Sajou vintage collectible albums

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To mark the twentieth anniversary of Maison Sajou, I finally took the time to gather together and organise all the information I have about the famous Sajou albums. Much has been said and written on the subject—sometimes without any real foundation. Everything you will find here is based on reliable sources: some documents come from the archives of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, others from pieces I have personally preserved.
If you are reading these lines and have any information that might complement or enrich what is presented here, please don’t hesitate to contact me at: [email protected]. I would be delighted to hear from you.
Frédérique Crestin-Billet, founder and owner of the current Maison Sajou.

Jacques Simon Sajou, the inventor of embroidery albums

Jacques Simon Sajou was born on 25 May 1805. The exact date when he began his activities remains uncertain by a few years. A Jacques Simon Sajou appears in 1823 in the register of booksellers and printers of the Seine (1815–1870) as a lithographer. However, this was likely a namesake, as the Jacques Simon Sajou in question would have been only 18 years old at the time. At that period, several printers bore the name Sajou, including Jean-Baptiste Sajou, who practised the trade for many years.

What is certain is that, in June 1851, Jacques Simon Sajou took over the printing workshop of Antoine Souchot, located on rue Rambuteau in Paris. However, well before that date, he was already active in the field of ladies’ needlework. In fact, as early as 1842, he owned a business specialising in this sector, established on rue Michel-Le-Comte (in what is now the Marais district of Paris).

The first Sajou albums

It is estimated that the printing of these albums began in the early 1850s, their success likely explaining the takeover of the printing workshop mentioned above. However, these albums are not the ones commonly found today at flea markets.

Indeed, in the General Catalogue of Maison Sajou dated 1856, there is an abundance of embroidery, tapestry, crochet, filet, knitting, guipure and tatting designs sold individually. The albums as such only appear at the very end, on page 58 of the catalogue. These albums number 45, from n°^s 1 to 45, and are mainly dedicated to crochet, knitting and tapestry. Here is the list: n°^s 1 to 6: Solid crochet and beaded designs – n°^s 18 to 24, 30: Openwork crochet – n°^s 27 to 29, 38, 39, 42, 43: Solid crochet – n°^s 32 to 36: Solid crochet in colour – n° 37: Openwork crochet in colour – n°^s 9, 10, 13, 14: Openwork crochet with instructions and method (n° 9 bis, same with Spanish text) – n° 45: Crochet flowers with instructions (n° 45 bis, same with Spanish text) – n°^s 15, 16 bis: Tatting with instructions and method – n°^s 17, 17 bis: Tatting with instructions – n°^s 11, 41: Knitting with instructions – n° 8: Lace embroidery – n° 7: Filet embroidery designs – n° 31: Designs for filet with beads – n° 25: Tapestry alphabets – n° 40: Guipure – n° 44: Potichomania with instructions (potichomania, which was very fashionable in the 19th century, was a technique for giving objects the appearance of porcelain by covering glass with coloured paper and varnish)..

I own several of these albums, and it seems that they were not yet systematically organised by colour or size series, as they would be later on. They indicate the Rue Rambuteau address, where Maison Sajou was located between 1848 and 1882.

You can click on the photos to enlarge them

Three of the earliest Sajou albums, with a sample of one of their inner pages: white embroidery on the left, crochet flowers in the centre,
and crochet patterns on the right—the only one whose inner pages are lithographed in colour. Size: 14.5 x 10.5cm (in-16). The mauve album is accordion-folded, the other two are stitched and contain 24 pages for the green one and 10 pages for the grey one.

There are also albums with green covers in landscape format (horizontal orientation), presented as a "Selected Collection of Designs from Maison Sajou". On the covers, the translations into English, German, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese reflect Maison Sajou’s international success.

Two landscape-format Sajou albums which, under the same cover colour, include both cross-stitch and white embroidery patterns. For the latter, the inside pages are printed in bright yellow. Size: 11.5 x 7.5cm (landscape in-64 format). Note that the various historical names of Maison Sajou, which help to date the albums, sometimes appear—like here—on the inside pages (see table at the end of the article).

Sajou albums by series and format

The editions of Sajou albums, organised into distinct series differentiated by format and cover colour, are therefore later than 1856 and most likely date from the 1860s–1870s. Among them are the so-called miniature albums, measuring 5 x 7.5cm (in-64), albums in the 8 x 11.5cm format (in-32) comprising several series, albums in the 13.5 x 17.5cm format (in-16), albums in the 21.5 x 14.5cm format (in-8), and large-format albums.
Note that identical cover colours were sometimes used for albums of different formats and content types.
They are presented here by format.

The Bijou in-64 album series

In the 5 x 7.5cm miniature format (in-64), the albums that appear to be the earliest are those from the so-called Bijou series, recognisable by their green covers.
These albums, n°^s 13 to 28, later completed by n° 101, cover a wide variety of motifs and techniques. N° 13 repeats the content of n°^s 22 and 101, suggesting that the series numbering was not yet fixed and still inherited from earlier booklets. The Bijou albums no longer appear in the Maison Sajou general catalogue of 1895. Their small size and specialised content were innovative for the time.

The blue miniature Sajou albums (in-64)

This series includes the following collection:

• n°^s 1 to 8, dedicated to cross-stitch alphabets, also known as "marking stitches". These booklets served as models for embroidering initials or motifs on household linen—hence the name "marking".

These albums contain small-sized alphabets. n°^s 1 and 2 also include small compositions. The average page size is around 80 stitches high by 47 stitches wide. Some alphabets are spread over double pages, particularly in n°^s 4, 5 and 6.

The current Maison Sajou has reissued the 8 small albums from the blue miniature series in a larger format and printed on card for greater sturdiness. We also offer cross-stitch kits, featuring the cover design, with instructions for assembling them accordion-style.

Other miniature albums, still with blue covers, were added to this collection—though some numbering inconsistencies appeared, resulting in duplicates:

• n°^s 21, 31 and 32: dedicated to white embroidery.
• n°^s 41 to 43: dedicated to crochet (lace, rosettes, squares).
• n°^s 184 and 185: also focused on cross-stitch, with n° 184 containing the same content as n° 6.

As you can see from the photos, the covers of these miniature albums can be navy blue or off-white, both featuring the Sajou embroiderer illustration. One version or the other does not appear to be tied to a specific era—they can be found bearing the various historical addresses of Maison Sajou, including the last one on rue La Boétie. All inner pages are printed in a single colour—blue.

The affordable price of these small albums explains their remarkable success. For example, in 1895, a miniature album was sold for 10 centimes, which corresponds to around 40 euro cents today.

The blue Sajou albums (in-32)

This blue in-32 series measures 8 x 11.5cm and includes:

• n°^s 51 to 56: dedicated to cross-stitch or marking stitch, featuring a variety of small alphabets. The average page height is around 125 stitches. All alphabets are laid out on double pages, except for n° 56, which only contains single pages.

As with the miniature albums, the covers may be navy blue or off-white, each featuring the Sajou embroiderer illustration. All the inside pages are printed in monochrome blue. The mention of a medal awarded at the 1889 Universal Exhibition, present on most of these albums, indicates that they must date from after that year. Note also that n° 54 includes the rue La Boétie address, meaning it dates from after 1934.

• n°^s 76 to 79: featuring small letters for white embroidery,
• n°^s 91 and 92: dedicated to crochet, including lace, stars and rosettes,
• n°^s 202 to 204: featuring cross-stitch alphabets. N° 202 has the same content as n° 52, n° 203 as n° 53, and n° 204 as n° 54. These three numbers do not appear in the 1895 Sajou catalogue.

At the end of this article, see the summary table listing the various historical addresses of Maison Sajou – useful for dating these albums.

The pink Sajou albums (in-32)

This pink series, in 8 x 11.5cm format, is also sometimes referred to as mauve. To better reflect the actual colour of the covers, we have reissued a set of eight of these albums under the name mauve. See the mauve series albums reissued by Maison Sajou.

• n°^s 101 to 110: dedicated to cross-stitch, or marking stitch. N°^s 101 to 104 mostly contain compositions, some of which include complete alphabets. N° 105 features very small alphabets, often several per page. N°^s 106 to 110 contain larger alphabets.
  Note: there are also albums numbered n° 101 (white embroidery) and n° 105 (crochet – shown in the second photo), which are not listed in the 1895 catalogue, despite those numbers already being used for cross-stitch albums.

As with the miniature and blue albums, the covers come in two styles: one with the Sajou logo in a decorative frame, and the other, simpler, still on a mauve background but with the Sajou embroiderer illustration. Note the varying shades of pink and mauve. All inner pages are printed in monochrome blue.

• n°^s 131 to 136: dedicated to white embroidery with alphabets, scalloped edges, wreaths, etc.
• n°^s 141 to 145: dedicated to crochet, with patterns for squares and filet, lace and dotted motifs. N°^s 144 and 145 include patterns for baby bonnets and bibs.
• n° 150: contains various cut-out designs to be made on perforated Bristol board.

The album at the bottom, n° 105, is a crochet album, though the same number also exists for a cross-stitch album. Note the typography on its cover, which is older than that of the others and closely resembles the style used for the earliest Sajou booklets discussed at the beginning of this article.

Green Sajou albums – large in-32 format

Note: The term “in-32” originally refers to a format obtained by folding a sheet of paper into 32 pages. However, this format is not fixed in size but rather refers to a structure. Depending on the size of the original sheet, the chosen margins, or the cutting method, variations known as “small in-32” or “large in-32” can be found. This explains why some Sajou albums described as in-32 measure 8 × 11.5cm, while others are slightly larger, up to 9.5 × 13.5cm. Both dimensions are entirely consistent with printing practices of the time. The 9.5 × 13.5cm format is used for the green-cover Sajou albums, grouped here under the name “large in-32”.

• n°^s 651 to 658: dedicated to cross-stitch. n° 657 and n° 658 do not contain alphabets but only borders, repeat motifs and small compositions.

As with the blue and mauve series, the covers of these green albums come in two versions: one with a sophisticated decorative frame, and one with the Sajou embroiderer illustration.

• n°^s 661 to 666: dedicated to whitework embroidery.

The current Maison Sajou has reissued the green album series dedicated to cross-stitch.

Below is a summary table showing the different names and addresses of Maison Sajou over the years. These details, often printed on the album covers, can help identify their period of publication. Keep in mind that any mention of a medal awarded at an exhibition places the album at a date after the one shown.

NB: The change from 50 to 52 rue Rambuteau was not due to a move, but to the renumbering of the street.

Coming soon: another article about the Russian Sajou albums, tapestry albums, large-format albums, and more.

Watch the video on our YouTube channel