CHIERRIAT, Augustine (French, fl. 1820-1840).
Bouquet of Tulips, Violets and Other Flowers.
Watercolor and graphite on paper.
Signed lower center: "Chierriat Lyons 1829".
9 3/4" x 7" visible, 16 1/4" x 13 1/2" framed.

In the first quarter of the nineteenth century, the city of Lyon, in east-central France, was historically known as the capital of the silk industry. This work painted in 1829 at the height of this opulent trade.

From the Renaissance onward, Lyon maintained a secure connection to the silk trade and dominated the industry in Europe. With the invention of the Jacquard loom in 1804, tall silk weavers houses sprung up across the Croix Rousse, while the grander townhouses of the wealthy silk merchants were found at the bottom of the slopes, closer to its two rivers the Rhône and the Saône.

The bustling trade city drew artists who painted pattern work on silk as well commissioned works for the wealthy tradesmen who live there. The vivid imagery of flora and fauna were composed in watercolor and then transferred by hand to silk scarves and fabrics, which then traveled the globe to regal homes. But that was not without causing considerable suffering to the silk weavers of Lyon. Just two years after this work was painted, the silk workers staged an uprising for better employment and pay and exercised the use of a black flag for protest for the very first time.