Indienne floral fabrics by the metre

Origin of indienne floral fabrics

Nowadays printed fabrics are commonplace. But maybe you didn’t know that these printed cottons were the reason for fierce battles until relatively recently. For a very long time, Europe was ignorant in weaving cotton and even more so in fixing colours after printing. It was not until the beginning of the 18th century that manufactories in Rouen started weaving cotton of a suitable quality. In India, however, they had been weaving and printing cotton of a superior quality for centuries.
Discover below the incredible story of these cotton indienne fabrics which unleashed such fervour.

Price indicated is per metre, 110cm width.
Here, our fabrics are sold by the metre. They are also available in swatches.

➜ Click here to find out more about Indienne floral fabrics by the metre

The arrival of the first indiennes in Europe

The first indiennes were brought to Europe by Portuguese navigators. This was followed by the different India Trading Companies founded in England (1600), Holland (1602), Denmark (1612) and Sweden (1631). France came along much later, embroiled and weakened by years of religious wars, in 1664. This same year, the first cargo of indienne fabric arrived in Marseille, where the motifs were quickly copied by local ateliers, never quite reaching the same quality or finesse.
The original fabrics from India depicted exotic flowers and birds, then unknown in Europe, as well as Hindu symbols, full of mystery and charm.
With an ever-growing demand for fabrics in Europe, instructions were sent to the different Indian Companies requesting them to produce fabrics corresponding to European tastes.

Why indienne fabrics?

We have kept the name indienne, even in English, as this is how they were universally known for centuries. Yes, even in England where French was the official language at the time. It was also used to designate clothes made from these same fabrics, notably dresses and nightgowns. Some fabrics were also known as “painted cloth”, as certain colours were hand painted on the fabric. The Portuguese, as the first to import these textiles into Europe, called them “pintados’ (painted). Some of you may prefer the terms “calico” or “chintz”, but we find indienne so charming, so that is why we have kept it.
In any case, there are so many terms to describe cotton fabrics, we are overwhelmed with choice.
In historical documents, Indians refer to kalencars or calencas, a specific technique for cloths painted with a sort of reed pen. Palampores were large painted cloths used for bedspreads (from Hindi palang – bed and Persian push – cover).
Be it calico, chintz, nankeen, khaddar, poplin, muslin, twill, batiste, or percale, we are spoilt for choice for different qualities of cotton fabrics.

The Indienne wars

The ever-growing success of indienne fabrics was not always a smooth ride. The fabrics were initially imported from India as a side line to the spice trade. However, they proved so popular that they fast overtook all other trade. This import of cheaper, more colourful and popular cloths was a disaster for domestic weavers, spinners and dyers. In England, the Encouragement of Manufactures Act was passed in 1698, blocking the importation of cotton cloth. It was not illegal, however, to sell imported cotton textiles, thus leading to an increase in smuggling. The Calico Act of 1721 put an end to this by banning the sales of most cotton textiles.
France suffered the same fate earlier in 1686 with a ban on imports of cotton textiles from India, going even further in prohibiting their imitation on the domestic market. The prohibition was finally lifted in 1759 after 73 years.
This prohibition was not the most successful and served only to make these printed fabrics even more popular. The ladies of the court flagrantly clothed themselves in these prints and even the wives of the intendants charged with enforcing the regulation flouted the ban. Madame de Pompadour decorated her Bellevue Chateau with black market fabrics. Despite large fines and even incarceration, clandestine ateliers flourished, setting themselves up in secluded areas which escaped control. Certain aristocrats also obtained special exemption, enabling them to print fabrics for their personal use, such as the Duke of Bourbon, who had his own mill in Chantilly.

Smuggling – a booming business

The largest quantity of indiennes in France at the time were contraband. Ironically, the majority of contraband cloths came from mills owned by Protestants, after having been chased out of France. This, and the incessant exemptions awarded to the Indian Trade Company, itself belonging to the State! With the support of John Law, the New Indian Trade Company was authorised to import all the banned cloths for exportation. The ports of Lorient and Nantes were allowed to stock these cloths, normally destined to leave for other lands. Needless to say, many boats after leaving these ports, ended up off-loading further along the French coast.
The port of Marseille played an important role in smuggling. In 1720, Le Grand Saint Antoine covertly unloaded a large quantity of cloth, thus escaping the normally compulsory quarantine. Unfortunately, the cloths were contaminated and les to a plague epidemic which resulted in 50 000 deaths in the region.
To avoid repeating such a disaster, the importation of fabrics from India and the Orient was again authorised. Faced with the persistence of the fashion for indiennes and the harmful effects of prohibition, those in power had no other choice than to lift the ban.

Happy days for the fabric industry

The 5th September 1759 a judgement grants the freedom to print cotton fabrics. Along with this judgement, a tax was put on all importations coming from abroad.
This liberalisation led to a number of mills being installed in France – in Normandy, Picardie, Provence, Languedoc, Champagne, Burgundy, Brittany and even in Paris!
Some of these regions specialised in a new type of print of pastoral scenes with characters, which became widely renowned as Toile de Jouy. These productions were of the highest quality and participated to the success of the mills in Nantes, Mulhouse and of course, Jouy-en-Josas.
From 1760, a few months after the lifting of the ban on printing indiennes, Christophe Philippe Oberkampf and his three associates rented a property in Jouy-en-Josas to install their manufactory.

Maison Sajou has created a series of kits and patterns in cross stitch representing fabrics produced at the Oberkampf Manufactory. These include the famous characters, motifs for clothing fabrics called mignonettes, floral motifs and indiennes.

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