DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.22262#0106
Madalena Brąz Teixeira
The eighteenth century brought a vogue for bedspreads in Portugal. Initially, they
were Indian palempore bedspreads, freąuently ordered for Portuguese clients. Their
variety of fabric and decoration was attributable to the markedly eclectic style that
prevailed then for want of any clearly defined mainstream style or rules of elegance.
No important works were commissioned by either public or private buyers because
the Royal Family and the court were in Brazil at the time. Therefore, the generał
taste oscillated between late Baroąue and a vogue for neo-classicism.
Alcobaęa bedspreads are identifiable based on their design. The evolution of the de-
sign comes through in the foliage patterns with a Romantic touch, but still retain-
ing the original structure (not deconstructed until the end of the twentieth cen-
tury). A closer reading of bedspread motifs can help identify the date of manufac-
ture, although some of the patterns remained current until the 1930s.
Another way of identifying Alcobaęa bedspreads is by examining their manufactur-
ing techniąue: printing blocks of wood or iron. The image was printed after draw-
ings composed of numbered modules and repeated markings and executed with
various printing blocks which together covered the whole surface of cotton, some-
times leaving the background support visible.
Typologically, Alcobaęa prints correspond to those made essentially for interior deco-
ration. They are characterised by three fundamental elements: the materiał (always
cotton), varied połychromy and composition, in which floral motifs dominate, but
which also includes pitchers, foliage, animals, amphorae and geometrie motifs or-
ganised in uniąue, unmatched patterns.
Images can be classified into two major groups: patterned Alcobaęa chitas (alcobaęas
depadrao), in which the whole background of the fabric was covered with the same
design like a carpet and the bordered Alcobaęa designs (alcobaęas de bandas), where
the motif was printed on the border that ran the whole length of the fabric.
Another feature typical of Alcobaęa prints is their exotic naturę. The taste for the
exotic embraced reproductions of Oriental scenes as well. In the sixteenth, and es-
pecially seventeenth century, Chinese porcelain began to be appreciated and used
daily. These items were either ordered or became available in commercial exchange
with China through the city of Goa in India. This fad for chinoiseries echoed in the
Portuguese society that soon adopted it and the style was reflected in the patterns
of the chitas manufactured in our country.
The pintados, which were not used for clothing, reveal traces of Islamie art and, above
all, Persian motifs. Muslim influences are known to have lasted for centuries in India.
The decoration of chitas scarves followed the designs and the ornaments used for
The eighteenth century brought a vogue for bedspreads in Portugal. Initially, they
were Indian palempore bedspreads, freąuently ordered for Portuguese clients. Their
variety of fabric and decoration was attributable to the markedly eclectic style that
prevailed then for want of any clearly defined mainstream style or rules of elegance.
No important works were commissioned by either public or private buyers because
the Royal Family and the court were in Brazil at the time. Therefore, the generał
taste oscillated between late Baroąue and a vogue for neo-classicism.
Alcobaęa bedspreads are identifiable based on their design. The evolution of the de-
sign comes through in the foliage patterns with a Romantic touch, but still retain-
ing the original structure (not deconstructed until the end of the twentieth cen-
tury). A closer reading of bedspread motifs can help identify the date of manufac-
ture, although some of the patterns remained current until the 1930s.
Another way of identifying Alcobaęa bedspreads is by examining their manufactur-
ing techniąue: printing blocks of wood or iron. The image was printed after draw-
ings composed of numbered modules and repeated markings and executed with
various printing blocks which together covered the whole surface of cotton, some-
times leaving the background support visible.
Typologically, Alcobaęa prints correspond to those made essentially for interior deco-
ration. They are characterised by three fundamental elements: the materiał (always
cotton), varied połychromy and composition, in which floral motifs dominate, but
which also includes pitchers, foliage, animals, amphorae and geometrie motifs or-
ganised in uniąue, unmatched patterns.
Images can be classified into two major groups: patterned Alcobaęa chitas (alcobaęas
depadrao), in which the whole background of the fabric was covered with the same
design like a carpet and the bordered Alcobaęa designs (alcobaęas de bandas), where
the motif was printed on the border that ran the whole length of the fabric.
Another feature typical of Alcobaęa prints is their exotic naturę. The taste for the
exotic embraced reproductions of Oriental scenes as well. In the sixteenth, and es-
pecially seventeenth century, Chinese porcelain began to be appreciated and used
daily. These items were either ordered or became available in commercial exchange
with China through the city of Goa in India. This fad for chinoiseries echoed in the
Portuguese society that soon adopted it and the style was reflected in the patterns
of the chitas manufactured in our country.
The pintados, which were not used for clothing, reveal traces of Islamie art and, above
all, Persian motifs. Muslim influences are known to have lasted for centuries in India.
The decoration of chitas scarves followed the designs and the ornaments used for