French Sprig & Vine Printed Cotton
This fanciful printed cotton is reproduced from a textile fragment in our private collection. Dating from the very late 18th to early 19th century, the original roller-printed and hand-blocked textile was sourced from France. The surrealistic flower and vine pattern is reminiscent of mid-18th century English prints we have seen designed to mimic popular brocaded silks. Iterations of these motifs continued into the 19th century when roller printing accelerated and refined the process.
Printed textiles were common in all social levels in the 18th century. England was a major manufacturer and printer throughout the 18th century as well as India where they derived many of their print patterns from. In the colonies India cotton and English goods of linen and cotton were both worn. One and two color prints of crude to complex designs were all within the reach of most social classes. The patterns varied widely mimicking the fashions of the time. Common color themes were black and red, red and purple, double purple, double blue, and of course multiple colors which often combined block printed with painting or penciling. Cotton found in England was rarer thanks to sumptuary laws forbidding its wearing until the end of the century however the thriving Manchester textile industry produced a fine linen/cotton textile in various grades which was printed to the highest perfection. These goods were equally exported to the colonies along with the India cottons and sometimes but not always distinguished as such.
- French Sprig & Vine Printed Cotton is lightweight, with a soft drape and plain weave.
- We have meticulously reproduced the colors of this textile as they would have originally appeared.
- Suitable for gowns, jackets, petticoats, wrapping gowns, banyans, accessories and children's clothing.
- 100% Cotton, 54 inches wide.
- 3.57 oz per sq yard, 120.93 grams per sq meter
