Art Institute of Chicago

Printed Fabric

Possibly manufactured by Oberkampf Manufactory (French, 1760–1843)

Date

1780s

Medium

Linen and cotton plain weave; block printed

Culture

Jouy-en-Josas

Department

Textiles

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

European manufacturers never successfully replicated Indian techniques for hand painting chintz (derived from the Hindi name for them, chint ) fabrics, which were labor intensive and required thorough knowledge of the complex chemistry of natural dyes. After struggling with technical challenges for decades, Europeans improved color block printing techniques during the late 18th century. These advances enabled manufacturers to print multiple colors on a single fabric to more successfully imitate the brilliantly colored chintzes made in India.

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