Mille Fleur style refers to a type of ornamental design that originated in Europe in the Medieval period. I love looking at books and artwork from this period, but more on that in a later post. The term "Mille Fleur" means "thousand flowers" in French. I love this style for it’s intricate and detailed small flower details. It originally appeared extensively across tapestries and textiles. It’s designed symmetrically creating a sense of harmony and balance.
The most well known example is the Unicorn tapestries, I had seen examples of this in books and saw it in person several years back when The Lady and the Unicorn exhibition came around to Sydney in 2018, and it was magnificent. The sheer scale of the six tapestries hung in a room was incredible, as too was the details of the animal poses and flowers.
You can see the reach of this style extending into the the everlasting appeal of intricate florals in textiles. This style has influenced my ceramic tile series. In a more contemporary fashion I’ve referenced the check pattern creating contrast by playing with colour and positive and negative space.
