French, Jouy

Made in France, this textile exemplifies regional European interpretations of indiennes, or printed cottons from India. Immensely costly commodities, indiennes were contraband during the first half of the 18th century because their popularity threatened local wool and silk industries.

By 1759, when the French government repealed the ban on both imported and locally produced cotton textiles, the renowned Oberkampf factory in Jouy-en-Josas quickly sought to meet the demand, first utilizing woodblocks—as seen here—and later copperplates to make the repeating patterns. Today this region is still associated with fine floral and narrative-printed cottons, commonly known as toile de Jouy.