Historical notes and reading list page 2
Imported floral cotton prints from India had become so popular in France
by 1685 that the French silk-producing companies were suffering from a
severe loss of business. Fearing permanent damage to the silk trade, the
government, in 1686, instituted a ban on the production, importation and
sale of all printed textiles. The ban was in force for almost 80 years until it was finally repealed in 1759.
Oddly-enough, this ban affected both
imported cotton prints and the domestically-produced copies of the Indian
prints. The thriving French domestic textile industry that had been
producing cotton printed fabrics,
indiennes, was shut down. This proved to be fateful because the
hundreds of French workers that had been employed in the printed cotton trade
began to emigrate and took their expertise with them. Within a couple of
decades, the European textile-printing industry was dominated by companies
in England, Holland and Switzerland instead of France.
In France, the ban on printed textiles only spurred the public desire for them. The ensuing craze for printed cottons resulted in secret printing factories hidden in basements or churches and dramatically increased the smuggling of the goods through ports and unguarded borders. Heavy fines were levied for infractions of the law to little avail. Women caught wearing a printed cotton outfit were disrobed and the dresses were burned on the spot! Any smuggled printed cottons that were confiscated by the government agents were either shredded or burned.
In 1740, the ban was loosened slightly when the government decided to allow resist-dyed indigo fabrics to be produced. Finally, in November 1759, the ban and all restrictions on the production and importation of printed cottons were lifted. Immediately, textile-printing factories opened across France. The public passion and demand for the printed cotton textiles did not diminish even after they were again legal.
The French companies soon regained international prominence. From 1760 to the twentieth century, the French textile industry produced incomparably beautiful printed fabrics.
The list of books below have excellent information and can supplement the
list on the previous page:
Art Deco Textiles - The French Designers by Alain-René Hardy, Thames & Hudson, 2003
Toile - The Storied Fabrics of Europe and America by Michele Palmer, Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 2003
Le Musée des Tissus de Lyon compiled by Pierre Arizzoli-Clémentel, Albin Michel, 1990 (French)
European Textile Design of the 1920s by Katharina Metz, Ingrid Mössinger and Wieland Poser, Edition Stemmle, 1999
19th Century European Textiles - The Kamei Collection, Vol. 5 - Weaving edited by Tetsuro Kitamura, Bijutsu Shuppan-sha, 1991
Braquennié - French Textiles and Interiors since 1823 text by Jacques Sirat, edited by Emmanuel Ducamp, Alain de Gourcuff Editeur, 1998
Le Textile en Provence, by Annie Roux, Edisud, 1994 (French)
