"JJ Grandville" was in fact Jean Ignace Isidore Gérard- the Grandville was his grandparents' stage name. The caricature drawings of Grandville are still recognized and admired today for their distinctive style. The primary work that brought Grandville into fashion was called Les Métamorphoses du jour (1828–29) Most well known for his anthropomorphic drawings of animals going about daily human tasks, after their publication, Grandville became sought after as illustrator & satirist.
What first interested me in the Grandville drawings is the great embroidered tableskirt Nancy Lancaster created for her drawing room and continued to use as she moved from house to house. Her daughter in law -Anne Tree- "inherited" the whimsical piece from Nancy Lancaster and placed it in her drawing room at Shute House- referring to it as a "winner."
I couldn't agree more!
Nancy Lancaster's Haseley Court Grandville tableskirt
photograph of the Grandville tableskirt from The Englishwoman's House
Nancy Lancaster introduced the witty felt embroidered tableskirt with animals dressed in 18th & 19th century costumes into her formal rooms at Ditchley. One of the figures is Madame de Pompadour dressed in fashion with a goat's head atop her shoulders from J J Grandville's drawing in LES SCENES DE LA VIE PRIVEE ET PUBLIQUE DES ANIMAUX. The inclusion of the table in Nancy's room at Ditchley and subsequently reappearing in her Saloon at Haseley Court in 1954 says a great deal about Lancaster's ideas about the bon ton. The Grandville embroidery also tell us Nancy Lancaster got it right the first time & continually used the favorite pieces in her collections, recycled and reinvented them in new settings.
This is a philosophy that more design aspirants should follow-
Serebriakoff painting of Lancaster's interior
Just recently in reading about the Duchess of Devonshire's new home, the Old Vicarage,Edsenor in the World of Interiors- I spied a similar tableskirt with JJ Grandville animal caricatures promenading around it. This piece was embroidered by the volunteers of Chatsworth.
Now-I'm thinking,
I could have what Nancy had.
What the Duchess has.
I could have a JJ Grandville skirt- skirted table that is-maybe not embroidered-(no volunteers) though my mother and I have done some stitching in the past-but a painted one! My mother paints, and quite well.
Now all I have to do is talk her into it- that's another story.
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