Printed French Fabrics - Toiles de Jouy - book

An excellent book to add to your library was published by Rizzoli, New York in 1989 and is entitled Printed French Fabrics - Toiles de Jouy by Josette Brédif.  This 184 page book is a comprehensive history of the Oberkampf factory at Jouy-en-Josas, France and includes 196 illustrations. Although this book is out-of-print, it can usually be located to buy on used book websites.
When thinking of "toiles" or "toile de Jouy," the first image that comes to mind is a cotton fabric that is printed with pastoral scenes in blue or red on a white ground. In fact, the Jouy factory produced a wide range of textiles, including hundreds of beautiful floral prints for clothing, scarves and shawls, elegant upholstery fabrics that imitated woven silk motifs, floral furnishing fabrics as well as their famous printed scenic cottons.

This well-researched and well-written book includes a history of printed textiles in France as part of its focus on the artistic and technological advances in textile manufacture made by the Oberkampf company. My favorite chapter is "The Factory in Operation" which describes the 19th-century textiles printing methods in detail with pictures of the many labor-intensive steps in the process.

The French mid-century modern style

World War II forever changed the world.  The shocking power of atomic bombs, the speedier air travel with the new turbo-jet engines, the advent of television. Technology and futuristic dreams were everywhere. The expression of this emerging post-war aesthetic was seen in fashion with Dior's "New Look" ... in furniture and architectural design with Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright ... and of course, in American and European textile design. 
The French 1950s fabrics are very similar to what would have been found in the USA in that same era, although the French have always continued to produce a large quantity of very classic French motifs.  Below, I've selected a few pieces that show a similarity to American design in their Calder-esque and deconstructed thematic exuberance. Out with the old and in with the new.

And, we can't forget the 1950s flamingo craze, can we?

I'll revisit mid-century modern movement again in the near future. The post-war simplicity and boldness of design mingled nicely with 19th century French geometric prints and with 1930s American ethnic prints.

Color schemes in 19th C French textiles, part 6 (browns)

Continuing the discussion from part 5 of the darker backgrounds that were very common in 19th century French furnishing textiles, we'll take a look at shades of brown as used in the various printed fabrics.

In the 18th century, there was generally not a distinction made between the brown and black backgrounds. They were grouped together and called "chimney sweep" or fond ramoneur.  The variety of browns ranged from bronze shades to chocolate to deep brown-black. 

The 19th century elephant ears print fabric above and the three fabric prints immediately below all have light- to medium-brown backgrounds.

The final group in this post are all what I would categorize as dark brown backgrounds, although, as you can see, there is some variation within that color category.

Color schemes in 19th C French textiles, part 5 (green)

While red was used extensively in textile color schemes as mentioned in a previous post, other perennial favorites for backgrounds of French furnishing fabrics included gray, maroon, greens or browns - colors that today might seem dull. 

In this post, we'll look at all shades of green and olive backgrounds. Dark greens were a not a frequently-used color during the 19th century, even though they were a favorite of Napoleon. They became more common during the Art Nouveau period, but still not an often-produced background color. The dark green background fabric above, with roosters in a stand-off, is circa 1870. The ever-popular indienne floral is rendered in neutral tones on a forest green background, immediately below, ca. 1880.

The next, below, is a stylized print from the Napoleon III era.  Printed to look like woven silk, the pattern includes wheat heads and strawberry leaves as well as floral motifs, ca. 1870

This large-scale Art Nouveau pattern has pink lotus flowers with scrolling leaves, ca. 1900.

The end of intricate hand stitchery

We can only marvel at the intricate and beautiful stitchery on French antique curtains, clothing and quilts. Antique clothing could include tiny hand-stitched French seams, open work, embroidery and appliqué, as on the christening gown pictured below.

The huge sets of curtains and bedhangings had long seams that were stitched selvedge to selvedge in tiny, perfect hand-stitches. Once the seamstress had stitched the many yards of seams on a set of voluminous curtains and bedhangings, the pieces then had to be hemmed and the curtains rings had to be attached with thick thread - all by hand.

But it was in the quilts and boutis that the sewing needles really began to sing!

The old quilts of France were almost always made of full fabric-width panels or large pieces of fabric - nothing at all like the patchwork in traditional American quilts. Very large "family" quilts would be made of two and a half fabric-widths of cloth.

The fabric of the top side and the bottom of the quilts were usually different colors or patterns. The color of the quilting thread was chosen so it worked best with the fabric on the top side. The most common stitched quilting pattern was the diamond shape, but quilts took their intricacy from the abilities and inspiration of the women who did the stichery.

In Provence, the boutis combined elaborate stitchery pattern with a padding that was inserted after the quilting was done, to raise and emphasize the design. In addition to the coverlets and bed quilts, the women also made quilted wall hangings, bedhangings, bedspreads and complete groups of bedding.

It's said that a 19th century French woman always wore a pair of scissors on a ribbon under her apron and that her needle and thread were never very far from her hands. Sewing was a necessity in that era and it was done everyday. Only the very wealthiest people could afford to pay someone else to do the sewing. Most families managed it on their own.

Just to remind everyone ... The many yards of cloth that were needed for curtains, drapes and bedhangings were very expensive and were limited to being purchased by the upper classes. Middle and lower class families received sheets, coverlets, quilts and bedhangings as wedding gifts and those were used for years and years and seldom replaced. Quilts would be recovered, sheets were lovingly patched or darned.

Something to note in both the old quilts and curtains - fabric was never wasted in order to match patterns at the selvedge as we do nowadays.

The sewing machine was introduced to France in the mid-1850s. It quickly became a common household tool. Traveling sewing machine salesmen were able to take this innovation into even the smallest villages. Time payments were set up to make purchase easier for cash-strapped families. The over-worked French housewives were delighted to have the speed and ease of the sewing machine. Once they could use this fabulous machine to do the sewing for them, hand stitchery began to decline. Young women were far less inclined to become proficient at hand sewing when they had access to the machine à coudre.The final death knell came with industrialization and the mass production of bedding by about 1900.

This post includes a few pictures of hand-stitched French quilts that I have bought and sold.  The first quilt shown at the top of the post is an early indigo resist pattern. The others on this page are mid- to late-19th century. Note that the second quilt above has an indigo ikat fabric as the bottom of the quilt. The ikats were often used as backings and lining for quilts and bedhangings.

All the photos above were taken with my first digital camera, so the resolution is not quite good enough to show close-up detail of the quilting stitches. Many extraordinary examples of French quilts can be seen in these books along with excellent photos of the needlework:

Piqué de Provence, collection by André-Jean Cabanel, Brunschwig and Fils, Edisud, 2000 (in French)
En jupon piqué et robe d'indienne, Michael Biehn, Editions Jeanne Lafitte, 1987 (in French)

Color schemes in 19th C French textiles, part 4

As we've already seen, red-on-red resist patterns held their popularity throughout the 19th century. The French also favored floral, scenic and tropical prints on red backgrounds. Some old French paintings depict rooms decorated with red as the main color.

Below are several examples of 19th century French textiles with red backgrounds.

The first is a late-18th century Alsace resist pattern with a red background and combines indienne floral motifs with the popular meander pattern.

 Next is an early-19th century quilt fragment with rare chinoiserie motifs including porcelain pots, bamboo fronds, a book with chinese characters and chrysanthemum flowers all on a red background.

Here's a late-19th century floral with scenic cartouches enclosing pictures of various birds surrounded by large flowers and tied together with a scrolling lace motif.

The next three fabrics all have tropical motifs. The first and second use orchids and the first and third use birds. Exotic botanicals and jungle themes were very fashionable during the era of Napoleon III and beyond. Birds were a perennial favorite in all types of fabrics.

Color schemes in 19th C French textiles, part 3

In the latter part of the 19th century, the color schemes were not at all what one might expect or imagine. The French textile companies were still very much influenced and inspired by the decades of indienne imports, so the array of colors they used was much less restricted than what we see today.

A very  fashionable combination, for example, was olive leaves with pink or rose-shaded flowers. Here are a couple of close-up photos of an imported early 19th century tree-of-life from India using olive and rose:

And here are a few examples of French-manufactured 19th century florals, using the same color scheme:



The 1686 French government ban on printed textiles

(This post is from the french-treasures.com website, page 2 of Historical notes)
Imported floral cotton prints from India had become so popular in France by 1685 that the French silk-producing companies were suffering from a severe loss of business. Fearing permanent damage to the silk trade, the government, in 1686, instituted a ban on the production, importation and sale of all printed textiles. The ban was in force for almost 80 years until it was finally repealed in 1759.

Oddly-enough, this ban affected both imported cotton prints and the domestically-produced copies of the Indian prints. The thriving French domestic textile industry that had been producing cotton printed fabrics, indiennes, was shut down. This proved to be fateful because the hundreds of French workers that had been employed in the printed cotton trade began to emigrate and took their expertise with them. Within a couple of decades, the European textile-printing industry was dominated by companies in England, Holland and Switzerland instead of France.

In France, the ban on printed textiles only spurred the public desire for them. The ensuing craze for printed cottons resulted in secret printing factories hidden in basements or churches and dramatically increased the smuggling of the goods through ports and unguarded borders. Heavy fines were levied for infractions of the law to little avail. Women caught wearing a printed cotton outfit were disrobed and the dresses were burned on the spot! Any smuggled printed cottons that were confiscated by the government agents were either shredded or burned.

In 1740, the ban was loosened slightly and the government then allowed resist-dyed indigo fabrics to be produced and sold. Finally, in November 1759, the ban and all restrictions on the production and importation of printed cottons were lifted. Immediately, textile-printing factories opened across France. The public passion and demand for the printed cotton textiles did not diminish even after they were again legal. The French companies soon regained international prominence. From 1760 to the twentieth century, the French textile industry produced incomparably beautiful printed fabrics.

Color schemes in 19th C French textiles, part 1

Many people, when imagining French antique fabrics, have visions of soft faded romantic floral patterns. This kind of motif certainly existed and was very popular, but the French textile designers and manufacturers were too audacious to be confined to using only pale romantic colors.

Early in the 19th century, bright chrome yellow dye was discovered and perfected and then quickly became a trend. The bright yellow background was often printed with a monochromatic red motif. Three examples are shown below.
In the top picture, the shading of the red in an acanthus pattern is very subtle and gives a woven look. The middle is a quilted piece with an intricate floral design. The bottom picture has a simple pattern, depicting juicy, almost-ripe grapes.





Red ticking

The deep red striped mattress tickings and other tickings with saturated colors are from the Alsace region of France and the neighboring regions of Germany. The Alsace-Lorraine region became part of France by the 1500s, but was later twice annexed by Germany - from 1870-1919 and again from 1940-1945. Because of this intertwined history between Alsace-Lorraine and nearby Germany, there were cultural cross-overs as well as a similarity in the textiles produced on both sides of the border. This area had many textile manufacturing companies that produced a variety of both printed textiles and woven mattress tickings.
The deeply-saturated red and blue tickings in heavy woven cotton stripes were the coverings for featherbeds and for duvets. Many of the more intricately striped tickings, found only in smaller sizes, were used for down pillows and cushions and not for the larger featherbeds.
Because feathers cannot be imported into the USA, all red tickings and other Alsace tickings must be cleared of their feathers and washed at least twice before trying to pass through US Customs. These stringent rules affect the availability and the quality of red tickings in the USA. (Note: I have noticed various online vendors of French red tickings giving their origin as "Provence" or "France." Technically, "France" is correct, but these red tickings are only from the region of Alsace.)
Below are photos of several Alsatian tickings.

 

 

 

Evolution of French textile design

Early French printed cotton textile designs were copies of the Indian and Persian motifs, slightly revised for the French market. Due to their source of inspiration, these early designs were oriental in flavor. Only late in the 18th century did French textile designers start to use European flowers as inspiration for their motifs.

Because of this change in focus, by the early 19th century, the textile companies began to hire French textile designers and often recruited well-known artists. These artist-textile designers were highly respected for their art and the position commanded a good salary and prestige.

Their designs, created expressly for printing onto cloth, took inspiration primarily from flowers. During the Napoleonic era, roses dominated the motifs. During the era of the Restoration (1814-1830), new themes derived from classical antiquity were in favor, such as the acanthus leaf, scrolls, garlands and urns, although still incorporating floral motifs. The textiles pictured below are both from the later part of the 19th century, but depict the classical motifs that were made popular during the Restoration.

Toile de Jouy - monochromatic prints

Almost everyone is familiar with French toiles and in particular, the monochromatic prints - the toiles de Jouy - produced by the 18th century Jouy factory owned by the Oberkampf brothers.

Besides employing top artists and designers to create the patterns for their printed cottons, the company was at the forefront of inaugurating mechanical and technical advances in printing methods as well as research into the chemical processes used in dyeing fabrics. Prior to the 1770s, all Jouy fabrics were tediously printed by hand with engraved wooden blocks. Wood block printing limited the dimensions of a pattern and was very time-consuming.

In the early 1770s, the factory installed its first copperplate press. The engraved copper plates, much bigger than the wood blocks, allowed for large scale floral and scenic patterns. Engraving on metal plates also allowed for far greater detail and intricacy in the patterns than had been possible with the wood blocks. These beautifully designed and expertly engraved patterns were printed in one color and are the earliest prints that we now identify as the toiles de Jouy. Interestingly, in 1800, about 65% of their monochromatic prints were done in violet while the other third was done in red or blue. Tastes change!

The color green

During the 18th century, dyes for printed fabrics were mostly made from plants and insects. Many of the dyes were not colorfast and the process of getting the desired color was laborious.
In 1800, for example, when a floral pattern required green leaves, the green color was created in a two-step process. The first step was to create the design in yellow, using dyes obtained from plants such as yellow-weed, tansy or goldenrod. The fabric would then be put into a second dye bath, over-dyeing the yellow parts with a blue dye. Common blue dyes in that era were obtained from solanum berries, woad and indigo. Many early chintzes had blue or blue-green leaves, rather than a true green. Even when a good green was obtained by double printing blue and yellow, the yellow was not colorfast and washed out, leaving blue leaves.
Chemists in both England and France worked in great secrecy to try to find new chemical dyes and improved methods of applying color. In 1808, a colorfast green from a base of peroxide of tin was discovered by the Jouy Manufactory and was called vert faïence. The intentional use of blue-green leaves in floral fabrics persisted throughout the 19th century, giving an 18th century look to 19th century chintzes. The fragment of chintz pictured below is from about 1850.