Piscine gilt border

This long, narrow diaper pattern is printed in a distinctive palette of brown, terra cotta and blue with a fantastic gilt metallic background.  Half of a double-band ceiling border of the mid-1880s (the other half consists of straight lines and diamonds), its level of simplicity and abstraction give it a bit of a time-transcending character - it could be from the 1960s or even today.  It is the wonderful colors that place it firmly in the Gilded Age.

American, manufacturer unknown, c.1884-1889. View Ready-to-Hang item.