Fabrique de Saint Ruf, Lyon, France - Design for Two Embroidered or Woven Borders of the Fabrique de St. Ruf - 1800–1825 - T-Shirt

This design is a pattern sample of two vertical border strips, drawn in white and lilac on a warm ochre-brown ground.

Visual Elements & Composition

Ochre-brown fills almost the whole sheet, with white and lilac shaping every motif. The left strip repeats six identical fan-shaped sprays, each with a scalloped upper edge, a cluster of dots at its base and short curved stems tipped with dots. The right strip holds six rosettes, each built from five or six rounded petals turned like a pinwheel around a pale centre. Small numerals, N° 11 and 12, sit beside the strips and mark them as numbered designs in a sequence.

Meaning & Symbolism

The sheet records a working unit rather than a single scene. Border strips of this kind were laid out as one repeating motif, meant to run along the edge of a garment or furnishing. Placing two motifs side by side let a workshop compare scale and rhythm. The Fabrique de Saint Ruf in Lyon produced silk and embroidered trimmings for the fashionable market between 1800 and 1825, and numbered sheets like this one kept its repertoire of motifs in order.

Built to Repeat Down a Garment

Each strip is a column of identical units, and the same logic carries onto this tee. The vertical repeat runs down the front of the shirt the way a border runs along an edge, so the rhythm of the sprays and rosettes reads as one continuous line from collar to hem. Viewed at a distance, the small, evenly sized motifs settle into a steady pattern, the quality the original workshop wanted from trim.