DRAGONFLY & LE BÉGONIA D'OR
Goldwork embroiderer
Born in 1666 when Colbert, a minister under Louis XIV, founded the “Manufactures Royales de Rochefort”, goldwork embroidery would have disappeared had Sylvie Deschamps, director of Atelier du Bégonia d’Or and sole master of art goldwork embroiderer in France, not decided to invest her talent in this tradition. Bent over her hoop, she interlaces the many hues of gold threads. Fragile and delicate, they compel one to patience, precision and perseverance. Can one embroider a pyrite on a black pebble picked from the banks of the Moulde, the river of the Domaine des Etangs? Can one embroider the lace of a lichen found in the Domaine on the smooth and round surface of a white pebble from the beaches of the Atlantic Ocean? Each of our questions and dreams prompted a single answer from Bégonia d’Or: yes. So here are Charente maritime and Charente limousine united in the black and white of their rocks rendered precious and mysterious.
