
1870–1890
This watercolor design of water lilies and other aquatic plants on paper is a mise-en-carte, or weaving draft, meant to serve as a bridge between the original design and the woven textile. Prepared on paper with a grid pattern whose lines represent warps and wefts, such drafts provided instructions for preparing the loom and for color usuage. Professional mise-en-carte readers were sometimes employed to assist the weavers and help them understand the designer's intensions.-A Global View: Recent Acquisitions of Textiles, 2012-2016, April 8-September 5, 2016