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Exceptional French Gold Embroidery

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Exceptional French Gold Embroidery
The gold thread used for this rose, for a Piaget watch face, was hair-thin and had to be handled with extreme care. Piaget/Courtesy of Le Bégonia d'Or 
Lorraine Ferrier
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For the past 26 years, gold-thread embroiderer Sylvie Deschamps has headed Le Bégonia d'Or, a gold-embroidery workshop in the historic town of Rochefort, just south of La Rochelle in the west of France.

The town dates back to the 11th century, when Rochefort Castle was built to prevent a Norman attack. But the modern fortified town of Rochefort was established in the late 17th century, when the Sun King Louis XIV’s minister, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, founded an arsenal and military port there. To embellish the men’s military attire, gold-embroidery workshops were established in the town.

Lorraine Ferrier
Lorraine Ferrier
Author
Lorraine Ferrier writes about fine arts and craftsmanship for The Epoch Times. She focuses on artists and artisans, primarily in North America and Europe, who imbue their works with beauty and traditional values. She's especially interested in giving a voice to the rare and lesser-known arts and crafts, in the hope that we can preserve our traditional art heritage. She lives and writes in a London suburb, in England.
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