The fabric designers of the art nouveau style who exhibited at the Paris Salons produced a remarkable oeuvre in printed and woven fabric, silk, lace, embroidery and tapestry. Bookbinding was, and still is, a well-established French tradition, and bibliophiles commissioned unique bindings from artist-designers who, at the same time, were also creating and exhibiting non-bound leather goods -- handbags, blotters, upholstery. The catalogues of the Paris Salons provide a unique archive of illustrations of the decorative arts at a pivotal time in their development, the five previous volumes covering Jewellery, Furniture, Ceramics and Glass, and Objets d'Art. This volume is historically the most important in the series. Because of wear and tear, practically none of the 1,200 or so textile and leatherware pieces illustrated have survived outside museum collections or appear at auction, unlike many of the items covered by the earlier volumes. 43 colour & 1,061 b/w illustrations
