The Norwegian Blomqvist auction site describes these portiers recently up for sale as a “Composition of Flowers and Grapes” by an unknown artist. (full record)
I didn’t find the initial effect of the pair very striking, but a close examination reveals beautiful details and ways to think about technique. The palette of the woven flowers and grapes is subtle. The large flowers are woven with a stripy yarn, giving a mottled effect.
It’s interesting to see how the transparency was hung. These portieres were folded over and hung from sewn-on curtain rings. At the edge, bunches of warp ends were knotted, giving a zigzag look.
I’m a fan of plied, striped warp in transparencies, evident in this detail
You can see in the short lower fringe that the stripy warp has unplied into strands of gold and red.
The border is simple: beautifully-woven diamonds in two harmonious shades. The photo below show the back and front sides; you can see there is visible fading on one side.
The joy of studying Frida Hansen’s transparent tapestries is learning about her beautiful technique, and realizing the influence of her work in transparencies woven by others in the following decades. Wouldn’t it be nice if the unknown weaver/designer knew how much we appreciated the details of this transparency?