Description and Details
A beautiful, large gift box containing a Sajou cross stitch kit inspired by The Toile du Jouy Museum at Jouy-en-Josas which lies near to the original factory that was owned by Christophe Oberkampf.
The kit contains a large full colour chart with with stitch interpretations for working the embroidery along with 36 cards of Retour du Nord embroidery thread and the 32 count linen embroidery fabrics in the colours and sizes required to complete the chart.
The chart has a title to the top which is a copy of a 'chef de piece' which was printed at each end of the printed fabric and was obligatory in France by Royal decree. The fabric stamp on the chart dates from 1789-1792, the golden age of Oberkampf who was the sole owner of the factory at this time.
The motifs showing the various stages of production are interpreted from a fabric that was printed in 1783 at the factory. The original designs for the cloth were created by Jean- Baptiste Huet (1745-1821) who was an exceptional painter and engraver who enjoyed a longstanding professional relationship with the factory. The scenes show the printing process (using wooden planks), the maddering of the fabric to produce the reds ,the bleaching of the cloth to remove excess dyes and the hand painting of extra colours that could not be produced by way of using madder. Mr. Oberkampf features on the original design with his son and he is also shown in collaboration with Jean Baptiste Huet.
To the bottom of the chart there are examples of other prints that were produced at the factory. Although Toile du Jouy is best known for the scenic prints that were produced, these actually only accounted for around 200 of designs produced at the factory, whereas over 30000 floral and geometric prints were produced. There are 'Mignonnettes' or Ditsy Prints, botanical; prints of flowers and of course there are 'Les Indiennes' which are the Chintzes that originally came from Persia, India and China but that were so popular with Europeans that they were avidly copied despite various bans.
The pattern is intended to be worked onto off white linen fabric size of the motif is 345 x 342 points and the finished work measures 57.5 x 57.5 cm. In order to allow a good working border, it is advisable to work onto a piece of linen 70 x 70 cm.
The pattern chart is 68 x 80 cm for ease of use given the complexity of the design, it is printed in matt and can be written on should you need to mark any references.
The back of the chart has explanations for the embroidery and it is also and is teeming with historical and cultural information regarding Toile du Jouy and it's production.
I have other charts and kits available from Sajou's Museum and Heritage Toile du Jouy collection in my shop
The size of the motif is 337 x 337 points.
Materials: 32 Count Linen, Cross Stitch Embroidery Chart, Retours du Nord Embroidery Thread.
