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Collar and cuffs, (untitled), 1921
Elsi Giauque
Collar and cuffs, (untitled),
Elsi Giauque,
*1073

Collar and cuffs, (untitled),
1921

Elsi Giauque
*1073
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Museum für Gestaltung Zürich
Ausstellungsstrasse 60
8031 Zurich
Museum map
Museum für Gestaltung Zürich
Toni-Areal, Pfingstweidstrasse 94
8031 Zurich
Pavillon Le Corbusier
Höschgasse 8
8008 Zürich
Museum map
  • (untitled) Elsi Giauque Collar and cuffs
  • (untitled) Elsi Giauque Collar and cuffs
  • (untitled) Elsi Giauque Collar and cuffs
  • (untitled) Elsi Giauque Collar and cuffs
  • (untitled) Elsi Giauque Collar and cuffs
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Listen to the text
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Already as a student, the work of Elsi Giauque (1900–1989) attested to her lofty aspirations and self-discipline in the field of textile design. The woven collar and matching cuffs with interwoven glass beads make a harmonious ensemble that would provide a lovely finishing touch for any piece of clothing.

The renowned Swiss textile designer Elsi Giauque wove this collar and matching cuffs during her training at the Kunstgewerbeschule Zürich. They mark the beginning of a lifelong and prolific exploration of textile techniques. The pattern on the light cotton warp was created with gray and pink silk combined with gold and silver thread. The beads woven into the pattern lend the harmonious tonal composition a relief effect and greater complexity. In addition to garment trims, Giauque also created necklaces, brooches, and evening bags, setting down her ideas as color gouache sketches on graph paper. Inspired in the elegant look devised by the groundbreaking Paris couturier Paul Poiret, Giauque christened her beaded pieces Accessoires Poiret. In the following decades, she would successfully pursue the Parisian ideal in countless compositions for woven fabrics created in the textiles studio at her home on castle hill (Festi) in Ligerz overlooking Lake Biel. Giauque was introduced to the unusual material of glass beads by her lecturer Sophie Taeuber-Arp (1889–1943), who first challenged her students to design patterns in cross-stitch work that was well suited to further development with additional materials such as beads. The openness to new materials and techniques ultimately paved the way for Giauque to pursue a career in textile art. (Sabine Flaschberger)

Kragen und Manschetten, 1921
Entwurf/Ausführung: Elsi Giauque, Fachschule für Sticken und Modezeichnen, Gewerbeschule Zürich, CH
Dozentin: Sophie Taeuber-Arp
Material/Technik: Baumwolle, Lurex, Seide; Glasperlen, eingewebt
19.5 × 7.0 cm
Eigentum: Museum für Gestaltung Zürich / ZHdK
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Literature

Johanna Morel von Schulthess, Elsi Giauque 1900–1989, Wegbereiterin der textilen Kunst, Bern 1997.

Image credits

Kragen und Manschetten, 1921, Entwurf/Ausführung: Elsi Giauque
Abbildung: Museum für Gestaltung Zürich / ZHdK

Kragen und Manschetten, 1919, Entwurf/Ausführung: Elsi Giauque
Abbildung: Museum für Gestaltung Zürich / ZHdK

Wandbehang, Theater – Hommage à Dürrenmatt, 1967–1968, Entwurf: Elsi Giauque, Herstellung: Käthi Wenger, Dauerleihgabe: Bundesamt für Kultur, Bern, CH
Abbildung: Museum für Gestaltung Zürich / ZHdK

Textilskulptur, Colonne en couleurs qui chantent/Transparente Säule, 1964 (Überarbeitung: 1967), Entwurf/Ausführung: Elsi Giauque
Abbildung: Museum für Gestaltung Zürich / ZHdK

Kissenbezug, 1919, Entwurf/Ausführung: Elsi Giauque
Abbildung: Museum für Gestaltung Zürich / ZHdK

Korrespondenz, Bewilligung des Präsidenten der Berufsschulpflege für den Ankauf von Transparente Säule von Elsi Giauque, Kunstgewerbemuseum Zürich, 1971
Abbildung: Museum für Gestaltung Zürich / ZHdK

Exhibition text
Textiles: Collars and Trims

Collars can display a great variety of styles. With his collar and matching cuffs in brown with black trim, the Belgian artist and designer Henry van de Velde (1863–1957) focused on refining plain reform dresses. Two sets of collar and cuffs display Elsi Giauque’s (1900–1989) meticulous technique, while Anne-Martine Perriard (b. 1956) draws on a rich array of materials, converting coins into rosettes and combining them with human hair. Verena Sieber-Fuchs (b. 1943) made her mourning collar out of pre-printed forms for Chinese funerals as a lament against the Tiananmen Square massacre.