“Any lover — or hater, certainly — of leopard print knows that it’s so much more than a print. It’s a statement, a symbol, an implication,” says author Jo Weldon in “Fierce: A History of Leopard Print.”
Leopard skin has been admired as a symbol of power and affluence since our ancient ancestors began hunting and using the skins of their prey for warmth. Ancient Egyptian artisans crafted imitation leopard-skin linens and furnishings for the pharaohs. American decorator Elsie de Wolfe ushered leopard print into the 20th century. By the 1960s, leopard prints were seen not just as luxurious, but also as lavish and fun — some would even say, a little too much. There’s something special about the designers who chose leopard print in the past. They went against the status quo and they were bold and didn’t care if people thought it was over the top.
“I just think that the minute I see somebody that has something like that — leopard chairs or whatever it is, I immediately know that they get it. You know, I’m at home. I’m in good company,” says Kim Vincze, the owner of Verve Home Furnishings.
What they “get,” it seems, is a boldness and a disregard for following rules about the way things should look and what others may think.
Since then, leopard print has been re-scaled, re-colored and tweaked by designers; transforming what we now consider a classic pattern into something entirely new to transcend the test of time. One thing is certain, whether it’s being used to accent the glazed chintz and pale walls of the eclectic interiors de Wolfe created more than 100 years ago or a modern leather sofa, leopard print somehow always looks like it belongs.
Perhaps with each leopard throw pillow we toss onto the couch or every spotted blanket we drape over the end of the bed, we’re paying homage to the wild and wonderful rebels who loved it before us.
A treasure from Tutankhamun’s tomb (Photo by Dmitry Denisenkov/Flickr)
Ancient Egypt
When the pharaohs reigned, the leopard was a revered symbol of royalty. They kept leopards as pets, and their artisans crafted faux leopard-skin fabrics and furnishings for their households and tombs. When Tutankhamun’s tomb was discovered in 1922, it contained a number of leopard statues, leopard skins and imitation leopard-skin linens, along with a folding stool that has a leopard-skin seat made of ebony inlaid with ivory spots.
Theodore Roosevelt's home, Sagamore Hill, in Oyster Bay, New York (Photo courtesy Library of Congress)
Victorian Era
The popularity of animal-skin rugs, mounted animals and birds, and specimen collecting grew along with an increased interest in science and the animal kingdom. Rooms decorated in this manner were considered the epitome of luxury.
Early 1900s
In the early 1900s, Elsie de Wolfe made her name as America’s first female interior decorator by sweeping away dark Victorian, clutter-filled spaces and replacing them with light, warm colors, glazed chintz and furnishings with an air of 18th-century elegance boldly mixed with leopard-print accents.
Madeleine Castaing's country home in Lèves, France (Photo courtesy Sotheby’s/ArtDigital Studio)
1920s and ’30s
Luxury was expressed through exotic materials — animal prints and animal skins — during the French Art Deco movement, says Sara Reed, associate professor of interior design at VCU.
French decorator Madeleine Castaing gained renown for creating interiors that embodied over-the-top luxury, as well as her signature color palette of “Bleu Castaing,” greens, blacks and reds, and wall-to-wall leopard print carpet.
1960s and ’70s
Casablanca cabinet by Ettore Sottsass (Photo via Wikimedia Commons)
New imitation leopard-print fabrics and faux furs were introduced; designers began using the print as a focal point. In London, the popular fashion store Biba sold nightwear and lingerie in a leopard-print room with a large round leopard-print upholstered bed at the center.
1980s
Animal prints in general, and leopard in particular, were featured in interiors ranging from jewelry designer Kenneth Jay Lane’s classically designed New York apartment to the eccentric postmodern furnishings created by Memphis Design movement founder Ettore Sottsass; not to mention the imaginative leopard-print bath in designer Tony Duquette’s Dawnridge home.
Photo courtesy U-fab Interiors
2020 Richmond
Animal skins and faux-animal skin furs and fabrics are considered classics in home decor, particularly leopard, which in its natural coloration is thought of as a neutral.
“Leopard print (really animal prints in general) never seem to go out of style,” says Travis Hamilton, owner of U-fab Interiors. “Currently, our most popular leopard patterns are very large scale or very tiny micro-scale. Cut velvet leopard is also very popular.”
WHERE TO FIND IT
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Milo Baughman style swivel chairs,Verve Home Furnishings, vervehomefurnishings.com, $2200 for two
