Toile de Jouy

[edit] What is Toile ?

Toile de Jouy is the name given to a specific type of unbleached linen fabric, which has printed romantic often pastoral patterns on it, generally in a single colour and usually black, blue, or red. The term has also been adopted to describe similar patterns applied to other household items such as wallpaper and fine china. It is also often shortened to toile, though the shortened version is also used to describe a short run of fabric used a test materials in the clothing and furnishing industries.

[edit] Historical origins

The term originates from France, more specifically from a town just outside of Paris, Jouy-en-Josas, where Christophe Philippe Oberkampf opened a factory and worked with the designer Jean-Baptiste Huet to produce these styles of fabric as early as 1760. Not far from Versailles the fabric was very popular with the french aristocracy in particular Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI, considered a luxury item it was mostly used for interior decorative hanging fabrics such as curtains, but also later the same pattern was adopted for wallpapers. The same types of fabrics were also being produced in England and as such around a similar time began to feature in many English country houses. The factory continued to readapt the designs and create new patterns, often relating to social political events, such as for example the French Revolution. factory even produced a French Revolution–patterned toile. It also commemorated the American Revolution, and a few centuries later, on this side of the ocean.

[edit] Modern interpretations

The style of Toile de Jouy had a resurgence in popularity in around the 1950's, as production became cheaper and the styles more available, it can be seen in a variety of films of the time. It also had a somewhat adapted resurgence in around 2010 through to today, with artists producing new designs in this old style but with modern day scenes. For example scenes from Coney Island, Harlem, Brooklyn and New Orleans, or London and Glasgow, even with favourite popular characters.

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