Linen Table cloth with 12 napkins.
Embroidered with two grades of silver and silk on light linen.
The drawing in the textile is truly delightful and pulsates with whimsy and activity.
The various animals are playful and full of character, creating humorous scenes and intriguing patterns.
The embroidery consists of a repetitive border of small animals and insects and a central symmetrical scene.
Designed by Maria M. Gallenga for her shop in Rue Miromesnil, Paris.
Circa 1928
106 x 66 inches, 2.69 x 1.86 m


Maria Monica Gallenga (1880-1944) was an artist, surrounded by thinking people of her day.
She was very much engaged in current cultural debates and at all times questioned the role of the decorative arts within art as a whole.
She married Peter Gallenga, a medical professor at the University in Rome - one of the first people to research cancer -
he also helped her to develop the technique of stencilling gold onto velvet.
In 1914 she began to design textiles.
In 1915 she visited the San Francisco Panama - Pacific Exhibition.
in 1923 she won the Silver Medal in the Monza Design Exhibition.
In 1925 she designed and exhibited in the Italian Pavilion at Exposition International des Arts Decorative et Industrial in Paris.
Here she won the Grand Prix for stencilled textiles, more exceptional because the prominent Italian designer of the time
was Mario Fortuny.
In 1928 she opened Boutique Italian in Rue Miromesnil in Paris.
It remained open until 1934.