was Peter Dufresnay. There are several heavy patterns of silver 'galloon' (named after the work of the lace makers of Switzerland) surviving from the 17th century.

The word 'tassel' evolved in the middle ages, cloaks or mantles, were fastened with metal ornaments called 'Tasseaus' from Latin 'tassa', clasp. Chaucer wrote "And by hire girdle heng a purs of lether tasselled with greene and peried with latoun." The Bayeaux Tapestry shows fringed bridles, while the Greeks used them in a similar way to that in which the Scottish use them today over a Kilt like garment. In 1559 the French formed a guild for producing 'Passmenterie' perfecting an art that has changed little today.

Lois XIV ornate state bed reflected his status, richly adorned with velvet and trims and was the main furnishing of state rooms. Marie Antoinette was said to have a tassel that resembled a bird cage, thought to have been a Bell Pull. During the French revolution excessive decoration was banned. Tassels were used as a symbol for patriots After the revolution under Napoleon I trimmings were revived. The Empress Josephine hired Percier and Pierre Fontain to decorate Malmaison.

In Britain the Victorians made great use of tassels and trims about the home. Fire screens, cushions, curtains, bed hangings, throws all embellished.