Under The Mulberry Tree

Approximately . 5000 years ago

The Chinese Empress Si-Ling-Ché
was taking her tea under a mulberry tree when a little ball dropped into her cup.
Under the effect of the heat and humidity, it reeled off a long white, shiny thread, the. silk.

Silk became highly valued and served as currency.
Its manufacturing secrets were jealously guarded and only finished products reached the West.

                                              

 Silk Road

The Silk route, or as it has been called ' The Silk Road' ,describes the movement of goods (not only silk but also perfumes, spices, precious woods etc.), ideas and techniques, as well as relations, between East and West.
The Silk Road is the most well-known trading route of ancient Chinese civilization. Trade in silk grew under the Han Dynasty ( 202 BC - AD 220) in the first and second centuries AD.

The route grew with the rise of the Roman Empire because the Chinese initially gave silk to the Roman-Asian governments as gifts.

Originally, the Chinese traded silk internally, within the empire. Caravans from the empire's interior would carry silk to the western edges of the region.

Often small Central Asian tribes would attack these caravans hoping to capture the traders' valuable commodities.

As a result, the Han Dynasty extended its military defenses further into Central Asia from 135 to 90 BC in order to protect these caravans.

VIth century : Justinien, emperor of the West, sent two monks to Tibet so that they could bring back to Byzantium silkworm eggs hidden in their pilgrim’s staff. Soon each Byzantine town was to have its own fabric production.

VIIIth century : introduction by the Moors of sumptuous fabrics to Spain, which was to become a major manufacturing country.. *my post on The MOORS

IX-XIIth century : silk weaving introduced to Sicily by the Arab Conquests. Founding of the first manufacturing workshop in Palermo. First imports were with the crusades.

XIII-XVth century : Venice and Florence establish themselves as independent centres.
XVth century : Tours (the first capitol of France) becomes a major centre for silk manufacture.

To prevent French currency leaving for Italy, with the import of silks, Louis XI knew that the country needed to have sufficient economic power to guarantee its independence and so dreamed of setting up a royal silk factory in Lyon. The consulate there refused, being fearful of seeing trade relations deteriorate with the Italians who, at that time, had a monopoly over the silk trade.

Following this refusal in 1466, king Louis XI, then in his Plessis les Tours chateau,

decided on 12 March 1470, that the first royal silk factory would be set up in Tours, which was then the kingdom’s capital.

The Tours silk factory was to prosper under Charles VIII

and Louis XII and was at its height under the reign of François I. Trade fairs, public festivals, royal accessions and fancy dress balls were the occasion of sumptuous orders. The most famous order was placed upon the occasion of the ‘Camp du Drap d’Or’ meeting between François I and Henry VIII, king of England, in 1520. Tours then rivalled the largest Italian cities.

Then the Tours silk industry was to experience the vicissitudes of fortune during the centuries and events that were to follow.
In 1536, François I created the first silk factory in Lyons.
The town then obtained a monopoly over the silk trade. This was the start of the competition between Tours and Lyon.

The court then moved away from Tours and orders became more scarce. The Religious wars and the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes resulted in lots of local entrepreneurs and weavers fleeing abroad. The introduction of printed calicos, Pebrine, a silkworm disease, and finally, the first world war, continued to accelerate the decline.

The silk industry in Tours was, however, to experience some good times, in particular, in the XVIIIth century, during which production increased enormously.

and Louis XV (the young and adorable) the ‘Royal damask and velvet factory’ was created.
Then along came the invention of the Jacquard mechanism, a system of perforated cards which memorize the design (motifs and colours) and, using a binary system, guide the needles raising the lengthwise grain.

This system permitted an infinite variety of combinations, broad width production and much greater capacity.
And so ..........fashion was born.

I came across this little story of the Chinese Empress beneath The Mulberry Tree having tea,
and by chance, she discovered SILK.
...I don't know what happened,
.This post just morphed into what you see here.

I hope you enjoyed it..
:) xxx's


Tomorrow is Saturday. I will be wearing SILK, and trying to look fabulous.

I have included a few interesting sites for you to go to
Newsweek says that The Silk Road is re-opening.

More On the History of Silk in Lyon      http://belovedlinens.net/fabrics/Lyon-silk1.html


More about LYON

Tours France -

credits:

about.com
www.illusionsgallery.com
theinformationparadox.com
thepeacecaravanproject.blogspot.com

link : http://www.lemanach.fr/history2.html


Renee Finberg 'TELLS ALL' in her BLOG.....
Interior Design, Palm Beach, Boca Raton,Design Sources, Window Treatments, Custom Design, Paint, Color Coordination, Online Interior Design, Floor Plans,Design Center, Bespoke ,Silk, The Silk Road

The French Romance Maven - CLAUDIA STRASSER

It is exciting to announce that Claudia Strasser will be having a round table discussion
at South Florida's Design Center of The Americas , The D.C.O.T.A. in Dania Beach Florida, on November 12th 2009.
The event takes place in the Pierre Deux Showroom (Suite B - 236) at  2:45 PM.
Come if you can.
One can never have too many cheer leaders, or fans.
Right?

The adorable, sweet, funny and modest Claudia will be sharing with all who attend this event
her design secrets.

I am going to meet her at 1:00 PM so we can chum around for a bit before Claudia gets started 
(running down the hallways , darting in and out of showrooms while hiding from paparazzi's LOL),
and besides I haven't seen her in in quite a while, we have some catching up to do.

I can't wait to see and hear her do her 'schtik' on Paris Flea Markets.
Miss Claudia will be fabulous.

How exciting will it be to see her signing copies of her book ???

Good things do happen for good people....see ?

Don't worry, I will be taking pictures of our Adventures In Design!!!
Would you come if you could ?

xx's RF

If you do not know Claudia Strasser, 
you should.
Claudia's blog:http://parisapartment.wordpress.com/

Renee Finberg 'TELLS ALL' in her BLOG.....
Interior Design, Palm Beach, Boca Raton,Design Sources, Window Treatments, Custom Design, Paint, Color Coordination, Online Interior Design, Floor Plans, All Custom, Claudia Strasser, South Florida's Design Center of The Americas

Let John Saladino Transport You Too!

Always...

It is in the details.

I tore this room's picture out of a magazine, and have had it for years and years.

It is as timeless today as it was stunning, when it was first published.

I would still love to live in it.

His work transports me to another place and time.

Look at the fabulous dutch door.

Perfect for your horse. He can peek his head in to wake you.

A personal dream of mine.

The work around the fireplace mantle is divine.

I have attempted to recreate these sheer shades here in Florida to no avail.

I have shown pictures, every workroom tells me they can do it.

(and they are the top workrooms)

They can not.

Yes John Saladino  has his own line as well.

How can a sophisticated eye not love this chair?

And Yes....he has his own line of furniture.

John Saladino is highly educated and a gifted Interior Designer, Architect, and Landscape Architect.

Mr.Saladino does Corporate work as well.

Like Residential......

from the 'dirt up.'

The Architecture, the Landscape, and finally the blank canvas that is your new home's interior.

Corporate.

So, what do you think? 
Could you live in any of these spaces?
Does any space in particular speak to you?
Will you take something from this post and add it to your home?
XXX's Have a great day!


His Philosophy.

Want to know more about him? Click Here



Renee Finberg 'TELLS ALL' in her BLOG.....
Interior Design, Palm Beach, Boca Raton,Design Sources, Window Treatments, Custom Design, Paint, Color Coordination, Online Interior Design, Floor Plans, All Custom, John Saladino

Practice Compassion ... Purple Orchids Work Well

"If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. 

If you want to be happy, practice compassion." 
Dalai Lama

On Halloween I wore my famous pirates costume to work.

It really is fabulous, even if I do say so myself . I look cute in it, with my make-up done in a  theatrical manor, the red jacket all the pearls and gold chains etc.

It looks like a real stage costume.

*

Now, my boss happens to be an owner of this HUGE business. She was so sweet on Halloween to everyone. But to me she said; " I have never seen anything so cute", "Renee, you look adorable in that costume!"

At the end of the day when things were winding down ....

(I will refer to my boss as 'Laura' - you may need to remind me later that I decided to call her 'Laura')

Laura came into the 'bull pin', (where sales people 

hang out waiting for their turn on the floor) which she never does -  and I was on the schedule to work until 8pm.

Laura said; "you really look so cute that you should go to your Halloween party earlier rather than later."

HUH?

Such sweetness.

And today I did not write a sale, but I do have a few House Calls (design jobs) in the works,

and Laura knows that.

But YOU know...until they sign and buy -  it is only 'drawings and fabric swatches.'

And I need to write business to keep my job.

*

Today at the end of the day I was outside having an evil ciggie break and

Laura said to me; "Are your people coming in tomorrow to buy?"

" I don't want them trying to take advantage of you."

Did Laura say 'take advantage of me?'

That is so very much not the style I know her to have. That was sincere concern , and she meant it.

Awwww....really, (so nice) I thought she might say;

 "If you don't pick your numbers up this position will not work out"

You can imagine how relived I was. I felt all warm inside towards her.

So, it is a funny thing that it was just this morning that I brought Laura a purple orchid from my garden, and I put it in an old vintage silver creamer that I have just like the one in this post.

Laura works too hard, and she works ALL THE TIME.

I do not know how she deals with the stress.

Once in a while she loses her 'GRACE'...but she is entitled.

*Everyone needs someone sometime.

The gesture made her happy. Laura smiled and thanked me.

xx's

Renee Finberg 'TELLS ALL' in her BLOG.....
Interior Design, Palm Beach, Boca Raton,Design Sources, Window Treatments, Custom Design, Paint, Color Coordination, Online Interior Design, Floor Plans, All Custom, compassion & Purple Orchids For Laura