Toile de Jouy

As I type the story about this fabric, I realize that I am sitting in plaid pajamas, on a plaid bed with tual sheets. Maybe the real name of the blog would be "My weird obsessions" hahaha, my love for patterns is endless :) .

Just like when we see the Eiffel Tower, the Toile is an instant association with France too. The very name toile de Jouy translates as cloth/canvas from Jouy (Jouy-en-Josas), and is also used as a name for the test samples of clothing that designers use to try out new designs. However, its first meaning always refers to the pattern from Jouy.

In the 17th century, India was the main producer of cotton and so to speak, dominated the world of material production. Vivid prints with motifs of flowers and animals in various colors were extremely popular. However, imported Indian cotton (indiennes as the French called it) had a devastating effect on French wool and silk weavers, and in 1686 the French Council of State banned them, which was followed by England. For 70 years, the import of Indian cotton was officially prohibited in France.

In 1759, Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf opened a factory for the production of printed cotton in Jouy-en-Josas. In the beginning, printing was done with carved pieces of wood, but in 1770, Oberkampf became the first manufacturer in France to use copper printing in his factory (Frances Nixon was the first to develop this printing method in Ireland). Painting the material with copper plates gave the possibility of creating larger patterns, a wider variety and complexity of images, the possibility of painting more details. How much the painting process has advanced is shown by the fact that when the copper roller was introduced in 1800, production increased to 5000m in one day compared to the 30m produced by an experienced block printer.

In addition to the fact that the factory was located in an ideal place, next to the river, which is of great importance when you have meters and meters of cotton to wash, it was also close to Versailles and Paris, where the wealthy clientele lived. Oberkampf had another important link and that is its designer Jean-Baptiste Huet, also called Rembrandt of Toile. Over 30,000 different Toiles came out of the factory, and a large number of them were painted by Jean Baptiste himself. What set Oberkampf apart from the others was his attitude towards the workers, he respected them and tried to reward everyone's efforts, printers and engravers all over France heard about this and begged him to hire them. Although the most successful Oberkampf was not the only manufacturer, they were in all parts of France making their own versions of the toile. In 1760, he printed the first toile, and at the end of 1761, as many as 3,500.

The piece of painted toile was 80cm-1m wide and 21m long, which required the expansion of the plant to several buildings on an area of 14 hectares of land! By the time of the French Revolution, his business was the second largest in France. In front of him in terms of capital was only Saint Gobain (originally a producer of mirrors, they still exist, and today production has expanded to various building materials).

In 1787, Louis XVI awarded him the title of knight, and in 1806, Napoleon awarded him the cross of the Legion of Honor.

He was way ahead of his time, his work ethic and managing skills were second to none. He managed a large number of satisfied workers, diversified his materials to suit different markets, so his customers were ordinary middle-class women as well as Marie Antoinette. In addition, he also played a smart political game, so he changed the design to suit the new ideology, removing the fleur-de-lys (lily flower, symbol of the monarchy) and the crown and replacing the tricolor cockade with religious symbols. He was even elected the first mayor of Jouy under the new Republic. In 1815, Christoph Oberkampf dies, the factory is inherited by his son Emil. In 1821, Jacques-Juste Barbet took over the duty of running the factory, but the popularity of the toile waned and finally in 1843 the factory closed and its facilities were soon demolished. The Oberkampf family house became the seat of the city assembly in 1899. His bust was discovered in its yard, and the bell that he personally rang to mark the beginning of the working day was on display.

But let's go back to the story of the toile itself.

By definition, a toile is a decorative pattern that contains a repeated scene, such as a floral motif or a picnic by the lake, printed in one color (usually blue, black or red) on a white background. Rural idylls, romantic scenes representing platonic love, animals, trees, flowers and old ruins are painted. There were also trends in toile, so at one time there was a great interest in exotic scenes from China, so-called chinoiserie (such as those made by de Gournay today), and they are extremely valuable because there are not many of them, then from Turkey, so-called turkueries or exotic animal-singeries.

Some toiles were not fairytale interpretations, but were used to tell a story. Some represented scenes from Greek mythology, monuments of Paris, Rome and Egypt, even operas like Figaro. While some reflected the main events of that era. For example, one of Huet's early prints was "La Ballon de Gonesse," which depicted Jacques Carls and Nicolas Marie Noel in a balloon above the Tullier Gardens, a clever way to highlight France's scientific progress. Observing toile can be like reading a newspaper, they were a sign of that time.

The variety of designs and styles was huge. The pastoral/village motifs were inspired by the then very popular Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Rococo. Marie Antoinette was crazy about the toile. They say that she even went two or three times with her children to the Oberkampf factory so that they could see how the fabrics were made and printed. Neoclassical toiles were created during the last days of Marie Antoinette and depicted scenes such as allegorical figures, little angels with wings and Pompeian landscapes that were popular in that period. Then there were also architectural trends when more and more people traveled and organized their big trips around the world. That toile was like a souvenir. There is also a patriotic toile, they marked events such as the American War of Independence and the fall of the Bastille. And finally there are floral toiles (fleuries or bonne herbes), these were small printed flowers and plants. They were primarily used for clothing and this is how Oberkampf made most of his money. Those dresses were more valuable than silk ones, and they were very popular for practical reasons, they were comfortable and easy to maintain, because they were easy to wash, unlike silk.

Today, toiles are returning to popularity, especially in the world of fashion. Although in the past entire walls, including curtains, were decorated with toile, today in the world of interior design, toile is dosed. Unfortunately. So a chair with a toile pattern or a couple of pillows is all that interior designers decide on. I am not a supporter of minimalism and faceless modern interiors. We want spaces that tells a story, and what better way to tell a story than with a toile. Why wouldn't we imagine that we are Marie Antoinette and immerse in the realm of patterns and colors :)? The combination of gingham with toile is a match made in heaven. Pastel shades and toile - yes! Color blocking and toile- yes! Monochromatic interior and red toile - yes! Toile on curtains, porcelain, armchairs, pillows, bedding, candles, vases, lampshades yes yes yes! More is more! :)

Fashion houses such as Oscar de la Renta and Christian Dior gave their modern interpretations of this timeless design. Who wouldn't want anything from this Christian Dior collection?

But if we're talking about a real modern interpretation of toile, I have to mention Sheila Bridges, who created Harlem toile, a mix of African-American culture and French aesthetics. As she says, in search of the ideal toile, she decided to create it herself, first wall paper and then textiles. In cooperation with Converse, she also created this adorable pair of Chucks.

And yes, they are on my wishlist, is that even a question :) ?!

Richard Saja creates embroidery on the canvas, and in a fun way he creates some new scenarios on the existing canvas. His embroidery also decorated the creations of the fashion house Max Mara.

Mike Diamond, of the Beastie Boys, is responsible for Brooklyn Toile. Together with designer Vincent J. Ficaro, Diamond created a towel depicting his favorite Brooklyn icons: The Notorious B.I.G., Coney Island, etc. Ok, I think we need a Tupac west side version!

Beth Katleman's sculptures have been described in the New York Times as a doll-sized rococo theater of murder and chaos, playing with the ideas of waste and luxury inherent in the toile, creating a dynamic 3D landscape for the viewer. If you were wondering how it would be if the toile came to life on the wall, this is it!

Finally, I leave you a site where you can try creating a toile in a few clicks, far from a real experience but fun, it can serve as a desktop or phone wallpaper ;)

http://www.expohuet.paris.fr