Rare First Strike 18th Century Toile The Return of the Prodigal Father
Rare First Strike 18th Century Toile The Return of the Prodigal Father
Copper rollers were engraved with the desired design and then the dye rolled onto the fabric It was an incredibly tedious process to engrave a copper cylinder. The detail this process allowed is amazing. With repeated printings some of the clarity of detail begins to get lost. A "first strike" is the first printing of a toile and they are extremely rare to find. This panel measures 27" x 30" with a scalloped lower edge. It is lightly quilted and batted so was most likely part of a bed cover. The red is as vibrant as if it had been printed yesterday. The engraver's name is Phillippe. Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf (11 June 1738 – 6 October 1815) was a French naturalized German industrialist. He became famous for founding the royal manufacture of printed cottons of Jouy-en-Josas where the toile de Jouy was manufactured.