Irish Awakening

In 1965, Jack Lenor Larsen made the first of sixteen trips to Ireland at an invitation from the Irish Export Board to develop fabrics for interiors. Using a mill specializing in worsted wool and a Donegal handweaving operation, he produced worsted damasks and tweed and satins with vegetable-dyed screen prints, which make up his 1969 Irish Awakening collection. Durrow’s square lattice pattern has an infill of Celtic symbols such as Triquetra (a tripartite symbol composed of three interlocked “fish” shapes), Celtic knots, and Celtic cross. The assortment and composition of these distinctive symbols resemble the highly ornamental and colorful Celtic manuscript illumination that Larsen must have seen on his travels.