The story of Toile de Jouy fabric starts in 18th-century France, in the town of Jouy-en-Josas. At the height of Europe's obsession with Indian cotton (which saw the fabric banned for a time by both the French and English governments) the German-born Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf set up a factory near the Bièvre river. The factory became the first to print using copper plates rather than the traditional Indian woodblocks, allowing for a larger repeat pattern and far more detail. Oberkampf commissioned the best artists of the day to design pastoral scenes with humans figures that reflected the interests of the day - from the obsession with the Orient and the classical world, to the first hot air ballon flight.
How to use it
A toile de Jouy wallpaper and matching fabric from GP & J Baker create a romantic schemein decorator Imogen Taylor's bedroom in France, which opens onto the garden. The French marble-topped secretaire was a present from John Fowler.
Marrying old and new is a difficult task in a grand country house, but Ben Pentreath has managed it with considerable flair in this Regency villa in Hampshire. Traditional toile de Jouy gets a bold reinvention in this bedroom, where Manuel Canovas’ ‘Bellegarde’ toile de Jouy in rouge, from Colefax and Fowler, was used throughout. Farrow & Ball’s ‘Pink Ground’ on the ceiling contrasts with woodwork painted in its ‘Blue Gray’. The ceramic ‘Charlotte Candlestick’ table lamp is from Hector Finch.
'Pompadour' toile de Jouy from Christopher Moore was used for curtains and a chair to add colour in the dining room of a perfectly proportioned Georgian townhouse.
In the main bedroom of Rients Bruinsma's Dutch house, a cashmere throw from Holland & Sherry and a wool carpet from The Rug Company complement Marvic Textiles’ ‘Empire 5221’ toile de Jouy fabric used on the walls and for the curtains.
The Marquis de Massigny Room at Ballyfin deploys toile de Jouy on the walls, curtains and bed.
In Patrick Frey's house in the 1990s, a pair of comfortable 18th-century armchairs in the main bedroom are covered with an informal check, 'Senanque' by Pierre Frey; whilst the walls are hung with another Braquenie document print (also used for the curtains), 'L'Oiseleur' based on a late 18th-century toile de Jouy. The carpet is also a Braquenie design.
In the countrified kitchen, the red and yellow check tablecloth is 'Arcachon' by Pierre Frey, as is the lining of the 'Halte de Chaffe' toile de Jouy curtains by Braquenie.
A yellow Pierre Frey design, used for the walls, bed canopy and curtains, contrasts beautifully with the rich red carpet in the bedroom of a Provence house by designer Jocelyne Sibuet.
In a Cornish cottage decked out in nautical blue and white by Paolo Moschino, the theme is carried through in decorative details, including in the galleons that sail across a chair upholstered in toile de Jouy.
The walls, bedcover and bed canopy in this 19th-century chateau in the Périgord are in Christopher Moore’s ‘Fragonard’ in heather.
In another bedroom, walls, quilted cotton bedcovers and bolsters in ‘Cholet’ cotton from Christopher Moore create a cocooning space for guests.
The basin unit in Pandora Sykes' bathroom is painted in Farrow & Ball’s ‘Breakfast Room Green’, which contrasts wonderfully with Cole & Son’s coral ‘Versailles’ wallpaper.
