SHORTIES

RISD MUSEUM TEXTILES TO MARCH 23

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Eastern design traditions have influenced textile design for hundreds of years. One influential sourcebook for pattern in the Nineteenth Century was Owen Jones’s Grammar of Ornament (London; 1856), in which Persian, Turkish, Egyptian and Indian patterns have been systematically organized.

The Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design museum has created an exhibition on view through March 23 with textiles from the permanent collection illustrating Jones’s lexicon of pattern. The centerpiece of the installation is a Kashmir shawl featuring an assortment of Eastern and Egyptian motifs. This large and beautiful textile made for export dates from the 1840s and points to the popularity of these motifs during Britain’s Victorian Age.

The museum is at 224 Benefit Street. For information www.risdmuseum.com or 401-454-6500.