The City of Lyon has long been associated with textile production, and its silk industry became a part of the city’s life-blood at the beginning of the 1800’s with the introduction of newer and faster methods of production invented during the industrial revolution.
The Textile Museum was opened to the public in 1864, and its administration was later taken over by Lyon’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who moved it to its present location in 1946. The building used to be the Governor of Lyon’s residence.
There is every kind of textile possible to be seen in its exhibitions, silk, of course, but also Pharaonic Egyptian, Oriental,Coptic, Persian and Byzantines to mention just a few.
The museum is also heavily implicated in research into textiles and their history and has a library and document department containing over 30 000 works.
Many people assimilate the word ‘museum’ with words like old, dusty, boring and highbrow, and I go to meet Mme Maria-Anne Privat-Savigny, the Museum’s Curator and Head Director wondering what kind of atmosphere I’ll be experiencing.
I didn’t have to wait long to find out.
She arrives and whisks me into her office, where we have a very amusing discussion about one of her preferred historical periods and political cultures, that of the Tudors and Henry VIII. “Yes, he may have chopped off Boleyn’s head,” she says “but he did it with the kind of sophistication and subtlety that I appreciate in English intellectual and political society. The country houses there are wonderful too.”
I realise that this petite, unassuming and simply dressed lady is going to be a lot of fun to spend time with.
So after a few minutes ironising with humour upon the differences between French and English culture and society, she tells me how she ended up at the Museum.
“I studied Commerce at one of the country’s top universities and subsequently joined the National Museum. Once there I was literally dragooned by my superiors into accepting a job involving the textile section. From there I went on to the Louvre in Paris as a curator and finally came back here to Lyon, my home town, to work here in the museum, in 2004.”
We discuss the fact that there is an incredible archive of textiles in the Museum.
“This is an advantage in that we don’t have to ask to borrow textiles for new exhibitions. We have to change exhibitions often, given the zapping society in which we live, where if things don’t change, they quickly become irrelevant. This means that we try to find new ways of approaching the lighting and presentation we use. One day someone came to the museum and, upon entering one of the rooms, he said ‘You’ve changed the exhibition.’ But we hadn’t. It was all done with lighting, essentially. We are even considering using 18th century music in an upcoming exhibition that deals with textiles from that period.”
She goes on to explain how the Museum is financed. Although it is a publicly owned museum it still has to finance itself, notably via sponsorships, donations and Patronage. This means that an innovative approach, both in marketing strategy and in terms of exhibitions, is crucial.
“But that doesn’t mean that we cut corners on quality. The challenge I set myself here is based on two fundamental ideas. Firstly, I don’t mind doing events like hosting fashion houses or other events because it brings in revenue. However they must not interfere with the general standards of scientific and cultural work we do. Also, any new idea is considered as long as it contributes to the upkeep of the Museum’s reputation for quality exhibitions and historical accuracy.”
I mention purists and how they may react to her approach. “Oh, sure they don’t appreciate it. But I think that the challenge for museums is to appeal to people in new ways and to stop being a boring pain in the butt.”
“Pain in the butt”? Did I hear right? Yes, I did. No pompous stuffiness here, decidedly.
Off we go to take a walk around the Museum.
On the way we stop for a photo in the gardens.
Michael Cosgrove Maria-Anne Privat-Savigny, Curator, Lyon Textile Museum
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So here is just a fraction of what there is to see in the Lyon Textile Museum.
One interesting and innovative feature of a visit here is that visitors are given a pencil torch which permits them to light up a small area of an exhibit and study its finesse in more detail.
It's a wonderful idea, as I found out first-hand. When you study one of these works in detail you begin to understand the artistry that went into it.
The Museum is considering issuing magnifying glasses too, for the same reasons.
This is one of the many hand woven carpets to be seen. It is a Persian carpet and it was created in the 16th century.
Michael Cosgrove Carpet, Lyon Textile Museum
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In the adjoining room are some exquisite Rugs from the Ottoman Era, again from the 16th century.
Michael Cosgrove Ottoman rugs, Lyon Textile Museum
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This is a very special wall-hanging. It is one of a priceless collection of pieces from the Royal Command of 1730. It ended up in Louis XVI's bedroom.
Michael Cosgrove Royal Wall-hanging, Lyon Textile Museum
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Here is a small representation of a lion hunt during the Byzantine Period. It was made in the 8th century.
Michael Cosgrove 8th century Byzantine, Lyon Textile Museum
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Dresses are a part of the Museum too of course. This splendid wedding dress, from Pierre Balmain was created towards the end of the 60’s and it is one of the first ever quality synthetics used in Haute-Couture. The material is a polyamide called Quiana and it looks just like silk, except that it doesn’t crease so much, can be permanently creased where necessary and is easier to clean.
Michael Cosgrove Wedding dress, Lyon Textile Museum
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These two dresses are from the 1870’s.
Michael Cosgrove 1870's dresses, Lyon Textile Museum
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This is a detail from a gorgeous piece, by Ollagnier, Fructus and Descher. It was made at the end of the 1800’s in satin and it uses different shades of white in a very subtle way.
Michael Cosgrove Fine satin, Lyon Textile Museum
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This Art Nouveau representation of flowers was shown at the Universal Exposition in Paris in 1900. It is one of Maria-Anne’s favourites.
Michael Cosgrove Fine satin, Lyon Textile Museum
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This is one of her favourites too. It’s a sunset in satin by Devaud and Bachelard and was made in 1894.
Michael Cosgrove Fine satin, Lyon Textile Museum
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This is a detail from another piece from the same period. It is wonderfully detailed and uses lots of relief to give it a very rich aspect.
Michael Cosgrove Fine satin, Lyon Textile Museum
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This last photo is of a 17th century pistol. It has nothing to do with the Textile Museum, but I couldn't resist the temptation.
It is part of a collection of swords, pistols, rifles, epees and other weapons from that period and is an exhibit from another museum within the Museum, that of Decorative Arts. The Decorative Arts Museum contains many rare collections of Royal and other period furniture, a rare collection of clocks, and other historical collections such as Weapons, bronze statues, ceramics, orfevrerie and wood carving.
Maria-Anne takes great delight in telling me that she is fascinated by the uses other than duelling that these arms were used for. “Killing mistresses and lovers...” as she puts it, with feeling. I call this room her personal torture chamber and we have a good laugh about it...
Michael Cosgrove 18th century pistol
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So that’s the Textile Museum here in Lyon. It’s a must for any visitor here. I was extremely pleased and grateful to have been given a personalised guided tour of all these splendours. But there will be other tours too, because there are other sections of the museum to visit.
We decide that we’ll do that after Summer. I won't miss it for the world.
On the way out, we find all the connecting doors between the different rooms shut. A surprised Maria-Anne asks a member of staff “What’s going on here?” She is not pleased. The staff member explains that an electrician has done something wrong and cut the circuit dealing with the automatic door-closing system. “Wait till I see him!” she says, slightly annoyed.
But she laughs about it, agreeing with my suggestion that she have him beheaded.
Then we bump into another member of staff who says she is on her way to tell him in no uncertain terms to fix the problem.
“Fine” says Maria-Anne “and don’t forget to bawl him out from me!”
I feel almost glad that the electrician wasn’t in the vicinity for his sake.
Whoever thinks that Museums and Museum Curators are serious and bookish would think again after meeting this Curator, who is delightfully different from what one would normally expect a Curator to be.
Just like her wonderful Museum.
