Kaftan Or Silver-print Velvet Jacket By Mariano Fortuny - Venice, Italy, Circa 1920-1930

Circa 1920-1930 Venice, Italy. Printed velvet kaftan by Mariano Fortuny dating from the 1920s. Short, sleeveless kaftan-style jacket in cardinal purple silk panne velvet. Silver woodblock print of small circular motifs inspired by Arab-Andalusian art, also reminiscent of Luccan illuminations from the Italian Renaissance. The jacket is fully piped with green-yellow printed velvet cords produced by the Fortuny factory on the island of Giudecca in Venice. Original raw silk faille lining, with the famous black printed label on a gold lamé background indicating Mariano Fortuny Venice. No flaws to note. Very good condition in terms of color and preservation. Size: One size fits all, equivalent to a French size 38. Length 80 cm, shoulders 41 cm, sleeves 43 cm. Mariano Fortuny dressed the European artistic elite. He was above all a genius inventor, drawing inspiration from Italian Renaissance design through a deliberate Ottoman and Oriental influence. He was not only a fashion designer but also an opera set designer, interior decorator, lighting designer, and publisher of his famous gold and silver prints on cotton or velvet. He filed several patents, thus contributing to the major artistic movements of the 20th century, such as Surrealism and Dadaism. The cuts of his dresses and coats were inspired by burnouses, caftans, and djellabas, drawing from the Byzantine, Coptic, and Indian repertoires, with a particular fondness for the illuminated manuscripts of 15th-century Lucca.