Velvet
...the sun, threatened by a cloud, but still beating down with all its strength on the square and in the sacristy gave a geranium-flesh tint to the carpets that had been laid out for the solemnities...and added to their woolly weave a rosy velvet, an epidermis of light, the sort of tenderness, the sort of grave sweetness amid pomp and joy that characterize certain pages of Lohengrin (from Combray)
Proust mentions velvet a lot in this novel. The fabric is soft, smooth, heavy, and it displays a dramatic light-and-dark effect when wrinkled. Its origins are uncertain, but it has been suggested that it was first produced in China and was then brought to Europe via the Silk Road in the thirteenth century.
In Proust’s novel, velvet seems to be associated with the “strange and pious sadness” of Combray. Velvet is both smooth as well as dark and heavy, which is why, I think, it symbolizes the sereneness of the melancholic atmosphere of this town so well. On one hand, velvet symbolizes the simplicity and comfort of life at Combray: aunt Léonie’s cozy sitting room has “stamped velvet armchairs”. On the other hand, velvet also appears in scenes that have a sense of nostalgia: the protagonist imagines the church’s “strange old face” as “a brown velvet cushion”.