Floral Motifs on Early Chintz
Viola odorata - Sweet Violet
Viola odorata (Sweet Violet) public domain photo by AnRo0002, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons_web
Viola odorata (Sweet Violet) from the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Museum, Drawing, Design for Wallpaper and Textile: Flowers; France; brush and gouache on cream paper; 44.3 x 56.7 cm (17 1/16 x 22 5/16 in.); Gift of Harvey Smith; 1968-107-1
Viola odorata (Sweet Violet) from Pierre Bulliard, Flora Parisiensis, vol. 1 pl. 40, 1776
Common Names: Sweet Violet, Hairy Violet, English Violet, Wood Violet, Common Violet, Florist's Violet, Garden Violet
Description: Viola odorata (Sweet Violet) is a member of the Violet Family (Violaceae). The genus Viola has more that 600 species and is divided into seventeen sections. Section Viola contains seventy-five species, most of the small, generally wild plants commonly referred to as violets or wild violets. The textile design shown above is tentatively identified as Viola odorata (Sweet Violet), an extremely common and well-known species. It originally was distributed across Europe south of Scandinavia, Northern Africa, Macronesia, western Asia, Kazakhstan, and the Caucasus. It currently grows both in the wild and in gardens essentially worldwide. It would have been well known to artists when the design was created in France in the 19th century. The creator of the wallpaper and textile design made an artistic rather than realistic image of the flowers and provided almost no detail of possible leaves making exact identification impossible. Thus, the "tentative" identification. The Hortus Kewensis, ed. 2, vol. 2, p. 45 lists Viola hirta, the then accepted scientific name of Viola odorata (Sweet Violet), as native to Britain.
Quilts with this Viola odorata (Sweet Violet) motif:
Pattern for a printed cotton with this Viola odorata (Sweet Violet) motif:
Description: Viola odorata (Sweet Violet) is a member of the Violet Family (Violaceae). The genus Viola has more that 600 species and is divided into seventeen sections. Section Viola contains seventy-five species, most of the small, generally wild plants commonly referred to as violets or wild violets. The textile design shown above is tentatively identified as Viola odorata (Sweet Violet), an extremely common and well-known species. It originally was distributed across Europe south of Scandinavia, Northern Africa, Macronesia, western Asia, Kazakhstan, and the Caucasus. It currently grows both in the wild and in gardens essentially worldwide. It would have been well known to artists when the design was created in France in the 19th century. The creator of the wallpaper and textile design made an artistic rather than realistic image of the flowers and provided almost no detail of possible leaves making exact identification impossible. Thus, the "tentative" identification. The Hortus Kewensis, ed. 2, vol. 2, p. 45 lists Viola hirta, the then accepted scientific name of Viola odorata (Sweet Violet), as native to Britain.
Quilts with this Viola odorata (Sweet Violet) motif:
- None known at this time
Pattern for a printed cotton with this Viola odorata (Sweet Violet) motif:
- Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Museum, Drawing, Design for Wallpaper and Textile: Flowers; France; brush and gouache on cream paper; 44.3 x 56.7 cm (17 1/16 x 22 5/16 in.); Gift of Harvey Smith; 1968-107-1, 19th cenury
© Updated 6/29/2025 Author: Terry Terrell