Armand Albert Rateau (1882-1938), Jeanne Lanvin’s bedroom, France, 1925

This bedroom, created in 1925, is completely covered in silk of the “Lanvin blue” color that Jeanne Lanvin is said to have fallen in love with when she discovered the Italian Primitives. The lower part of the hanging is decorated with palm leaves, rosettes and daisies; the latter are a tribute to the designer’s daughter Marguerite (marguerite is the French word for daisy), who later became the Comtesse Marie-Blanche de Polignac. The fabric was machine-embroidered with white and orangey cotton thread and copper wire in Jeanne Lanvin’s workshops. The bedspread, drapes and radiator covers are made of the same embroidered fabric. The principal daisy pattern is also carved in the wood of the hooped baseboard and archways. The largest furniture pieces are made of classical-style patinated bronze; some feature the daisy pattern, others the pheasant motif that also appears in the boudoir. The bedroom also contains seats made of varnished oak with needlepoint tapestry (one of Jeanne Lanvin’s favorite pastimes). The gilt bronze door handles are embellished with paperweight balls – objects the designer collected. The bedroom was separated from the boudoir by a large bay window that added a theatrical touch.

To recreate the original color, the silk hanging in Jeanne Lanvin’s bedroom was reproduced from the original model (held in the museum’s collections), and the embroidery was reproduced by hand in Indian workshops.