Millefleur

The Triumph of Death, or the Three Fates, Flemish tapestry with a typical mille-fleurs background, c. 1510–1520
The birds and animals at inconsistent scales are a feature of the style

Millefleur, millefleurs or mille-fleur (French mille-fleurs, literally "thousand flowers") refers to a background style of many different small flowers and plants, usually shown on a green ground, as though growing in grass. It is essentially restricted to European tapestry during the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance, from about 1400 to 1550, but mainly about 1480–1520. The style had a notable revival by Morris & Co. in 19th century England, being used on original tapestry designs, as well as illustrations from his Kelmscott Press publications. The millefleur style differs from many other styles of floral decoration, such as the arabesque, in that many different sorts of individual plants are shown, and there is no regular pattern. The plants fill the field without connecting or significantly overlapping. In that it also differs from the plant and floral decoration of Gothic page borders in illuminated manuscripts.

There is also a rather different style known as millefleur in Indian carpets from about 1650 to 1800.

In the 15th century, an elaborate glass making technique was developed. See Millefiori, Murano glass and other glassmakers make pieces, particularly paper weights, that use the motif.[1][2]

  1. ^ Egglezos, Panos (January 31, 2012). "How It's Made - Millefiori Glass Paperweights" (Video). How It's Made. Discovery Channel. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved March 21, 2019 – via YouTube.
  2. ^ Struble, Karen. "Millefleur glass paperweight ...and more!". Retrieved March 21, 2019 – via Pinterest.