Sajou Toile de Jouy Collection

What is Toile de Jouy?

As with most textiles dating from the time France was covered with mills, toile de Jouy took its name from the commune where it was produced, in Jouy-en-Josas, just next to Versailles. However, these pastoral and historical motifs were also produced in other towns. Rouen and many towns in Normandy, Nantes, Alsace, and Marseille also had large manufactories. These prints could also be found in Italy, Portugal, and Great Britain.

The term Jouy expanded to define a printing style and has now become a generic term for these recognisable motifs, which are veritable picture books on cloth.

Definition of Toile de Jouy

In current understanding, Toile de Jouy indicates a fabric printed with characters in bucolic or historical settings. Another popular print at Jouy was "indiennes," reserved for floral prints. These floral prints were so-called because they were originally imported from India.

Toiles de Jouy are also known as illustrated cloths as some tell stories. Historically, these fabrics were made of cotton and printed in monochrome tones, mainly red or burgundy, but they also existed in blues, browns, greens, greys, and violets.

The origins of Toile de Jouy

Europe discovered painted cloths in the middle of the 17th century, thanks to the navigation companies that brought them from India. At the time, Europe was unable to produce cotton fabric in large quantities, and even less able to tint them in a stable manner. The success of these light, bright, and washable fabrics was so overwhelming that it was considered unfair competition towards the manufacturers of fabrics and sheets.

This led to a ban on importations and production in 1686, a ban which remained in place until 1759.

The very next year, Christophe Oberkampf created his manufactory in Jouy-en-Josas.

The Toile de Jouy motifs

These motifs place the characters in more or less sophisticated decors, telling a story and finding their inspiration in decorative arts or historical events of the time.

The aim was to seduce a bourgeois clientele who favoured the ever-changing fashions of the time. Creating the motif was a large investment for manufactories such as Jouy, so it was important to choose subjects which would receive rapid success with a maximum of clients.

The designers at the Jouy manufactory found their inspiration from engravings evoking novels or popular operas of the time, current events, a trend towards a return to nature… They adapted, reinterpreted and embellished the designs to adapt them to the size of the copper plates used to print the fabrics.

The inspirational sources

Looking at the context of the era when these fabrics were printed, one quickly realises that the Jouy motifs corresponded to a literary or musical success, a trend – as in the pastoral scenes, or the latest fashions, as in the taste for all things oriental. One can also find some of the more recognisable biblical scenes.

These fabrics were pretty much the comic books of their time.

Literary subjects on Jouy fabrics

Novels, operas, and ballets were the inspiration for numerous motifs printed at Jouy. Unquestionably, one of the most recognisable Jouy motifs is Paul and Virginia, inspired by the novel by Bernadin de Saint-Pierre in 1789, illustrated by Moreau Le Jeune and Joseph Vernet. The adventures of the two characters take place in an exotic décor of palm trees symbolising Ile de France, nowadays Mauritius.

Atala, the novel by Chateaubriand printed in 1801, was also a popular print for many manufactories, as was The Marriage of Figaro, inspired by the Beaumarchais play. The popularity of the collection of poems by Walter Scott and the passion for Scotland were at the origin of an opera by Rossini and two Jouy prints – La Dame du Lac and L’Antiquaire.

La Fontaine’s Fables were an endless source of inspiration for the artists at Jouy. They also depicted scenes from Robinson Crusoe and Don Quichotte.

It is easy to imagine the clientele for these illustrated cloths, proud to show off their literary knowledge with the decoration of their interior, no doubt pulling the books out of their library.

Historical scenes

Another predilection for Jouy prints was historical subjects. Sometimes these were contemporary – the Crimean War, the first ever Bastille Day on the 14th of July 1790, and scenes from the life of Napoleon are legion. One is dedicated to the Greek War of Independence (1821-1829), and many others evoke the independence of the United States. Two Jouy fabrics with this theme are very well-known: l’Hommage de l’Amérique à la France (America’s Tribute to France) and La Liberté Américaine (American Liberty), designed by Jean Baptiste Huet and printed at the Jouy Manufactory.

The glorification of historical figures was another firm favourite. Joan of Arc, obviously, the romantic exploits and famous hunting parties of Henri IV, alongside the numerous Jouy prints dedicated to mythological characters.

One can imagine that those interested in these prints were proud to display their political opinions on the walls and curtains of their homes, and that sleeping in a bed decorated with national heroes made them have sweet dreams.

The first hydrogen balloon and giraffe in France

Two quite extraordinary events of the time were immortalised in cloth at Jouy via engravings of the time.

The first tells the story of the Ballon de Gonesse, the first hydrogen balloon in France. The balloon took off at the Champs de Mars on the 27th of August, 1793, only to crash down to earth in the town of Gonesse. The inhabitants of the town were so terrified of this strange object that they destroyed it. Fortunately, the second attempt in December of the same year was more successful. Ironically, the Jouy fabric bears the name of the failure, rather than the success.

Another Jouy print evokes the travels of a giraffe, later known as Zarafa, a gift from the viceroy of Egypt, Mehemet Ali, to Charles X of France. Zarafa arrived at the port of Marseille. It was decided that it would be easier for her to walk the 900 kilometres to Paris. One can only imagine the effect this majestic animal had on the hundreds of thousands of spectators who flocked to see her on her travels!

Genre scenes in Jouy prints

Genre scenes are the paintings or engravings which evoke scenes from daily life taken on the spot. They are nearly always scenes of festivity and gaiety.

The bourgeoisie of the 18th century was passionate about bucolic entertainment and a return to nature. The interpretations on Jouy cloth were full of shepherds evolving in an idealised nature, villager activities, farm work, hunting with hounds, and pastoral weddings.

Maison Sajou has reproduced some of these prints with Plaisirs à la Campagne, l’Abreuvoir, and l’Offrande à l’Amour.

Marriage in Jouy prints

Weddings in the country is a recurring theme in Jouy prints, and one can imagine that many of these fabrics were found on the beds of newlyweds. Among the vast choice, La Noce Au Village (The Village Wedding), Le Mariage Campagnard (The Country Wedding), La Noce du Soldat (The Soldier's Wedding), or le Mariage bourgeois (The Bourgeois Wedding). Right up to the amusing Deux jours de mariage, deux ans de mariage (Two days of marriage, two years of marriage) where we can observe that the eagerness of the couple has diminished.

Oriental themes in Jouy prints

The Orient in general, and China in particular, had an enormous influence on decorative arts, and furnishings were no exception. Thanks to the importations of the different India Companies, the general public discovered exotic animals and plants never seen before.

Toiles de Jouy decorated oriental palaces, pagodas in oriental gardens, and the interiors of bourgeois homes, anxious to add a touch of exoticism to their decoration.

Connoisseurs of Jouy fabrics qualify this type of print as “Chinoiseries”.

Toile de Jouy and wallpaper

The 18th century saw a rise in the use of printed wallpaper, which was less costly than fabrics. Matching prints would be used to cover the walls, curtains, and furniture. The famous portraitist of Marie-Antoinette, Elisabeth Vigee Lebrun, said of her bedroom: “the walls were covered with wallpaper matching the Jouy fabric on my bed”.

The equivalent of Christophe Philippe Oberkampf for wallpaper was Jean-Baptiste Réveillon. In his atelier on rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine, he was inspired by the techniques used for printing fabrics, moving away from the methods of the “dominotiers”, the traditional wallpaper makers. Josette Brédif, a specialist of Toile de Jouy, has identified 85 identical motifs between Réveillon and the Oberkampf manufactory.

A restyled modern Toile de Jouy

With a few exceptions, the Jouy prints today are restyled, mainly by reducing the size of the original motifs. The original fabrics were used for curtains, furniture, and wall coverings, so they were quite imposing. These large motifs are not as fashionable nowadays and certainly not as practical for today's uses.

The other difference is also in the production techniques. Gone are the technical constraints of days gone by, meaning that now printers can radically change the appearance of vintage motifs by printing on bright base colours.

The Oberkampf manufactory

Among all the production sites for printed fabrics, the one created by Christophe Philippe Oberkampf is by far the most famous in France and Europe. The proximity to the Palace of Versailles likely contributed to its renown. In 1806, Oberkampf even had a visit from Napoleon, who presented him with the Legion of Honour.

Toile de Jouy in the Museums and Heritage Collection

For the first in this collection, Frederique Crestin-Billet, alias Madame Sajou, created a superb cross stitch pattern evoking the different stages of production and the Oberkampf Manufactory in Jouy. Along with these, there are examples of the lesser-known motifs - the mignonettes, small geometric motifs, and “bonnes herbes”, small floral motifs on dark bases. Of course, this pattern would not be complete without evoking “les indiennes”.

See the video presentation of Toile de Jouy in cross stitch: