FASHIONABLE CHEMISTRY:

THE HISTORY OF PRINTING COTTON IN

FRANCE IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE

EIGHTEENTH AND FIRST DECADES OF

THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

by

Hanna Elisabeth Helvig Martinsen

A thesis submitted in the conformity with the requirements

for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology

University of Toronto

@ Copyright by Hanna Elisabeth Helvig Martinsen 2015

FASHIONABLE CHEMISTRY:

THE HISTORY OF PRINTING COTTON IN FRANCE IN THE SECOND HALF OF

THE EIGHTEENTH AND FIRST DECADES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

Hanna Elisabeth Helvig Martinsen

Doctor of Philosophy

Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology

University of Toronto

2015

ABSTRACT

In the seventeenth century, when brilliantly coloured Indian painted and printed cotton textiles reached Europe they became very popular. Due to the large volume of imported textiles, local wool and silk producers became concerned and they petitioned for strict regulations. In France, legislation was introduced that banned import and local production of printed cotton textiles from 1688 to

1759. This thesis looks at how the knowledge of printing cotton in the Indian manner reached Europe and how it was implemented by the French textile industry, especially at Jean-Michel Haussmann’s establishment in Logelbach outside Colmar in Alsace and Christophe-Philippe Oberkamf’s establishment in

Jouy-en-Josas outside Versailles. In the eighteenth century France did not have a textile printers’ guild to restrain the introduction of the Indian method or stop the impact from contemporary scientists whose research was adapted and used to benefit the industry. I investigate the co-operation between craftsmen and

ii scientists by studying published scientific papers and dye books that focused on new innovations and improvement aimed at benefitting this industry. To verify that the new methods and scientific ideas were really implemented it is important to look at the textiles themselves. Using examples from the Royal

Ontario Museum’s Collection and comparing them to written information in

Gottlieb Widmer’s manuscript and the chemist Claude-Louis Berthollet’s dye books, we can evaluate the development of textile printing at Oberkamp’s establishment. The printed textile Les Travaux de la manufacture (The activities at the factory) which illustrates textile printing at Oberkampf’s factory in 1783-1784, can also increase our knowledge of the printing process. Printing textiles is really a form of applied chemistry and in the second half of the eighteenth and the first decades of the nineteenth century, French scientists and craftsmen co-operated and worked closely together to the benefit of this very lucrative industry.

iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank the Joint Initiative for German and European Studies at the University of Toronto for awarding me a research grant in 2001 and to the School of Graduate Studies who awarded me travel grant in 2001. In 2002 I was given a special supplemental research award from the Joint Initiative in German and European Studies as well as another travel grant from the School of Graduate Studies. This financial support made it possible for me to travel extensively in Europe and to study major collections of printed textiles in France, Germany and Holland. I would especially like to thank Conservateur Guy Blazy at the Musée des Tissus, Lyon (France), for personally showing me their collection of printed textiles; Conservateur Jacqueline Jacqué at the Musée de l'Impression sur Etoffes, Mulhouse (France) for introducing me to their immense collection of printed textiles and particularly for bringing to my attention the unique sample books from Jean-Michel Haussmann's establishment in Logelbach (Alsace, France); Curator for the Musée de la Toile de Jouy (France) Mélanie Riffel and Resarcher Sophie Rouart who not only gave me access to their large collection of Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf’s production but also showed me this museum's collection of orders, personal letters and their archive with unpublished material; Dr. Elisabeth Hackspiel- Mikosch at the Deutsches Textile museum Krefeld-Lin (Germany) for opening their collection to me, and Curator of Textiles Ebeltje Hartkamp-Jonxis who showed me the collection at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. I would also like to thank the personnel at Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris for all their help and support, and furthermore to thank for the assistance I received from the staff at the archives of the Académie des sciences, Paris. In 2002 I was also awarded a research grant from Stiftelsen Agnes Geijers fond för nordisk textilforskning administered by Kungliga Vitterhets Historia och Antikvitet Akademien in Stockholm, to examine textile printing in Sweden in the eighteenth century. I would especially like to thank Director Karl Grandin and archivist Maria Asp at Centrum för vetenskaps historia (Centre for History of Science at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences) for their

iv wonderful help in exploring this rich collection; Intendent Ursula Sjöberg at Kungl. Husgerådskammaren (Kungl. Husgeråds chamber) Stockholm, who showed me the Royal collection of Swedish printed textiles; antikvarie Anders Bergquist at Landsarkivet i Visby (District Archive in Visby, Sweden) where I studied Tobias Lang's collection, and the staff at Nordiska Museet's arkiv, Stockholm, where I examined Ingegerd Henschen's collection; and librarian Tommy Westergren at Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan's bibliotek (Royal Institute of Technology) Stockholm, who introduced me to their amazing collection of dye-books. I am extremely grateful to the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto for awarding me the Veronika Gervers Research Fellowship for 2003. This gave me the opportunity to work directly with the French printed textiles in the museum's collection. I am especially grateful to Assistant Curator Anu Liivandi and Senior Technician Karla Livingston for all their help and support. This thesis would never exist if it was not for the help and advice from Professor Janis Langins and for the continued encouragement and guidance from my thesis supervisor University Professor Emeritus Trevor Levere.

Hanna E. H. Martinsen, Toronto 7 March 2015

v TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT ...... ii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...... iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ...... vi

LIST OF PLATES ...... x

I. INTRODUCTION ...... 1

II. MEASURE FOR MODERN INTERPRETATION:

THE IMPORTANCE OF STUDYING THE ORIGINAL TEXTILES FOR THE

EVALUATION OF HISTORICAL DYE METHODS...... 7

II. 1. The Importance of the Technique ...... 8

II. 2. The Importance of Incorporating Historical Textiles ...... 12

II. 3. The Royal Ontario Museum’s Collection of Printed Textiles ...... 15

II. 4. Research into the History of Printed Textiles ...... 20

III. THE ENLIGHTENMENT IN FRANCE:

INTRODUCING NEW IDEALS AND NEW WORKING RELATIONS

BETWEEN SCIENTISTS AND THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT...... 34

III. 1. The Académie des Sciences ...... 34

III. 2. The Encyclopédie ...... 36 III. 3. Chemistry and Textiles ...... 39 III. 4. Science, Government and Industry: Chemistry and Dyeing ...... 43

vi IV. MIRACULOUS KNOWLEDGE:

TRADITIONAL DYE-MANUALS AND THE SECRETS OF THE CRAFT

TRADITION VERSUS COMMUNICATION OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE . .... 46

IV. 1. a In the Craft Tradition ...... 47 IV. 1. b The use of Chemical Symbols in Handwritten Dye Books by the Textile Printer Tobias Lang in Visby ...... 54 IV. 2. Communicating Scientific Knowledge ...... 56 IV. 3. Other Sources for the Transfer of Knowledge ...... 67 IV. 3. a The Encyclopédie ...... 68 IV. 3. b Jacques Savary des Bruslons ...... 71 IV. 3. c Journal de Physique and Annales de Chimie ...... 72 IV. 3. d Journal œconomique ...... 73 IV. 3. e J. P. Macquer: Studies on Dyeing ...... 75 IV. 3. f Henric Theophil Scheffer’s Lectures for Dyers ...... 76 IV.4. The Cooperation between Savant and Artisan ...... 78 IV.4. a Claude-Louis Berthollet ...... 79 IV. 4. b Christoph-Philippe Oberkampf ...... 81 IV.4. c Samuel Widmer ...... 89 IV. 4. d Jean-Michel Haussmann ...... 91 IV. 4. e Conclusion ...... 96

V. ‘A LA MODE’: THE FASHION THAT WOULD NOT DIE...... 98

V.1. Introduction ...... 98 V.2. Textile Printing in the Indian Manner ...... 108 V. 3. In the Indian Manner according to M. de Beaulieu, Pondicherry 1734, with Explanations ...... 118 V. 4. Changes to the Organisation of the Craft ...... 124 V.5. John Holker’s Samples of English Printed Textiles ...... 130

vii VI. MAGICAL MADDER ...... 134 VI. 1. The Madder Plant and Madder Cultivation ...... 134 VI. 2. The Process of Madder Dyeing and the Illustrations on Oberkampf’s Textile Les travaux de la manufacture ...... 142 VI. 2. a Toiles: The Importance of the Cloth ...... 147 VI. 2. b Astringents ...... 150 VI. 2 c Mordants ...... 152 VI. 2. d Dung Bath ...... 155 VI. 2. e Block Printing ...... 157 VI. 2. f Copperplate Printing ...... 164 VI. 2. g Roller Printing ...... 169 VI. 2. h The Laboratory ...... 172 VI. 2. i The Madder Bath ...... 175 VI.2. j Bleaching ...... 176 VI. 2. k Finishing ...... 179 VI. 3. Turkey Red Dyeing ...... 179

VII. MOODY BLUE:

THE DIFFICULTY OF WORKING WITH NON WATER-SOLUBLE

MATERIALS ...... 199 VII. 1. a One Dye Substance but two Different Sources: Woad and Indigo ..... 199 VII. 1. b Dyeing with the non Water-Soluble Indigo ...... 205 VII.1. c Painting and Printing in Blue ...... 207 VII. 1. d Pencil Blue or le bleu de pinceau ...... 212 VII. 1. e Oberkampf and le bleu de pinceau ...... 213 VII. 1. f Pineceauteuses (Pencillers) ...... 214 VII. 1 g Plate Printing and Roller Printing in Blue: China Blue and bleu de faience ...... 216 VII. 2 The Patronage of La société d’encouragement pour l’industrie nationale ...... 218 VII. 3. Saxon Blue ...... 220 VII. 4. Prussian Blue ...... 221

viii VIII. MYSTERIOUS GREEN:

THE SEARCH FOR A ONE-STEP PROCESS...... 226

VIII. 1. Introduction ...... 226 VIII. 2. Traditional Method for Printing Green ...... 229 VIII. 3. Printing Green in One Process ...... 231 VIII. 4. The Award for Industrial Development ...... 255

IX. MALIGNANT BLEACHING:

OLD TRADITIONS VERSUS BERTHOLLET’S NEW SCIENTIFIC

METHOD...... 242 IX. 1. Introduction ...... 242 IX. 2. Traditional Textile Bleaching ...... 243 IX. 3. Textile Bleaching in the Encyclopédie ...... 253 IX. 4. Claude-Louis Berthollet’s new Method for Bleaching with Oxymuriatic Acid ...... 261 IX. Conclusion ...... 287

X. CONCLUSION...... 287

PLATES ...... 298

GLOSSARY ...... 314

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 320

ix LIST OF PLATES

Fig. 1 Overview Les Travaux de la manufacture (The Activities at the Factory). Copperplate print C-P Oberkampf 1783-1784 (ROM 934.3.443) ...... 298 Fig. 2 Beating with a flail before washing in the river, Les Travaux de la manufacture...... 298 Fig. 3 Calender, Les Travaux de la manufacture ...... 299 Fig. 4 Washing with cow dung Les Travaux de la manufacture ...... 299 Fig. 5 Block printer and his assistant Les Travaux de la manufacture ...... 300 Fig. 6 Block print lilacs, outlines in red and black, 1770-1779 (ROM 934.4.207) ...... 300 Fig. 7 Block print in the Indian style, white background, (ROM 972.260) ...... 300 Fig. 8 Block print in the Indian style, yellow background, (ROM 974.33.15) ...... 301 Fig. 9 Block print on a red picot ground (ROM 973.116.9) ...... 301 Fig. 10 Block print, black picot ground in a zigzag lozenge pattern, (ROM 934.4.216) ...... 301 Fig. 11 Block print Le petit buveur, picot ground detail, 1784, (ROM 943.4.89) ..... 302 Fig. 12 Plate printer Les Travaux de la manufacture ...... 302 Fig. 13 Plate print Jeux d’enfant, overview (ROM 934.4.441) ...... 303 Fig. 14 Plate print Jeux d’enfant, chef de pièce (ROM 934.4.441) ...... 303 Fig. 15 Plate print Jeux d’enfant, detail open space between the plates painted in (ROM 934.4.441) ...... 304 Fig. 16 Plate print Jeux d’enfant, detail double printed (ROM 934.4.441) ...... 304 Fig. 17 Roller print Les Colombes, design 580, 1818, (ROM 934.4.527) ...... 304 Fig. 18 Roller print Les monuments de Paris, detail: signature, 1818 (ROM 934.4.540) ...... 305 Fig. 19 Roller print, Le loup et l’agneau, 1805, roller print in red overprint in yellow (ROM 934.4.617) ...... 305 Fig. 20 Roller print, Le loup et l’agneau, detail. (ROM 934.4.617) ...... 306 Fig. 21 The colourist (colour maker) Les Travaux de la manufacture detail (ROM934.3.443) ...... 306

x Fig. 22 Madder dyeing in the heater Les Travaux de la manufacture ...... 307 Fig. 23 Dry house and ‘pegging’ textiles on the ground Les Travaux de la manufacture ...... 307 Fig. 24 Block print, resist printed blue background 1760-1790 (ROM 934.4.642) ...... 308 Fig. 25 Pencillers Les Travaux de la manufacture ...... 308 Fig. 26 Block print border with blue irises, detail, 1780-1789 (ROM 934.4.711) ... 308 Fig. 27 Plate print Les délices de quatre saisons, overview in blue, 1789/92 (ROM 934.4.477 ) ...... 308 Fig. 28 Block print in green, overview, 1790 or later (ROM 934.4.206) ...... 309 Fig. 29 Block print in green, detail from the back (ROM 934.4.206) ...... 310 Fig. 30 Block print in green, detail from the front (ROM 934.4.206) ...... 310 Fig.31 Roller print in green Le lion amoureux ou Léda, overview (ROM 934.4.528) ...... 311 Fig. 32 Roller print in green Le lion amoureux ou Léda, background design (ROM 934.4.528) ...... 311 Fig. 33 Roller print in green Le lion amoureux ou Léda, detail goat-hair (ROM934.4.528) ...... 312 Fig. 34 Encyclopédie,“Blanchissage des toiles” in Recueile de plances, 19: 370-374, Paris, 1762...... 312 Fig. 35 Claude-Louis Berthollet, “Description du Blanchiment des Toiles & des Fils par l’acide muriatique oxigéné, ” Annales de chimie 2 (1789): 151-190...... 313 Fig. 36 Claude-Louis Berthollet, Elements of the Art of Dyeing with a Description on the Art of Bleaching by Oxymuriatic Acid. [Original Paris, 1804] London, 1824, vol.1...... 313

xi

I. INTRODUCTION

Very few publications on textile history discuss the chemical or technical side of the textile production. The possibility of any input from outside the craft community is hardly ever addressed. My thesis focuses on the French textile printing industry in the second half of the eighteenth century and the first decades of the nineteenth century. It examines the changes that were introduced as the European textile printers adjusted their production method from printing textiles with colour pigments in an oil-based solution to printing with mordants followed by a dye bath. The incentive for this change originated with the Indian printed textiles that in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were brought to Europe in large quantities by various oriental trading companies. These attractive painted and printed multicoloured cotton textiles had exotic designs in bright colours, and were also washable. They were totally different from early European printed textiles and took the European consumers by storm. Craftsmen wanted to capitalize on the European taste for oriental printed textiles; despite a ban by the French government on both import and local production from 1688 to 1759, after the restrictions were abolished a textile printing industry in the Indian manner developed quickly. I wanted to establish how the Indian craftsmen’s know-how reached Europe and how this knowledge was implemented, further developed and improved by scientific research.1 Eighteenth century France was also active in new chemical research and the French government appointed established scientists as inspectors for the important dye industry. The chemist Claude –Louis Berthollet (1748-1822) was unique in this context, since he published a chemical study of dyeing which for the first time included the fashionable technique textile printing.2

1 The Indian method for printing textiles is addressed in Chapter V: “ ‘A la Mode’: The Fashion that would not Die”. 2 See Chapter III: “The Enlightenment in France: Introducing new Ideals and new working Relations between Scientist and the French Government”.

1 2

Textile printing depends on tacit knowledge that apprentices learn from their masters on the workshop floor. Hence, written documentation of the process is very limited. To establish the changes in production methods that actually took place it is essential to study the textiles themselves. Donald King’s investigation of early printed textiles in the Victoria and Albert museum underscores how important the original textiles are, and proves that research of printed textiles only on stylistic grounds can be completely misleading.3 I chose to look at the two major French textile printing establishments that Berthollet worked with and referred to in his Éléments l’art de la teinture:4 Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf’s establishment in Jouy-en-Josas outside Versailles and Jean-Michel Haussmann’s establishment in Logelbach outside Colmar in Alsace. At maximum capacity they employed roughly the same number of workers, but the education and background of the two leaders were completely different. Oberkampf (1738-1815) was trained as a textile printer in Germany,5 while Haussmann (1749-1824) studied in Paris to become an apothecary before he started on his career as a textile printer. These differences influenced not only their approach to experiments and the testing of new processes; they also help to explain the very different forms of documentation left behind. Haussmann published his research in the latest French scientific journals and took part in discussions with other scientists. However, little is known of the practical operations at the factory. The huge sample books in existence are a wonderful resource, showing Haussmann’s rich variations in design, but they give no indication of how and when these textiles were

3 Donald King, “Textiles and the Origins of Printing in Europe,” Pantheon 20 (1962): 23-30. 4 Claude Louis Berthollet, Éléments de l’art de la teinture. (Paris, 1791). [Berthollet (Paris, 1791)] 5 German unification did not occur until 1871; in the years considered in this dissertation, the German lands consisted of independent states, which for convenience I shall here refer to collectively as Germany.

3 produced, any developments in the process, or when innovations were introduced at the factory. For Oberkampf’s establishment the situation was extremely different. Neither Oberkampf nor Samuel Widmer (1767-1821), who was in charge of production, wrote and published articles, and the only written statements are the direct quotations published in Berthollet’s dye books. Instead, we are left with the unique copperplate printed textile Les travaux de la manufacture, designed in 1783-1784 by Jean-Baptiste Huet (1745-1811) for Oberkampf, depicting different stages of the textile printing operation, and Gottlieb Widmer’s (1778-1863) personal memories of working at the factory, Mémorial de la manufacture de Jouy.6 However, Widmer wrote it from memory when he was eighty years old, and dates for the implementation of new techniques and technology vary in different sections of the manuscript, which makes exact dating challenging if not impossible. The materials from the two factories do not duplicate each other and can not be directly compared, but are instead complementary. Together they significantly increase our knowledge of the development of the French textile printing industry from its beginnings in the second half of the eighteenth century.7 The process of textile printing and the technical developments were illustrated in Les travaux de la manufacture and show the many necessary steps and how they were implemented. It is a romanticized version of the production, but the preliminary studies were done in situ under Oberkampf’s direction, which suggests authenticity with some artistic license. The illustrations make it possible to compare the Indian and French methods and determine what the French craftsmen put into practice and how they adapted this know-how to suit their own requirements. The only way we can verify how they operated is by looking at the original textiles. The Royal Ontario Museum’s collection of

6 Gottlieb Widmer, Mémorial de la manufacture de Jouy. (1859). [Mémorial] 7 Artisanal craft knowledge and the strong theoretical tradition in European textile dyeing and textile printing are addressed in Chapter IV: “Miraculous Knowledge: Traditional Dye-Manuals and the Secrets of the Craft Tradition versus Communication of Scientific Knowledge”.

4

French printed textiles is unique and an essential part of this research.8 Only by comparing the images and documented processes with the real textiles is it possible to validate the methods. Madder dyeing was a central part of textile printing as varying the mordants achieved many different colours in one single dye bath. The thesis will discuss the many different steps of this process and present the three different printing methods: woodblock printing, copperplate printing and roller printing. Haussmann’s examination of the extremely complicated madder dyeing process Turkey Red Dyeing is included.9 Blue dyeing was a well known practice in Europe. The dyestuff contained in woad and indigo must be in its water-soluble form to react with the textile material and create a permanent bond through oxidization. In Europe the application of blue to the already printed textiles was entirely altered from the Indian process described by Beaulieu in his report from Pondicherry in 1734.10 Instead of waxing every part of the textile that should not be coloured blue before submersing the textile into an indigo vat, the blue colour was applied directly by penciling. Blue could also be plate printed or roller printed by applying a paste of powdered indigo to the textile, followed by chemical baths. Many of the techniques for printing with indigo were developed in England. Consequently we are left with terms such as bleu anglaise and English blue. Since indigo was an expensive, imported raw material, many attempts were made by artisans and scientists to develop new methods to produce a permanent blue dye. 11

8 See Chapter II: “Measures for Modern Interpretations: The Importance of Studying the Original Textiles for the Evaluation of Historical Dye Methods”. 9 See Chapter VI: “Magical Madder”. 10 Captain Beaulieu, Manière de fabrique les toiles peintes dans l’Inde, telle que m. de Beaulieu, capitaine de vaisseau, l’a fait exécuter devant lui à Pondichéry (1734). Paris Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle. Central Library. 11 See Chapter VII: “Moody Blue: The Difficulty of Working with non Water-Soluble Materials”.

5

Traditionally green was created both in India and Europe by first dyeing the textile blue, and then applying a yellow dye on top of the blue. This was a serious problem for the textile printers, since this process was time consuming and required extremely skilled workers. Nevertheless, the result was never perfect. To develop a green dye that could be applied in one process was desired, but not achieved until Samuel Widmer invented the process in 1806- 1808. The printed textile samples are perfect for revealing and differentiating between the two methods, since the contrasts can easily be observed.12 Bleaching is probably the most important change introduced to the textile industry in the eighteenth century. It was not developed within the textile industry but was based on Berthollet’s chemical research. It changed the process from traditional bleaching, lye treatments followed by exposing the textiles to sun and air, to chemical bleaching with what we today know as chlorine. This change can not be identified by looking at the old textiles since finishing treatments, being glued into sample books, or old age can have corrupted the whiteness. Any chlorine residue may not have originated from the bleaching process but could be the residue from later treatments, such as washing and stain removing. Instead we have to rely entirely on the written sources. Denis Diderot and Jean d’Alembert’s Encyclopédie described with illustrations traditional bleaching.13 Berthollet’s new chemical method was presented to the Académie des sciences and published in Annales de chimie in 1789.14 An updated version was included in the second edition of his dye book

12 See Chapter VIII: “Mysterious Green: The Search for a One-Step-Process”. 13 Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d’Alembert, eds. Encyclopédie, ou Dictionnaire Raisonné des Sciences, des Arts et des Métiers, par une société de Gens de Lettres. 29 vols. (Paris, Neufchâtel, Amsterdam, 1751-1780). [Encyclopédie] 14 Claude-Louis Berthollet, “Description du Blanchiment des Toiles & des Fils par l’acide muriatique oxigèné, & de quelques autres Propriétés de cette Liqueur relatives au Arts,” Annales de chimie: ou recueil de mémoires Concernant la chimie et les Arts qui en dépendant 2 (1789): 151-190.

6 published in 1804.15 Berthollet’s bleaching trials for printed textiles were executed at Oberkampf’s and Haussmann’s establishments. The climax of Oberkampf’s career came in 1810 when he was recognized by the French government for industrial development and received Le grand prix décennal (Grand Prize of the decade). My study will end at this point, when the major changes to the French textile printing industry had been put into operation. The importance of the French textile printers who developed this economically significant industry must not be underestimated, but the French chemists took an active part in developing new solutions, saving the textile producers both time and money. Printing textiles is a form of applied chemistry, and in the second half of the eighteenth century and the first decades of the nineteenth century French scientists and craftsmen co-operated and worked closely together to the benefit of this very lucrative manufacturing.

15 Claude-Louis Berthollet and Amédée Berthollet, Éléments de l’art de la teinture, avec une description du blanchîment par l’acide muriatique oxigèné. (Paris, 1804) [Berthollet,1804]

II. MEASURES FOR MODERN INTERPRETATION:

THE IMPORTANCE OF STUDYING THE ORIGINAL TEXTILES FOR THE

EVALUATION OF HISTORICAL DYE METHODS

The authentic, historical printed textiles are an irreplaceable, but often overlooked resource when it comes to determining production at printing establishments. By using textiles and the written word together, we can evaluate and attempt to establish how a textile enterprise developed. Oberkampf, in Les travaux de la manufacture, has provided us with an exceptional copperplate print that illustrates different stages of the complicated process of printing textiles. A plate print, which gives the same clear imprint as a graphic paper impression lets the artist show the many different details that go into the production, along with the equipment used in and around 1783-1784 when the textile was designed. This was the artist Jean-Baptiste Huet’s first collaboration with Oberkampf. He was not an expert on textile printing, so the preliminary studies were done at the factory. Since Oberkampf himself approved the design, it suggests that this is the way he wanted his printing establishment to be represented and we have to assume that he was pleased with the way the different phases were depicted. By studying other textiles that we know were printed at Oberkampf’s establishment, we can evaluate and verify the methods used. The Mémorial is a personal testimony from Gottlieb Widmer. It lists year-by-year the important accomplishments that took place at the factory. It describes the personal, political and economical situation and includes the expansion, as well as new equipment that was installed. Comparing the information from these unique resources gives a better understanding of what happened, the expansions and the technical developments introduced at this particular establishment. However, it can in no way represent the whole French textile printing industry. Smaller workshops could not afford huge expansions and the installations of expensive equipment; but it is a glimpse into the development of Oberkampf’s very successful textile printing establishment.

7 8

II. 1. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE TECHNIQUE

In 1987, Anthea Callen wrote: “Ironically, people who write on art frequently overlook the practical side of their craft, often concentrating solely on stylistic, literary or formal qualities in their discussion of painting. As a result, unnecessary errors and misunderstandings have grown up in art history, only to be reiterated by succeeding generations of writers. Any work of art is determined first and foremost by the materials available to the artist, and by the artist’s ability to manipulate those materials. Thus only when the limitations imposed by artists’ materials and social conditions are taken fully into account can aesthetic preoccupations and the place of history be adequately understood.”16 While Callen was clearly critical of art historians studying paintings, she can be read as expressing a universal message about the practical side of the artist’s craft, the variety of materials available to them, as well as how they were used by individual artists. Callen’s statement could, in a modified version, address concerns related to the study of all man-made objects where the production is based on a craft tradition. It is particularly relevant for the French printed textile industry where until now historical research has focused mainly on emphasizing the textile’s stylistic qualities. A number of textile historians directed their research towards patterns and what influenced their designs: the changes dictated by fashion, small-scale patterning versus huge designs, monochromatic textiles versus multi-coloured prints, etc.17 Motives taken from popular literature and plays were illustrated on

16 Anthea Callen, Techniques of the Impressionists. (London, 1982): 6. 17 Henry-René D’Allemagne, La toile imprimée et les Indiennes de traite. (Paris, 1942); Josette Brédif, Printed French Fabrics Toiles de Jouy, trans. by Nina Bogin. (New York, 1989); Henry Clouzot, Histoire de la manufacture de Jouy et de la toile imprimée en France. (Paris, 1928); Mélanie Riffel and Sophie Rouart, Toile de Jouy: Printed Textiles in the Classic French Style, trans. Barbara Mellor. (London, 2003).

9 some European printed textiles and became the focal point for studies of the large monochromatic textile prints. Today these textiles are often referred to as Toiles de Jouy, a term that originates from Oberkampf’s factory.18 However, such textiles were also produced by a number of different French and other European textile printers; the term has now become generic. Accomplished artists used popular literary, historical, mythological, and even architectural sources for their imagery when producing designs for copperplate prints. These textiles may be considered as duplicates or copies of existing contemporary print sources. Details from popular prints were later borrowed and incorporated into textile designs.19 The most fashionable artists of the time were commissioned directly by the textile printers to design particular images to be produced exclusively by their textile factory. A typical example is Les travaux de la manufacture. Despite the popularity of printed textiles, they were rarely depicted in contemporary portraits, where the sitter was often dressed in silk accentuated with an occasional Cashmere shawl, or in genre paintings from this period. However, eighteenth century literary sources often refer to these printed textiles. They are mentioned in both diaries and fashion magazines, as well as in popular literature and dramas, as the writers describe what trendy people are wearing and the latest in interior decoration.20

18 For an introduction to this textile design: A. Juvet-Michel, “The Patterns of the ‘Toiles de Jouy’,” Ciba Review 31 (1940): 1117-1122. 19 To identify the sources for printed textiles: Brédif, Printed French Fabrics Toiles de Jouy; Riffel and Rouart, Toile de Jouy: Printed Textiles in the Classic French Style; Céline Cousquer, Nantes un capitale française des indiennes au XVIIIe siècle. (Nantes, 2002); Starr Siegele, Toiles for All Seasons: French and English Printed Textiles. (Charlestown, 2004). 20 In Molière’s play, Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (1671), quoted in A. Juvet-Michel, “The Controversy over Indian Prints,” Ciba Review 31 (1940): 1090-1097; Journal du Garde-Meuble from 1752, quoted in John Whitehead, French Interiors of the Eighteenth Century. (London, 1992): 219.

10

It is a well-established fact that the import of Indian painted and printed textiles initiated this fashion and later developed into a lucrative trade for the Dutch, English and French oriental trading companies.21 Therefore, it is understandable that the exotic and colourful designs, which decorated these early imported textiles, were copied, manipulated and customized for the huge, diverse European market. Art and textile historians have not even attempted to determine the vast number of these different designs in view of the fact that one single factory such as Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf’s is believed to have produced more than thirty thousand different patterns.22 A cumulative study of the designs produced by all French and all European factories would accordingly be absurd. Instead, the styles of printed textiles have been loosely categorized into groups with easily recognisable visual features such as indienne (designs in the Indian style), flowers in the European style, naturalistic looking flowers, Chinoiserie (designs in the Chinese style), geometric designs, mignonettes (small patterned designs), Toiles de Jouy and many more.23

21 Anthony Farrington, Trading Places: The East India Company and Asia 1600 – 1834. (London, 2002); Mattibelle Gittinger, Master Dyers to the World: Technique and Trade in Early Indian Dyed Cotton. (Washington, D.C., 1982); John Guy, Woven Cargoes: Indian Textiles in the East. (London, 1998); Ebeltje Hartkamp-Jonxis, ed. Sits: oost-west relaties in textile. (Zwolle, 1987); John Irwin and Katharine B. Brett, Origins of Chintz. (London, 1970); Indrani Ray, The French East India Company and the Trade in the Indian Ocean; A Collection of Essays by Indrani Ray. (Calcutta, 1999); Giorgio Riello, The Rise of European Calico Printing and Dyeing and the Influence of Asia in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century, typed manuscript London School of Economics. (London, 2005); John E. Wills, Jr. “European consumption and Asian production in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.” In Consumption and the World of Goods, eds. John Brewer and Roy Porter. (London, New York, 1993): 133- 147. 22 Mélanie Riffel and Sophie Rouart. Toile de Jouy: Printed Textiles in the Classic French Style, trans. Barbara Mellor. (London, 2003): 75. 23 For the terminology used to classify French printed textiles: Josette Brédiff, Printed French Textiles: Toiles de Jouy; Mélanie Riffel and Sopie Rouart Toile de Jouy:

11

The second half of Anthea Callen’s statement refers to the materials available to the artists, their ability to manipulate them, as well as the limitations they impose on the creative processes. This should be acknowledged as important for the production of printed textiles, for the aesthetic quality of the finished product, the raw materials, the technology, as well as the techniques used to produce them, were all vital and are closely associated with their popularity. Consequently, it becomes essential to study what was available to the European textile printers when this new fashion reached Europe, including the raw materials they had access to, as well as the technology they used: we need to be aware of the dramatic changes that transpired within this old, traditional craft. While the printers got access to new dyes and dye- chemicals, they also introduced new technological concepts, which would revolutionize the textile printing industry. The new chemistry that was concurrently implemented by the French scientists to explain material changes was also used in their research to improve the textile printing process. Their work was published in recognized scientific publications and this important effort must also be acknowledged. The European artisans were forced to entirely change their methods in order to achieve the same colourfast hue and

Printed Textiles in the Classical French Style. This classification of different styles is not universal but was developed by individual textile researchers; there is no consistency in the translation of this French textile vocabulary into English. For terminology used to classify English produced printed textiles: Peter C. Floud, English Printed Textiles 1720 – 1836. (London, 1960); and Peter C. Floud, “The English Contribution to the Development of Copper-Plate Printing,” Journal of the Society of Dyers and Colourists 76 (1960): 425-434; “The Dark-Ground Floral Chintz Style,” Connoisseur 139 (1957): 174-178; “The Drab Style and the Designs of Daniel Goddard,” Connoisseur 139 (1957): 234-239; “The English Contribution to the Early History of Indigo printing,” Journal of the Society of Dyers and Colourists 76 (1960): 344-349, “English printed textiles: VI. The pillar print,” Antiques 71 (1957): 352-355; “English printed textiles: VII. Pictorial prints of the 1820’s,” Antiques 71 (1957): 456- 459.

12 simultaneously the same brilliant colours as the Indian imports. We need to understand the difference between printing textiles with a colour pigment in an oil-based solution and dyeing with mordants to achieve a bright, colourfast printed textile. Consequently, the original textile prints themselves become a significant and essential resource for revealing changes in production. Such factors can never be the only criteria for the study of printed textiles, but aspects of their production can clearly create a timeframe for the evaluation of printed textiles. The Toiles de Jouy with their fine details, so characteristic of copperplate printed textiles, could not have been produced until the traditional printing press had been modified for the unique requirements of the textile printing process; these included printing with mordants instead of printer’s ink, which does not have the same viscosity and will adhere to the copperplate differently. Fundamental adjustments were necessary for the printing press itself, which had to be changed from printing one single sheet at a time to printing continuous material (yardage) to accommodate the textile printer.24 The great discovery of how to print green with only one process instead of two, which traditionally involved printing yellow over blue, was a radical, timesaving and very essential chemical advance. A close examination of the colour green and the details in a printed textile makes it easy to determine visually whether the piece was printed before or after 1806-1809, when Samuel Widmer, who worked for his uncle Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf, developed this process.25

II. 2. THE IMPORTANCE OF INCORPORATING HISTORICAL TEXTILES

It is necessary to study in detail the actual artifact as the foundation for any aspect of material history. For textile studies this is best demonstrated in Donald King’s article “Textiles and the Origin of Printing in Europe”. King, who was the Keeper of Textiles at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, defined

24 See Chapter VI. 25 See Chapter VIII.

13 and compared two groups of European printed textiles from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries in the museum’s collection. The groups were stylistically and technically very different. In his findings, he pointed out that one group was a late nineteenth century forgery. His research established that the condition of the objects, along with a critical evaluation of the materials used, and the routinely employed stylistic analysis, greatly increase and improve our knowledge of these textiles. In this manner, King’s work shows that it is possible to determine with improved certainty, how and when a piece was produced. In view of that, all the factual information about materials and techniques must become a central part of our compounded, basic knowledge, before we can determine an artifact’s age, probable production area, and especially the authenticity of the piece. The existing early printed textiles from the twelfth to the sixteenth century, assumed to have been produced in Europe, were kept in different public and private collections, as well as in religious institutions. They were not easily accessible to textile historians and other researchers. However, all this changed in the middle of the nineteenth century when many of these textiles were described and illustrated in accessible publications, either as individual pieces or as part of a historic overview of European textile printing. For that reason, King could support his study on many books and articles which had been published from 1857 onwards. King focused his research on approximately one hundred and twenty known examples of early European printed textiles, in addition to half a dozen related pieces which were printed on vellum.26 King wrote this article to re-evaluate not only some of the common assumptions about printed textiles from the twelfth- and thirteenth- centuries, but to question the view that “the oldest existing block-printed European textiles … point, by style-features, to the lower Rhineland, with Cologne as a

26 King, 23, notes 4 to 19.

14 centre”27. He was determined to substantiate the legitimacy of such a statement by looking at the actual textiles in the Victoria and Albert Museum’s collection. His careful examination found that on some of these old textiles the outline of the rectangular printing blocks were clearly noticeable. Hence, the overall design appeared as a succession of rectangles both horizontally and vertically. This particular observation created a valid disbelief since as an art historian he was fully aware that this was “an effect which the Gothic textile designer was generally at great pains to avoid.” King continued with a detailed stylistic evaluation of the design elements and the overall patterns. He found that they were significantly different and much less complex than any of the designs used for the contemporary woven silks. At the same time he also observed that the printed textiles “show strange motifs and ornamental styles which are not only without parallel in medieval weaving, but seem remote from any known tradition of medieval ornament”28. After this stylistic evaluation, he continued his examination with an assessment of the craftsmanship evident in the textiles themselves (as far as this could be validated by the finished pieces). Here he observed and questioned how it was possible that for this particular group of textiles the craftsmen had been “retaining, apparently through several centuries of production, a consistent amateurishness in all the techniques of their craft?” Of the approximately sixty textiles that King scrutinized under a low powered microscope, he observed that “there is clear evidence in over a dozen cases, and a less conclusive indication in many more, that the patterns were printed when the ground fabrics were no longer new”29. To verify and corroborate his own controversial observations that these printed medieval designs were applied to old previously used materials, he expanded the investigation of the textiles that he now referred to as the Rhenish group. This research would include studies

27 King, 23. Donald King in Otto W. Fuhrmann, A History of the Printed Book: The Dolphin Part III. (1938): 148. For more information about these European textiles: Renate Jacques, Mittelalterlicher Textildruck am Rhein. (Kevelaer, 1950). 28 King, 25 - 26. 29 King, 26; his italics.

15 carried out by Dr. A .E. Werner, Keeper of the Research Laboratory at the British Museum. Dr. Werner confirmed King’s observations and expanded the initial results with chemical analyses of the pigments used for printing. For this particular group of textiles, King also scrutinized their provenance and based on all this information he concluded that these textiles were in fact nineteenth century forgeries.30

Donald King’s ground-breaking study shows just how essential it is to incorporate a study of actual, authentic, historical textiles. Stylistic elements in the design can only give us limited knowledge of the textiles and of the complex process that historic textile production was. This is especially evident for the intricate manufacture of printed textiles, which not only involved highly skilled craftsmen, but also demanded an understanding of chemistry, as well as the knowledge of methodology, in this very complicated process.

II. 3. THE ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM’S COLLECTION OF PRINTED TEXTILES

Both Callen and King stressed (in different ways) the extraordinary importance that the integration of authentic artifacts has for any comprehensive historical study. This criterion is also fundamental for research on historical dye-methods, as well as any investigation into the development of textile printing in Europe in the eighteenth century. The vital requirement for any such inquiry is access to a substantial and significant collection of authentic, historical textiles. A methodical examination of these textiles is pivotal in order to further our knowledge of any changes and improvements that were implemented by the French textile printers. Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum’s (ROM) collection of printed textiles is large and diverse, containing a substantial group of French printed textiles

30 King, 28. Despite the evidence from his observations, King’s findings are still not universally accepted.

16 from the eighteenth century.31 The foundation of their collection came into the museum’s custody as a donation from the textile designer Harry Wearne’s widow in 1934.32 Harry Wearne was born in London in 1852, but left for Paris in 1873 to work for the wallpaper manufacturer Pierre Gillou. In the early 1880’s, he relocated to Rixheim in Alsace, where he continued to work in the wallpaper industry, this time as a colorist for J. Zuber et Cie. Wearne became quite successful creating designs for wallpapers and supervising their production. For almost thirty years he represented the company in the United States. During the First World War, he escaped from Europe and settled in New York. Virtually ruined, he started to design woodblock printed fabrics for the American market.33 In 1920, he made his first visit back to Europe after the war. He maintained annual trips to France and worked on building up a collection of old French printed textiles, which he used as inspiration for his

31 I use the ROM’s printed textiles to reveal chemical developments as well as the technological improvements of the production methods as they materialized in textiles printed by Oberkampf . The ROM does not have examples of Haussmann’s textiles. 32 Harold B. Burnham, “The Royal Ontario Museum and the Department of Textiles,” Bulletin de liaison du centre international d’étude des textiles anciens 31 (1970/71): 16. 33 K. F. Hascall, Harry Wearne: A Short Account of his Life and Work. (Baltimore, 1933): 11-15. During the nineteenth century, Jean Zuber et Cie. in Rixheim, Alsace, produced many panoramic wallpapers. Of these “Les vues de Suisse”, “L’Hindoustan”, “Les vues du Brésil” and “Les vues d’Amérique de Nord” are perhaps the most elaborate and the best known. These multicoloured designs, with up to two hundred and forty seven colours, were printed with wooden printing blocks. A number of the original set of blocks still exists. Consequently Harry Wearne, who worked for this company, must have been very familiar with the block printing technique. See Bernhard Jacqué, “Les papiers peintes panoramiques de Jean Zuber et Cie. au XIXe siècle, leur élaboration, leur fabrication,” Bulletin de la Société Industrielle de Mulhouse 793 (1984): 89–100; and “Petit vade-mecum technique a l’usage de l’amateur de papier peint ancien,” Bulletin de la Société Industrielle de Mulhouse 823 (1991): 11–42.

17 own furnishing fabric designs.34 In 1927, his collection was put on display for the first time when the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York presented an exhibition of French printed textiles.35 After he died in 1929, his widow wanted the collection to remain within the British Commonwealth and she decided to donate it to the ROM.36 Charles Trick Currelly, the first Director of the ROM, later wrote “When it arrived, case after case was unpacked and we found ourselves in possession of one of the world’s greatest collections of printed cottons”37. It was originally catalogued as The Harry Wearne Collection of Ancient Textiles and according to the original documents it consisted of:38 • First Series: linen or cotton printed cloth, 18th or first half of the 19th Century Europe, Thirty-two pages; • Series of twelve Panels, framed or stretched on canvas or cardboard, Two pages; (together four hundred and seventy one items) • Second Series: Linen or Cotton Fabric, dyed and painted by hand in the English East Indies, in Java, or in Persia, during the 17th and 18th Centuries, Eight pages; (seventy nine items) • Modern Persian and Indian Voile, One page; • One bandbox: Japan and China, One page; • Miscellaneous, Two pages; • Old Silks, Two Pages.

34 Katharine. B. Brett, “The Royal Ontario Museum’s Collection of Block Printed Textiles,” typed manuscript (Toronto, n.d). The manuscript is not paginated; this information is from the Introduction. 35 Katharine B. Brett, “La Collection Harry Wearne.” In Collection de toiles peintes d’H. Wearne, exhibition catalogue from Musée de l’Impression sur Etoffes de Mulhouse. (Mulhouse, 1966): 3-5. 36 Katharine B. Brett, “The Harry Wearne Collection of Painted and Printed Textiles – Part One,” Bulletin of the Royal Ontario Museum of Archaeology 17 (1951): 7. 37 Charles Trick Currelly, I Brought the Ages Home. (Toronto, 1956): 284. 38 This document is in the Textile Section of the Royal Ontario Museum.

18

The collection of painted and printed Indian textiles, listed as the Second Series in the original catalogue, was the basis for a comprehensive study by the ROM’s textile curator, Katharine B. Brett. Together with John Irwin, Keeper of the Indian Section, at the Victoria and Albert Museum, she combined the results of their research on these two museums’ extensive holdings. In 1970, they published Origins of Chintz, a comprehensive review, which addressed these textiles’ techniques and the conditions of manufacture in India, as well as the oriental trade - two crucial elements for generating these oriental textiles’ popularity in Europe.39 The collection of European printed textiles was listed as the First Series in addition to a Series of twelve Panels, framed or stretched on canvas or cardboard, and consisted of four hundred and seventy one items produced in the eighteenth or first half of the nineteenth century. Brett ascertained that the majority of these pieces were French. They represent a number of prominent factories, such as Jouy, Beautiran, Nantes and Angers.40 This very comprehensive collection reveals typical designs used in the eighteenth century, as well as woodblock techniques ranging from one single, monochrome block pattern, to complex multicoloured designs demanding several sets of blocks.41 European copperplate printed textiles from the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries were also part of Wearne’s collection; most of these textiles were produced by Oberkampf’s enterprise. Furthermore, these prints represent the

39 John Irwin and Katharine B. Brett, “The pattern of trade,” chap. 2; “Technique and conditions of manufacture,” chap. 3 in Origins of Chintz: with a catalogue of Indo- European cotton-paintings in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto. (London, 1970): 3-6, 7-12. 40 Katharine B. Brett, “The Harry Wearne Collection of Painted and Printed Textiles - Part Two,” Bulletin of the Royal Ontario Museum of Archaeology 18 (1952): 13. See also Henry Clouzot, Histoire de la manufacture de Jouy et de la toile imprimée en France. (Paris, 1928); and Henry Clouzot and Frances Morris, Painted and Printed Fabrics. (New York, 1927). 41 Brett, “The Harry Wearne Collection - Part Two,” 13.

19 work of Jean-Baptiste Huet, Horace Vernet (1789-1863) and Louis-Hippolyte Le Bas (1782-1867), who in different periods designed for this factory.42 According to Brett, the printed textiles in this collection are probably the most remarkable of their kind in North America. They are also of such high quality that in 1966 the Musée de l’Impression sur Étoffes de Mulhouse (France) arranged a separate exhibition entirely limited to textiles from Harry Wearne’s collection.43 Likewise in 1977, when the Musée Oberkampf Château de Montebello in Jouy-en-Josas opened, their inaugural exhibition included a loan from the Wearne collection. The Mayor of Jouy-en-Josas, Monsieur Jacques Toutain, had visited the ROM the year before regarding a loan since it was his intention that this show would reveal an extremely significant aspect of the town’s past - the importance of Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf’s textile printing manufacture in Jouy-en-Josas.44 Again in 1991, when the museum relocated to larger premises in a renovated eighteenth century house, Le Chateau de Eglantine, their opening exhibition which included their own collection of drawings and prints of printed textiles also contained a loan from the ROM - the corresponding textiles from the Wearne collection.45

42 Katharine B. Brett, “The Harry Wearne Collection of Painted and Printed Textiles - Part Three,” Bulletin of the Royal Ontario Museum of Archaeology 22 (1954): 22-24. 43 Collection de toiles peintes d’H. Wearne, arranged by the Royal Ontario Museum, University of Toronto. The exhibition was featured at the museum from May to October 1966. 44 John Vollmer, Toiles de Jouy: The Royal Ontario Museum Helps a French City Recover its Heritage, ROM Flyer. (Toronto, 1977). 45 This exhibition consisted of drawings and prints of printed textiles, which the museum in Jouy-en-Josas had just acquired, and they would be displayed with the corresponding printed textiles. The show was open from October 15th 1991 to January 15th 1992, and it contained twenty two pieces from the Wearne collection. This information comes from correspondence between the curator Josette Brédiff (Jouy-en- Josas) and the Textile Department at the ROM, letter dated April 9th 1991. The museum in Jouy-en-Josas is now known as Musée de la Toile de Jouy.

20

With access to such a rich and versatile collection, it is possible to select particular pieces from these printed textiles for extensive research. With an acceptable knowledge of production methods, both in the Indian- and the European- manner, as well as an awareness of differences in printing methods and designs as manifested in various European countries, this investigation can focus primarily on the chemical and technological aspects of their production.

II. 4. RESEARCH INTO THE HISTORY OF PRINTED TEXTILES

The theoretical aspect of textile dyeing, as well as the various books about dyeing different textile materials (published primarily in France but also in other parts of Europe in the eighteenth century), have long been the focal point for studies by historians of chemistry. From 1937 to 1970, the chemical company Ciba Limited published a monthly periodical, Ciba Review, which contained numerous articles on the history of textile dyeing.46 Some focused on French textile dyeing as it was practiced in the seventeenth and eighteenth century.47

46 From September 1937 to April 1954 this company was named Society of Chemical Industry in Basle, Switzerland. Alex Leix, “Dyeing and Dyers’ Guilds in Medieval Craftmanship,” Ciba Review 1 (1937): 10-18; Alex Leix, “Dyes of the Middle Ages,” Ciba Review 1 (1937): 19-22; G. Schaefer, “The Cultivation of Madder,” Ciba Review 39 (1941): 1398-1406; G. Schaefer. “The History of Turkey Red Dyeing,” Ciba Review 39 (1941): 1407-1417; R. Haller, “The Chemistry and Technique of Turkey Red Dyeing,” Ciba Review 39 (1941): 1417-1422; R. Haller, “The Application of Indigo in Textile Printing,” Ciba Review 85 (1951): 3083-3085; R. Haller, “The History of Indigo Dyeing,” Ciba Review 85 (1951): 3077-3082; R. Haller, “The Production of Indigo,” Ciba Review 85 (1951): 3072-3076; and W.A. Vetterli, “The History of Indigo,” Ciba Review 85 (1951): 3066-3071. 47 H. Wescher, “Dyeing in France before Colbert,” Ciba Review 18 (1939): 618-625; H. Wescher, “Great Masters of Dyeing in 18th Century France,” Ciba Review 18 (1939): 626-642; H. Wescher, “The French Dyeing Industry and its Reorganization by Colbert,” Ciba Review 18 (1939): 643-648; H. Wescher, “Great Masters of Dyeing in 18th Century France,” Ciba Review 18 (1939): 626-642; H. Wescher, “The Normandy

21

John J. Beer, who chose textile dyeing as the topic for his 1954 Master’s Thesis, Science and the French Dye Industry, 1667 - 1815, sustained this interest for dye-history.48 In 1996, the European Science Foundation’s four-year research program “The Evolution of Science: Chemistry in Europe, 1789-1939,” organized a workshop to cover the history of natural dyestuffs. The papers presented at this conference were compiled and published in 1999 as Natural Dyestuffs and Industrial Culture in Europe, 1750-1880.49 This research has significantly increased our knowledge of the scientists and academicians who were involved in the important textile dye industry. It also made us aware of the many established scientists, who in addition to their well known theoretical work were involved with research in applied chemistry that was directly aimed at the French textile industry. These published research-papers carefully examined textile dyeing outside of France and the theoretical and practical progress that took place there. They addressed specific local problems in England, Holland, Italy, and Spain.50 Augustí Nieto-Galan maintained this focus with his work on natural dyestuffs and their use in industrial Europe.51 Other

Textile Printing Industry of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century,” Ciba Review 135 (1959): 27-33; H. Wescher, “Rouen and Its Port in Olden and Modern Times,” Ciba Review 135 (1959): 2-6; H. Wescher, “The “Rouennerie” Trade and Its Entrepreneurs,” Ciba Review 135 (1959): 14-20; H. Wescher, “Turkey Red Dyeing,” Ciba Review 135 (1959): 21-26. 48 Master’s Thesis, University of Illinois (1954). 49 Augustí Nieto-Galan and Robert Fox, eds. (Canton, 1999). 50 Richard L. Hills, “James Watt and bleaching,” 259-282; Geert Verbong, “Dutch calico printing industry between 1800 and 1875,” 198-218; Luisa Dolza, “How did they know? The art of dyeing in late-eighteenth-century Piedmont,” 129-159; Augustí Nieto-Galan, “Dyeing, calico printing, and technical exchanges in Spain: the Royal Manufactures and the Catalan textile industry, 1750-1820,” 101-128. In Natural Dyestuffs and Industrial Culture in Europe, 1750-1880, eds. Robert Fox and Augustí Nieto-Galan. (1999). 51 Augustí Nieto-Galan, Colouring Textiles A History of Natural Dyestuffs in Industrial Europe. (Dordrecht, 2001).

22 studies have also focused on the literature itself, like Leslie Gordon Lawrie’s survey, A Bibliography of Dyeing and Textile Printing, published in London in 1949, and C. O. Clark’s article: “List of Books and Important Articles on the Technology of Textile Printing,” published in the periodical Textile History.52 The major all-embracing book about textile dyeing was written by Franco Brunello. His examination included a very brief account of textile printing in the eighteenth century, the period when these textiles became extremely fashionable in Europe.53 Unfortunately, a comprehensive study of European textile printing in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries does not exist, but information about the development of textile printing in different European countries, as well as studies of particular textile printing factories do exist. Since textile printing with mordants was developed in the Far East and the Middle East before this technology was brought to Europe via international trade and espionage, a large section of the literature has focused on this trade and the transfer of their printing methods. In addition, researchers have looked at the involvement of several oriental trading companies: in the Netherlands De Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC), in England the United East India Company (UEIC) and in France the Compagnie Française des Indes. They focused particularly on Indian textile painting and printing and the Indian textile trade, which was directed towards both the West and the East.54 This trade, the demands created by the European market and designs of these textiles have been closely examined in The Origin of Chintz.

52 Leslie Gordon Lawrie, A Bibliography of Dyeing and Textile Printing: comprising a list of books from the sixteenth century to the present time (1946). (London, 1949); C. O. Clark, “List of Books and Important Articles on the Technology of Textile Printing,” Textile History 6 (1975): 89-118. 53 Franco Brunello, The Art of Dyeing in the History of Mankind, trans. Bernhard Hickey. (Vicenza, 1973):246-267. 54 Gittinger, Master Dyers to the World: Technique and Trade in Early Indian Dyed Cotton; Guy, Woven Cargoes Indian Textiles in the East.

23

Art historians have focused their research on special designs unique to these textiles and their artistic developments. Other historians addressed the economic and social history of the Indian and the European textile printing industries. These researchers have often concentrated their investigations on particular geographical areas, taking into account the textiles’ local characteristics arising from improvements introduced by local manufacturers. In the eighteenth and early nineteenth century, the European printed textile industry was extremely interconnected. Craftsmen often apprenticed and worked with many different manufacturers in several countries before they settled down permanently. If they were fortunate, they acquired financial support and could start their own establishment. The two textile printing enterprises that Berthollet chose to work with and referred to in his dye books were Oberkampf’s manufacture in Jouy-en- Josas, and Haussmann’s manufacture in Logelbach.55 These enterprises were both excellent examples of international relationships and of textile printing workshops where an amalgamation of craft knowledge from several different sources took place. Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf, who was trained in Germany and Switzerland before he settled in France, directed the factory at Jouy-en-Josas. He practiced in Basel with the well-known textile printer, Jean Ryhiner (in German Johannes Ryhiner) whose father, Samuel Ryhiner, had trained in Holland.56 The Haussmann et Frères’ factory in Logelbach was directed by Jean-Michel Haussmann, who learnt textile printing from Johann Heinrich Schüle in Augsburg at the successful German textile printing

55 Berthollet, (Paris, 1791); Claude-Louis Berthollet, Elements of the Art of Dyeing, trans. William Hamilton. (London, 1791) [Berthollet, (London, 1791)]; Berthollet, 1804; Claude-Louis Berthollet and Amedée Berthollet, Elements of the Art of Dyeing with a Description on the Art of Bleaching by Oxymuriatic Acid, trans. Andrew Ure. (London, 1824) [Berthollet, (1824)]; and an expanded version Elements of the Art of Dyeing and Bleaching, with annotation by an experienced practical Dyer and Calico Printer, trans. Andrew Ure. (London, 1841) [Berthollet, (1841)]. 56 Brunello, 246.

24 company, Schüle et Cie.57 Due to this close contact between the textile printers, it is imperative to know how the textile printing processes were implemented in the different European countries before it is possible to determine where and when new chemistry, new technology, or other modifications of printing methods were adapted by the French factories. It is also the basis for determining whether the French scientific community or the craftsmen themselves initiated these improvements. Only then can the French scientists’ and the academic community’s contribution to the progress of the manufacturing methods be evaluated. Through oriental trade, the Dutch had early access to Indian printed textiles. In 1602 the VOC began to bring oriental porcelain and Indian printed textiles to the Netherlands. Both the commerce and the circumstances for textile printing in the Netherlands have been addressed by many Dutch researchers. Sits: oost-west relaties in textil focused on the oriental trade, as well as local Dutch production.58 Dutch economic and social historians have studied Dutch textile printers, as well as the government regulations that controlled this industry in the Netherlands. The most comprehensive study was by Willem Johannes Smit.59 Vibeke Kingma’s research concentrated on cotton printing in Amsterdam between 1670 and 1820.60 The Dutch material is very important in a European context, not only because textile printing with mordants was

57 Jean-Marie Schmitt, “Notice Haussmann.” In Nouveau dictionnaire de bibliographie alsacienne. (Strasbourg, 1990). 58 Ebeltje Hartkamp-Jonxis ed. Sits: oost-west relaties in textile. (Zwolle, 1987); Bea Brommer ed. Katoendruk in Nederland. (Den Haag, 1989); Ebeltje Hartkamp-Jonxis, “Katoendrukkerijen in de Nordelijke Nederlanden 1678-1820.” In Bea Brommer ed. (1989): 17. 59 Willem Johannes Smit, De Katoendrukkerij in Nederland tot 1813. (Rotterdam, 1928). 60 Vibeke Kingma, De opkomst en neergang van de katoendrukkerijen in en rond Amsterdam, 1700-1820. (Amsterdam, 1996).

25 established in the Netherlands as early as 1679,61 but also because of the number of European textile printers who trained with the printers in Amsterdam before they settled in other countries where they established their own successful enterprises. The Swiss textile printing industry became an important influence on textile printing in the eighteenth century. Samuel Ryhiner had travelled to Holland and trained as a textile printer in Amsterdam; after his return to Basel in 1716 he started a small printing establishment.62 In 1766, his son Jean, who continued the tradition, wrote his Traité sur la fabrication et le commerce des toiles peintes.63 This was a comprehensive handwritten manual for textile printing that included his perception of the management of a successful business.64 Printers who apprenticed with him, such as Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf, must have been familiar with this system, as well as his printing methods;65 his ideas made a great impact on the printing industry throughout Europe. Alice Dreyer studied the development of the industry in Neuchâtel and focused predominantly on political implications, as well as economic impact. She examined Neuchâtel’s international trade. 66 Her research was followed in 1951 by Dorette Berthoud’s general overview of the industry in Neuchâtel,

61 Hartkamp-Jonxis, “Katoendrukkerijen”, 17. 62 Brunello, 246. 63 Monique Drosson,“ Le parfait directeur de manufacture.” In Le Coton et la Mode, 1000 ans d’aventures, Musée Galliera (Paris, 2000): 130-133. 64 Daniel Dollfus-Ausset, who was one of the founders of La Société Industrielle de Mulhouse as well as founder of Musée de l’Impression in Mulhouse where this handwritten book is kept. “Tableau des drogues employées dans la fabrique d’impression sur étoffes de J. Ryhiner, à Bâle, en 1766.” In Matériaux pour la coloration des étoffes, Daniel Dollfus-Ausset, vol.2 :246-248. (Paris, 1865). 65 Serge Chassagne, Oberkampf: Un entrepreneur capitaliste au Siècle des Lumières. (Paris, 1980): 26. 66 Alice Dreyer, Les Toiles peintes en pays Neuchâteloise. Thèse présentée a la Faculté de Droit de l’Université de Neuchâtel Section, des Sciences commerciales. (Neuchâtel, 1923).

26 including the methods used there for printing with madder and indigo.67 Pierre Caspard‘s work focused “on the demographic structure and technology in the cotton printing industry,” and examined the labour situation of the textile printers, particularly concentrating on the female calico painters.68 Germany and Austria showed early interest in investigating printed textiles from their own collections. Donald King’s article, “Textiles and the Origin of Printing in Europe”, revealed that several evaluations of these old church textiles were published before the turn of the century. Robert Forrer pursued his research on printed textiles with his innovative, significant as well as extensive studies, and published Die Zeugdrucke in 1894, followed by Die Kunst des Zeugdrucke vom Mittelalter bis zur Empirezeit in 1898.69 The numerous medieval printed textiles which are still in existence in German collections became an incentive for further studies of these unique examples of early printed textiles.70 In 1963, Emil Ernst Ploss continued this research and wrote a comprehensive study of old dyestuffs, with a separate chapter about textile printing.71 The textiles printed with mordants in the “ostindischen Manier” were the focal point for Johannes Hugo Koch’s book, aimed at addressing innovative textile printing methods.72 The most comprehensive study of German textile printing was done by Martin Knorr in a substantial

67 Dorette Berthoud, ”Garange et indigo.” Chap. 2 in Les Indiennes Neuchâteloise. (Neuchâtel, 1951): 27-47. 68 Pierre Caspard, “The Calico Painters of Estavayer: Employers’ Strategies toward the Market for Women’s Labor.” In European Women and Preindustrial Craft, ed. Daryl M. Hafter. (Bloomington, 1995): 108-136. 69 Quoted in King, 23-30. 70 E.g. Renate Jacques, Mittelalterlicher Textile Druck am Rhein. 71 Emil Ernst Ploss, “Der Zeugdruck.” In Ein Buch von alten Farben: Technologie der Textilfarben im Mittelalter mit einem Ausblick auf die festen Farben. (Heidelberg and Berlin, 1963): 88-96. 72 Johannes Hugo Koch, Mit Model, Krapp und Indigo: Vom alten Handdruck auf Kattun und Leinwand. (Hamburg, 1984): 7.

27 manuscript Mit Druckform, Krapp und Indigo, important although unfinished; it includes illustrations, print designs, and economic studies.73 The British had been eager consumers of imported printed textiles and in 1921 George P. Baker wrote a review of the Indian methods used in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.74 Sergio Aiolfi extended this in 1987. He stressed the importance of the British East India Company for the European consumption of Indian cottons, and the company’s trade policies.75 As early as 1862, Charles O’Neill published A Dictionary of Calico Printing and Dyeing, followed in 1878 by the two-volume publication, The Practice and Principle of Calico Printing, which entirely focused on the British industries and their successes. This was followed by Edmund Knecht and James Best Fothergill’s book The Principle and Practice of Textile Printing, first edition published in 1912. This book contained eighty-four genuine dyed textile samples. For the third edition, published in 1936, the book had been expanded to sixteen hundred and forty-eight pages with two hundred and nineteen textile samples tipped in. Peter Floud and Barbara Morris wrote several articles from 1956 to 1958, aimed at collectors as well as the general public.76 They presented the historic development of the design of antique British textiles. However, the most comprehensive overview of English printed textiles was published in 1960 by Florence M. Montgomery. Her work incorporated English textiles printed specifically for export to North America and locally produced American printed

73Hamburger Staatsarchiv No. 987. 74 George P Baker, Calico Painting and Printing in the East Indies in the XVII and XVIII Centuries. (London, 1921). 75 Sergio Aiolfi, Calicos und gedrucktes Zeug: Die Entwicklung der englischen Textilveredlung und der Tuchhandel der East India Company 1650 – 1750. (Wiesbaden, 1987). 76 For a list of their publications see Florence M. Montgomery, “Section 2: Stylistic Progression in Chintz Design.” In Printed Textiles English and American Cottons and Linens. (New York, 1960): 362.

28 textiles, in addition to an outline of previous textile research.77 S. D. Chapman traced the history of many different English textile printing factories, their labour force, and production methods, as well as their vast economical importance. In 1981, Chapman and Serge Chassagne collaborated on a comparative study of factory developments and business practices in England and France in the eighteenth century. They based their studies on the Peel factory in England and Oberkampf’s manufacture in France.78 Even countries farther away from the European centres for textile printing in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries have researched their own industry. Sweden began textile printing with mordants in 1727, after a textile printer from London, De Broen, was persuaded to move to the Stockholm area where he started a textile printing establishment in Nacka.79 In 1942, Ingegerd Henschen wrote on early Swedish textile printing.80 After her death, extracts from her research notes and published articles were edited into a companion volume, highlighting specific topics in Swedish textile printing during the period 1720 to 1815.81 French silk textiles had been recognized as superior, both in design and technical accomplishments. Productivity at the major French factories was extensive, and international trade became an important economical factor. The producers of printed textiles aspired for dominance in the local French market along with influence over international trade. Printed textiles from Oberkampf’s

77 Montgomery, Printed Textiles English and American Cottons and Linens. 78 S. D. Chapman and Serge Chassagne, European Textile Printers in the Eighteenth Century A Study of Peel and Oberkampf. (London, 1981); S. D. Chapman, “Quantity Versus Quality in the British Industrial Revolution: The Case of Printed Textiles,” Northern History 21 (1985): 175-192; “David Evans & Co. The Last of the Old London Textile Printers,” Textile History 14 (1983): 29-56. 79 Ingegerd Henschen and Ingrid Frankow eds. Kattun tryck: Svenskt tygtryck 1720- 1850. (Stockholm, 1992): 10. 80 Ingegerd Henschen, Tygtryck i Sverige I Före 1700. (Uppsala, 1942). 81 Henschen and Frankow.

29 manufacture were a huge success. Their outstanding designs were acknowledged, while their production methods were pioneering new chemical and technical developments. The French started quite early to gather information about these important industries and their accomplishments. In 1846, Jean François Persoz published a major work on textile printing.82 The first four volumes explained the dye methods. Each stage of the process was verified by an actual textile sample attached in the book where the corresponding text discussed the printing process and how this was carried out by the French manufacturers. The fifth volume contained drawings of different machinery used by the industry. The scientific study of textile printing continued with Daniel Dollfus-Ausset’s two-volume work, Matériaux pour la coloration des étoffes, published in Paris, in 1865. Dollfus-Ausset was one of the founders of La Société Industrielle de Mulhouse, which published the Bulletin de la Société Industrielle de Mulhouse, which often included studies of textile printing. The 1988 issue of this periodical was devoted to Haussmann’s manufacture of printed textiles.83 Daniel Dollfus-Ausset was also one of the founders of the Musée de l’Impression sur Étoffes in Mulhouse, the museum that today owns the largest collection of printed textiles and textile designs in the world. In 1910, the chemist Joseph Dépierre published his extremely far- reaching book on the history of hand printed textiles, L’Impression des tissus spécialement l’impression à la main à travers les ages et dans les divers pays. This publication gave a detailed historical overview and connected with literary

82 Jean François Persoz, Traité théorétique et pratique de l’impression des tissus, 5 vol. (Paris, 1846). 83 Bulletin de la Société Industrielle de Mulhouse, 810, 1988: Jacqueline Jacqué, “Les chefs de pièces de la manufacture Haussmann,” 23-24; “Les motifs des tissues Haussmann,” 39-41; "Quelques aspects de la technique d’impression,” 33-34; Doru Todericiu, “Jean-Michel Haussmann ‘meilleur teinturier de France’ et pionnier de l’industrialisation de la chimie,” 25-27; Jean-Marie Schmitt, “Les Etablissements Haussmann de 1775 à 1830: contours et repères,” 13-22.

30 sources in the printed textiles such as the Ramayana, Homer’s Iliad, Ovid’s Methamorphoses and Pliny’s Natural History.84 Furthermore, it established when textile printing began in different European countries. For France, it recorded when the laws limiting and restricting textile printing took effect, and disclosed when and where the many different factories were established. In 1912, Eldgar Depietre focused on the French political attitudes towards textile printing.85 He addressed what he defined as two different types of textiles: 1) The painted textiles named correctly indiennes, imported from the orient, 2) The printed textiles that from the middle of the seventeenth century were produced in France but were also called toiles peintes or indiennes in France. The ban introduced in 1686 covered both these groups. This “double-ban” as Depietre referred to it, not only covered imported textiles but also stopped a national industry that just wanted to copy the Indian originals. Such restrictions were usually introduced to protect local manufacturers producing a similar product, but Depietre suggested that this ban was introduced because of the workers’ lack of skills to fix colours permanently on cotton. In 1686 French textile printing skills were rudimentary and the government doubted that it was possible to perfect the method and at the same time create a product that could compete with the English. The technical conditions in France were improved thanks to foreigners, when consumers, labourers and economists demanded that the ban be lifted. It was finally abolished in 1759. Serge Chassagne addressed the political, economic, and industrial history behind the cotton trade along with its modification and production.86

84 Joseph Dépierre, L’Impression des tissues spécialement l’impression à la main à travers les ages et dans les divers pays. (Mulhouse and Cernay, 1910): 2-4. 85 Edgard Depitre, La toile peinte en France au XVIIe et au XVIIIe siècles, Industrie, Commerce, Prohibitions. (Paris, 1912). 86 Serge Chassagne, Le coton et ses patrons: France, 1760 –1840. (Paris, 1991). Chassagne has published extensively on the development of the French cotton industry as well as on the textile printing industry in France. For a more comprehensive list of his work see the bibliography

31

His research also extended into the manufacture of printed textiles in his book on Oberkampf.87 Later, in 1981, he published a book about the unique business relationship that existed between this successful textile printer, Oberkampf, and the wife of his financial partner, Madame de Maraise.88 Chassagne has also written about textile printing establishments in other districts of France.89 Individual enterprises have been researched independently as well. Oberkampf’s manufacture, probably the most illustrious textile printing institution in the eighteenth century, has received a great deal of attention.90 In 1912, Henri Clouzot published the first of his books.91 The research into Oberkampf‘s enterprise was expanded in 1989, when the curator at the museum in Jouy-en-Josas, Josette Brédif, wrote a much more comprehensive study, which included both the printing processes and the rich variations in designs achieved by this unique manufacturer.92 Mélanie Riffel and Sophie Rouart followed and broadened our knowledge further.93 Here, segments of the text were based on the manuscript, Mémorial de la manufacture de Jouy, which had just been donated to the museum. It was written in 1859 by Gottlieb Widmer with the cooperation of Oberkampf’s granddaughter, Natalie Labouchère, and “set down their own memories of the factory: …for my memories of Jouy are fast-dye, and half a century has not faded them”94.

87 Chassagne, Oberkampf: Un entrepreneur capitaliste au Siècle des Lumières. 88 Serge Chassagne, Une femme d’affaires au XVII siècle; la correspondance de Madame de Maraise, collaboratrice d’Oberkampf. (Toulouse, 1981). 89 Serge Chassagne, La manufacture de Toile Imprimées de Tournemine-les-Angers (1752-1820) Etude d’une entreprise et d’une industrie au XVIIIe siècle. (Guingamp, 1971). 90 There are a vast number of books and articles that over the years have been published about this factory and its founder, Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf. 91 Henry Clouzot, Tradition de la toile peinte en France, la manufacture de Jouy, 1760-1843. (Versailles, 1912). 92 Brédif, Printed French Fabrics Toiles de Jouy. 93 Riffel and Rouart, Toile de Jouy: Printed Textiles in the Classic French Style. 94 Widmer, 49. Quoted in Riffel and Rouart, 202.

32

In 1926, Henri Clouzot reworked and expanded his book on Oberkampf in order to present a more comprehensive overview of French textile printing and included a huge number of eighteenth century textile prints.95 When an exhibition of printed textiles was on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, his book was translated into English and Frances Morris added a section on English and American textile printing.96 This was followed in 1942 by Henry-René D’Allemagne’s book.97 Other geographical regions in France have also received special attention and in 1924 Victor Dauphin had already published his research on the Anjou district.98 This was followed by Pierre Dardel’s studies on seventeenth and eighteenth century textile printing in the Rouen and Bolbec districts in 1940.99 Bernhard Roy’s research on the production, as well as the textile trade from the port city of Nantes was published in 1949.100 Céline Cousquer continued this research on textile printing in Nantes. Her book, published in 2002, also addressed the printed textiles specifically made for the French slave trade.101 The area around Arles has a longstanding tradition in the use of printed textiles for their traditional costumes, which was the focus for Odile and Magali Pascal.102 Likewise, Provence is still known today for the unique style of its printed cottons and

95 Henry Clouzot, Histoire de la manufacture de Jouy et de la toile imprimée en France. (Paris, 1928). 96 Henry Clouzot and Frances Morris, Painted and Printed Fabrics. (New York, 1927). 97 Henry-René D’Allemagne, La toile imprimée et les Indiennes de traite. (Paris, 1942). 98 Victor Dauphin, Les manufactures de toiles peintes et imprimées en Anjou. (Angers, 1924). 99 Pierre Dardel, Les manufactures de toiles peintes et de serges imprimées a Rouen et a Bolbec aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles. (Rouen, 1940). 100 Bernard Roy, Une Capitale de l’Indiennage: Nantes. (Nantes, 1948). 101 Céline Cousquer, Nantes: une capitale française des indiennes au XVIIIe siècle. (Nantes, 2002): 151-154. 102 Odile Pascal and Magali Pascal, Histoire du costume d’Arles. (Verone, 1992).

33 their history became the focal point for a special exhibition at the Musée de l’Impression sur Étoffes in Mulhouse.103 In 2014, the latest addition to further our knowledge about printed textiles and their use was written by Susan W. Green, Wearable prints, 1760- 1860: History, Materials, and Mechanics. Green attempts to address the science behind the new and improved methods and the newly developed dyes, as well as the fashion for printed textiles in clothing, which changed dramatically during this period. Much of the research into the history of European textile printing focused on design, distinctiveness in textiles from different geographical areas and the very lucrative textile trade. We have only a limited knowledge of the chemical and technical aspects of this industry; the question of the influence as well as the adaptation of studies in applied science aimed at the textile industry has not been addressed. The two factories that Berthollet chose to work with for his dye book, Oberkampf’s in Jouy-en-Josas and Haussmann’s in Logelbach, have both been examined and documented by French researchers. Consequently, it is possible to relate their scientific, as well as their artistic accomplishments directly to their textile production, while differentiating between the transfer of craft knowledge that occurred between artisans and the improvements and new knowledge initiated by académiciens and scientists.

103 The accompanying book (exhibition catalogue) was titled Piqué de Provence. Couvertures et jupons imprimé de la collection André-Jean Cabanel XVIIIe-XIXe siècles. (Aix-en-Provence, 2000). This topic was also addressed by Kathryn Berenson, Quilts of Provence: The Art and Craft of French Quiltmaking. (New York, 1996).

III. THE ENLIGHTENMENT IN FRANCE:

INTRODUCING NEW IDEALS AND NEW WORKING RELATIONS

BETWEEN SCIENTISTS AND THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT

To study the unique relationship between academic sciences and traditional crafts in eighteenth century France is both fascinating and challenging. The Enlightenment or the Age of Reason, spanned most of the eighteenth century, and was characterized by a rational and scientific approach to religious, social, political and economic issues. In France the Enlightenment was epitomized in the Encyclopédie and embraced by its co-editor Denis Diderot. Étienne Bonnot de Condillac (1714-1780) was part of the same circle as Diderot and Jean- Jaques Rousseau (1712-1778). François Arouet, known as Voltaire (1694- 1778), was also central to the Enlightenment. During this period, the concepts of theoretical knowledge and handicrafts were revised significantly as new and expanded interpretations were established for both these concepts. The perception of science changed significantly during the Enlightenment in the era of the Ancien Régime, and also during and immediately after the French Revolution; so too did the practice of science. These changes have been addressed by several authors.104

III. 1. THE ACADÉMIE DES SCIENCES

When chemists and other savants during the Ancien Régime wanted to introduce their new and innovative concepts, France already had a well- established forum for presenting novel scientific ideas. Here the scientists could

104 William Clark, Jan Golinski, and Simon Schaffer, eds. The Sciences in Enlightened Europe. (Chicago, 1999); Thomas L. Hankins, Jean D’Alembert: Science and the Enlightenment. (Oxford, 1970); Thomas L.Hankins, Science and the Enlightenment. (Cambridge, 1985); Robert Fox, The Culture of Science in France 1700-1900. (Aldershot, 1992); Charles Coulston Gillispie, Science and Polity in France at the End of the Old Regime. (Princeton New Jersey, 1980).

34 35 put forward their latest research and new theories to an audience of their peers at the meetings of the prestigious Académie des sciences whose members were also responsible for publishing their annual volume of Mémoires. This gave the members of the Académie the possibility to have their works published and subsequently reach a much wider audience, including subscribers in other countries. Maurice Crosland referred to the academy as “one of a very small number of organisations which had a permanent influence on modern science”105. The Académie des sciences was created soon after the Royal Society in London, but in addition to its scientific purpose, it would address Minister Jean- Baptiste Colbert’s (1619-1683) and Louis XIV’s aim to centralize all French cultural activities around the monarch. As Roger Hahn expressed it “Colbert managed to force a new scientific organization built on the convergence of interests of the new science and the absolutist state”106. The new academy’s meetings were to be held in the King’s library and their first official assembly was held on December 22nd 1666. The fifteen original members were selected exclusively because of their competence in scientific matters. It had two subdivisions; the mathematical, which would include all the exact sciences, and the physical, which involved the more experimental sciences, such as physics, chemistry, anatomy, and botany.107 In 1699 the Académie des sciences carried out a major re-organisation, which increased the membership as well as separated the members into three classes; honoraires, pensionnaires and associés. The first class was limited to

105 Maurice P. Crosland, Science under Control The French Academy of Sciences 1795-1914. (Cambridge, 1992): xiii. The two major studies of the academy are Maurice Crosland’s, which cover the later period and Roger Hahn, The Anatomy of a Scientific Institution: The Paris Academy of Sciences, 1666-1803. ( Berkeley, 1971), which covers the establishment as well as the early years. 106 Hahn, 16. 107 Hahn, 4-16.

36 ten members, while the two others were restricted to eight members each.108 This exclusivity gave the title of académicien importance, which would benefit the scientists. As a result they had a considerable advantage in securing remunerative employment, such as at the Royal manufactories which were state owned.109 The most powerful group of the academicians were the group Hahn described as the “professionals, the working academicians who were in constant attendance … sitting on all the individual and ad hoc committees appointed to expedite the society’s daily business, and generally monopolizing the pages of the Histoire et Mémoires”. Furthermore, “By its publications, it could communicate the new-found-truth to others and aid in turning the Enlightenment’s dream of progress into reality”110.

III. 2. THE ENCYCLOPÉDIE

When it came to the sciences and their relation to practical matters and industry, the Enlightenment is epitomised in the Encyclopédie, which Philipp Blom referred to as “the greatest intellectual enterprise of its century”111. Diderot and D’Alembert’s Encyclopédie offered another opportunity for savants to bring together scientific knowledge and craft practice. It served as a forum for contemporary scientific debate. In addition to theoretical and philosophical content, the Encyclopédie included the foundations of the useful as well as practical arts, and was organized into three sections.112 The text volumes

108 Joseph Bertrand, L’Académie des sciences et les académiciens de 1666 à 1793. (Amsterdam, 1969): 47. 109 Charles Coulston Gillispie, Science and Polity in France at the end of the Old Regime. (Princeton, New Jersey, 1980): 391. 110 Hahn, 72,78, 57. 111 Philipp Blom, Encyclopédie: The Triumph of Reason in an Unreasonable Age. (London, New York, 2004): xxv. 112 In the first, the articles were organized alphabetically into seventeen text volumes (Paris, Neufchâtel, 1753-1765); second part, volumes 18-28, contained the plates,

37 included a significant number of chemical topics. According to the introduction “M. Venel … s’est chargé de tout les articles de Chimie, de Pharmacie, de Physiologie & de Médecine”113. Gabriel-François Venel’s (1723-1775) article 114 “Chymie” took up thirty-two folio pages. Jean-Claude Guédon has explored the concept of chemistry as it was presented in the Encyclopéie. He determined that there were about eight hundred and twenty-five articles covering different chemistry-related topics written by more than fifty people. Many of the contributing authors were students of Guillaume-François Rouelle (1715-1786) or medical professionals from the Montpellier district. The diverse sources, which can be identified in the individual articles, were not just based on French publications, but a significant number can be traced back to German, Dutch and English scientific books, on the sciences and natural philosophy.115 In his key article, Venel presented many of the German chemist Georg Ernst Stahl’s (1660-1734) theories, including his “support for the autonomy of chemistry"116. According to Guédon, the scientific level of the chemical articles was not inferior to the content of other contemporary works such as Rouelle’s manuscript course117 or Pierre-Joseph Macquer’s (1718-1784) Dictionnaire de chimie, published in 1766. The debate about the status of chemistry and which displayed artisans at work, and the third held the explanations accompanying these images. (Paris, Amsterdam, 1762-1777). 113 Encyclopédie, section Nommes et Auteurs & c. vol. 3, preface n.p. 114 Encyclopédie, 3: 407-38. 115 Jean-Claude Daniel Roger Guédon, The Still Life of a Transition: Chemistry in the Encyclopédie, unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Wisconsin. (Wisconsin, 1974): 33, 431, 123. 116 Jan V. Golinski,”Chemistry.” In Eighteenth Century Science: Volume 4, The Cambridge History of Science, ed. Roy Porter, 375-396. (Cambridge, 2003): 387. 117 Golinski, 388. Guillaume-François Rouelle gave popular chemistry lectures at the Jardin du Roi: see Rhoda Rappaport, “G.F. Rouelle: An Eighteenth –Century Chemist and Teacher,” Chymia 6 (1960): 68-101. Golinski pointed out in his article ”Chemistry” that the phlogiston theory as it was presented by Venel in the Encyclopédie, was an interpretation adopted from Rouelle’s lectures.

38 different chemical theories, granted the authors of the chemical texts in the Encyclopédie an opportunity to bring their ideas forward in ways aimed directly at practitioners. In addition, these articles were not just a collection of common scientific knowledge, but they essentially started a theoretical re-assessment of their science, a veritable re-examination of the discipline. The Enlightenment involved a revision of the traditional sciences and an increase in the number of scientific disciplines. This was in direct response to the changing views of nature that arose concurrently, when traditional concepts of natural philosophy began to diverge and change into distinct sciences.118 The science of chemistry experienced a significant transformation. It became an independent science, separate from mechanics and from medicine. It acquired a new nomenclature and dramatically transformed the concepts of elements and compounds.119 The philosophical debate about this discipline’s new concepts engaged both traditional natural philosophers and progressive contemporary scientists. Both factions expressed their ideas in the academies and the public forum, bringing this debate and their different opinions to the forefront of many scientific publications that became popular during and immediately following the Enlightenment.120 The fundamental impact that these

118 Thomas L. Hankins, “The Character of the Enlightenment.” Chap. 1 in Science and the Enlightenment. (Cambridge, 1985). 119 Frederic Lawrence Holmes, Eighteenth-Century Chemistry as an Investigative Enterprise. (Berkeley, 1989); Henry Guerlac, “Some French Antecedents of the Chemical Revolution,” Chymia 5 (1959): 73-112; Christoph Meinel, “Theory or Practice? The Eighteenth-Century Debate on the Scientific Status of Chemistry,” Ambix 3 (1983): 121-132; M. P. Crosland, The Society of Arcueil: A View of French Science at the Time of Napoleon I. (London, 1967). 120 David Kronick, A History of Scientific and Technical Periodicals: The Origins and Development of the Scientific and Technological Press 1661-1790. (New York, 1962); Douglas McKie, “The Scientific Periodical from 1665 to 1798,” The Philosophical Magazine, 7th ser. 39 (1948): 122-132.

39 changes had on science, and their economic importance for industry have been analysed by many scholars.121 Charles Gillispie addressed the working relationship between scientists and industries and pointed out that the situation in France was unique because of what he referred to as “the ever growing centralisation of cultural development to Paris”. The influence of the French government emerged through the responsibilities it had granted, if not imposed on the Académie des sciences which had the obligation not only to advance the sciences, but also to serve as experts and evaluate projects that could benefit and encourage French industries. However, for the French textile industry Gillispie proposed that it was not scientific influence that changed production, but rather English and Scottish know-how brought by craftsmen establishing themselves in France. John Holker who settled in Rouen was perhaps the most famous example.122

III. 3. CHEMISTRY AND TEXTILES

Gillispie recognized the textile bleaching and dyeing industries as exceptions, where science was the foundation for the changes. He suggested two ways that science could become effective in industries, one as “the exploitation of inventors, artisans and industrialists” where they applied known results from chemical sciences to benefit their production, and on the other hand “the conscious application of science to practical problems”. The latter can be applied to the French bleaching and dyeing industries. Berthollet defined the role of scientists towards manufacturing in essence as to “explain the circumstances of an operation which we owe entirely to blind practice ... But

121 Gillispie. Science and Polity and “The Natural History of Industry,” Isis 48 (1957): 398-407; Crosland, The Society of Arcueil; Archibald Clow and Nancy Clow, The Chemical Revolution A Contribution to Social Technology. (New York, 1952); John Graham Smith, The Origins and Early Development of the Heavy Chemical Industry in France. (Oxford, 1979). 122 Gillispie, Isis,400-401.

40 there is still a great number of facts we can not explain”. Gillispie considered the relationship between science and industry not just a connection between artisans and scientists, but something that becomes much more far-reaching: “The application of science to industry takes on a real meaning, then, if it is seen, not naively as the alteration of old practises by theoretical concepts but rather as an intellectual process and a chapter in the history of the Enlightenment”123. By the eighteenth century, chemists formulated a distinction between “pure chemistry,” the theoretical and philosophical aspect of their subject, including laboratory research, and “applied chemistry,” the factory science.124 Diderot described eloquently these two categories of chemists in De l’interprétation de la nature. The members of one kind “reflect,” and “have many ideas and no instruments”; he looked down on those of the other kind who “bustle about” and have “many instruments and few ideas”125. In the course of the eighteenth century, there were changes in the understanding, status and practice of chemistry; by the late eighteenth century, chemistry "was recognized as a separate science, autonomous, legitimate, based on a solid foundation and the source of applications useful to the public welfare”126. The events that brought about this movement were firmly rooted in existing chemical phenomena commonly applied to the emerging science of chemistry or “chymistry” in the seventeenth century. The inadequacy of the old system for describing and defining chemical reactions became increasingly problematic in the eighteenth century, when the rapid growth of chemical knowledge resulted in a comprehensive reform of the nomenclature, especially in the traditional field of salts. Before this reform, knowledge of chemical compositions lacked standardized methods or an internationally agreed language. Chemists used a

123 Gillispie, Isis (1957): 400-407. 124 Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent and Isabelle Stengers, A History of Chemistry. (Harvard U.P., 1996): 64. 125 Quoted in Bensaude-Vincent and Stengers, 64 126 Bensaude-Vincent and Stengers, 44

41 terminology where some materials were named after their producers, like Glauber’s salt.127 Others were named after their origin, Roman vitriol, some after their medical effects, and others after the method used to prepare them, like precipitate of sulphur.128 Guyton de Morveau (1773-1816) confronted his own concerns and opposition to this chemical chaos and initiated work towards change. He proposed that a new chemical nomenclature should be based on three principles: substances should have a fixed name, their names should reflect their composition when it was known, and the names should generally be chosen from Greek or Latin.129 A group to develop this new nomenclature was established with Guyton de Morveau, Claude-Louis Berthollet, Antoine François de Fourcroy (1755-1809), and Antoine Laurent Lavoisier (1743- 1794), who acted as their secretary. The reform of nomenclature was a collective enterprise, created to present a methodical and systematic view of the new organization of chemistry. Their efficient language was modeled on Carl Linnaeus’ (1707-1778) classification of plants, which consisted of providing two terms, the first generic the second specific.130 The new classification was exclusively founded on empirically discoverable characteristics including the specifics of a substance’s composition and, except for well-established substances like gold or iron, new names were to be from an international language. Subsequently they gave the chemical compounds a systematic binary nomenclature, according to their new principles. In 1787, the committee published its work as Méthode de nomenclature chimique.131 Their critics labeled the systematic name changes as barbaric and misleading, claiming that it was in direct conflict with an existing and well-established terminology. It

127 There is even a dictionary, Kurt G. Wagner, Autoren-Namen als chemische Begriffe: Ein alphabetisches Nachschlagebuch. (Weinheim, 1951). 128 Bensaude-Vincent and Stengers, 46. 129 William H. Brock, The Norton History of Chemistry. (New York, 1993): 116. 130 Arthur Donovan, Antoine Lavoisier Science, Administration, and Revolution. (Cambridge, 1993): 163. 131 Brock, 116.

42 was considered a direct attack against the phlogiston theory,132 which “supposed that all combustible bodies contained a common principle, that is, an element which was named phlogiston and which was released in the process of combustion”133, and it became the beginning of a prolonged, persistent, and often passionate controversy.134 However, part of the reason that this new system proved successful was that it offered a superior way of resolving questions concerning the nature of chemical composition and the classification of chemical substances. In 1789, Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier published his Traité élémentaire de chimie, présenté dans un ordre nouveau et d’après les découvertes modernes. It discussed his new oxygen theory and furthermore focused on the preparation and properties of oxides as well as their salts. In the last section of the book were illustrations of chemical instruments and how they were used. His wife Marie-Anne Pierette Paulze Lavoisier (1758-1836) made the drawings for the thirteen folding plates that presented these sophisticated chemical instruments. The major transformation came with the acceptance of this new chemical nomenclature, and entailed a change from the phlogiston theory to an endorsement of Lavoisier’s concept of oxygen. To Bensaude- Vincent and Stengers “Lavoisier’s treatise seems to be the crowning achievement of the chemical revolution and the first modern work of chemistry”135. Jan Golinski argued that “All these readings of Lavoisier’s accomplishment stress its [chemistry’s] theoretical character”. Instead, Golinski stressed the practical as well as the intellectual foundation for this new science and acknowledged that “new instruments, new experimental methods, new textbooks and a new language were the tools for the new chemistry”.

132 Brock, 78-84; Bensaude-Vincent and Stengers, 61-63. 133 Douglas McKie, Introduction to Dover Edition to Elements of Chemistry in a new systematic order, containing all the modern discoveries, by Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier, trans. Robert Kerr. (New York, 1965): ix. 134 Bensaude-Vincent and Stengers, 89. 135 Bensaude-Vincent and Stengers, 90.

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Furthermore, Golinski emphasized that “entirely new areas of chemical technology were opened up”136. It was this expansion of scientific boundaries together with the French government’s working relations with the members of the Académie des sciences that made it realistic for French scientists to utilize theoretical and applied chemistry for national economic improvements, including, as the following chapters demonstrate, the very important textile industry, involving new methods for bleaching, improved dye technology, and the burgeoning textile printing industry.

III. 4. SCIENCE, GOVERNMENT AND INDUSTRY: CHEMISTRY AND DYEING

This was the new scientific environment in France. It definitely worked in accord with the Enlightenment’s ideals. Scientists were not only addressing theoretical problems and re-defining chemical concepts, they were actively pursuing research in applied sciences. The French government had for years appointed scientists to positions that could benefit the lucrative textile industry. In 1731 the chemist Charles François Dufay (1698-1739) was appointed as the head of the Dye-Industry, followed in 1740 by Jean Hellot (1685-1766) who was appointed to Inspector for Dyes and Mining. In 1766 Pierre-Joseph Macquer took over the position as Inspector for Dye-Works to be followed in 1784 by Claude-Louis Berthollet who was appointed Inspector of Dye-Works and Director of Manufacture Nationale des Gobelins. The French government’s influence over industries can be separated into different categories. It had most authority over the enterprises owned by the crown and administered by the Batimens du roi: the tapestry weaving at Gobelins, the porcelain manufactory at Sèvres, the oriental Turkish rug shop at the Savonnerie, and the establishment for upholstery and hangings at Beauvais. Macquer’s porcelain research at Sèvres can be documented. Here he carried out more than one thousand tests “to determine by quantitative chemical analysis of

136 Golinski, 375-396.

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laboratory samples whether given clays were worth the expense of trying on the factory scale”137. When Berthollet was appointed director of dyeing at Gobelins, Fourcroy announced that he “had secured the most eligible position open to a scientist”. He was reporting directly to the Bureau of Commerce, and his mandate was “to spend all his time on experiments that would cast light upon the chemical arts and on the preparation of his treatise of dyeing”. Berthollet collected literature regarding dyeing, and prepared a questionnaire that he sent out to the textile manufacturers. This resulted in a huge collection of different practices and recipes “which were different for the application of every color to every fabric in practically every shop”. In 1791, the result of his work was published in Éléments de l’art de la teinture. Unfortunately, no original documentation has survived for Berthollet’s chemical studies at Gobelins. Nevertheless, the most important and economically beneficial of his studies was his new method for bleaching with chlorine.138 The influence of the French government was also in the form of direct incentives towards innovation and industrial development, general encouragement for the artisans, inventors and entrepreneurs as well as for improved education for both technical and artisanal instruction. The chemists appointed as inspectors for the dye industry, worked as employees of the French government. At the same time they were in direct contact with the artisans and manufacturers and could advise them regarding new research, new methods, and technical progress. When this relation worked it could unquestionably benefit the producers, improve their finished product and ensure that French manufactured textiles were of the highest quality. These new technical advancements could also speed up production time and subsequently reduce the manufacturers’ expenses, and as a result make the merchandise competitive in an international market to the benefit of the French economy. The French textile printing industry

137 Gillispie, Science and Polity, 401-403. 138 Gillispie, Science and Polity, 390, 401, 407, 409-411.

45 is a unique example of how this cooperation between scientists and craftsmen could work positively to the advantage of the industry. (Unfortunately, there are also examples where the working relation between scientist and craftsmen turned into a disaster, such as the appointment of Jacques Vaucanson as inspector general of manufactures and his difficulties with the French silk industry.)

IV. MIRACULOUS KNOWLEDGE:

TRADITIONAL DYE-MANUALS AND THE SECRETS OF THE CRAFT TRADITION

VERSUS COMMUNICATION OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE

Craftsmen were taught by a master and learned through observation. The apprentice learned his skills with guidance and under strict supervision. This had been the established method for distributing tacit knowledge in Europe from the thirteenth century. The demands on the master craftsman and his apprentice were ruled by local guilds and their regulations varied from country to country and from town to town. Handwritten manuscripts about textile dyeing and printing were the master’s handbook, but they were never intended for an audience outside the workshop. Although some may have been known and probably used with his permission by his apprentices, others were written in code to make sure unwelcome competitors could not benefit from the information. The best known edition is Jean Ryhiner’s (1728-1790) handwritten manuscript, Traité sur la Fabrication et le Commerce des Toiles Peintes, dated 1766, which today is kept in the Musée de l’Impression sur Etoffes in Mulhouse. A lesser known edition is Tobias Lang’s (1760-1836) three-volume study on textile dyeing and printing. He began his first volume in 1784 and he continued writing until 1834. Lang’s volumes are now kept in the Archives in Visby on Gotland, Sweden. These manuscripts are entirely different from the published literature on textile dyeing; a number of these books were published in the eighteenth century by well known scientists. Many of them had been appointed by the French government as Inspectors of Dye Works. Hellot published a book on wool dyeing and Macquer an acclaimed book on silk dyeing. Berthollet’s book on textile dyeing was different in that he tried to explain chemically how textile dyeing really worked. He was also the first to include textile printing on cotton in his study. The revised edition incorporated his new process for textile bleaching and discussed the practical trials that had been done in different workshops under his supervision. These books were translated into English and German, and established French scientists as the leaders in this field.

46 47

IV. 1. A IN THE CRAFT TRADITION

“L’art de la teinture est l’un des plus utiles et des plus merveilleux que l’on connaisse, et s’il en est un qui puisse inspirer à homme un noble orgueil, c’est celui-la”139. This statement by the French scientist Jean-Antoine Chaptal ( 1756- 1832) clearly defined textile dyeing as an art form, which honours the skill of dyers who took pride in creating perfection. European printed textiles from the twelfth and thirteenth century were often inexpensive copies of exclusive woven silks, and some were used as a more economical substitute in chasubles.140 While it was common in Europe to dye textile fibres, yarns and woven cloths with mordants, for printed and painted textiles the colouring pigments and methods were the same as contemporary painters used.141 Written documents describing this early process for printing textiles are rare. Although, one of the surviving painting manuals from the fifteenth century, Libro dell’Arte written by Cennino Cennini, included a section for decorating textiles, it was limited to linen or silk.142 Even though the manuscript was dated 1437, the content suggested that it was written earlier.143 In a separate chapter, Cennini explained block printing on cloth and established that only the actual outlines of the design were printed from woodblocks.144 According to

139 A Jolly, Musée rétrospectif de la classe 78: Matériel et procédés du blanchiment, de la teinture, de l’impression et de l’apprêt des matières textiles à leurs divers états. A l’exposition universelle internationale de 1900, à Paris. (Paris, 1900): 16. 140 Some still exist in European collections: N. Biriukova, West European Printed Textiles 16th-18th century, trans. K. M. Cook. (Moscow, 1973): 22. 141 For an introduction to early European textile printing, see Ploss, Ein Buch von alten Farben: Technologie der Textilfarben im Mittelalter mit einem Ausblick auf die festen Farben. 142 Cennino d’Andrea Cennini, The Craftsman’s Handbook: The Italian “Il Libro dell’ Arte”, trans. Daniel V. Thompson, Jr. (New York, 1960). 143 Brunello, 168. 144 R. Haller, “The Technique of Early Cloth Printing,” Ciba Review 26 (1939): 937.

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Cennini, the other colours should be applied by brush since “This work needs to be embellished with other colouring laid in here and there, to make it look more showy.”145. These textiles were only surface decorated with paint pigments mixed with oil or varnish, and consequently they could not withstand washing. Brunello observed that contemporary accounts mentioned a stiffness and an unbelievable stench of oil from these early printed textiles.146 The earliest known instruction for textile dyeing in Europe is a manuscript from 1429 called Marigole dei tintor,147 which Brunello considered the rulebook for dyers.148 It was published in 1501, and has been recognized as the earliest printed book on textile dyeing.149 However, the Allerley Matkel published in 1532, was probably the first printed book that dealt with dyeing and stain removing, created especially for the print medium.150 In German it was described as a Kunstbüchlein, which Sidney M. Edelstein defined as “small treatises on technological subjects written … for the ordinary person”151. The book was probably intended for household use, which may account for its popularity. The many reprint editions, including a second German edition in 1534, a French translation in 1561, followed by an English one in 1562, testify to the high esteem in which it was held.152 Still, Brunello remarked that “artisans would have received very little advantage from this book”153.

145 Cennini, 116. 146 Brunello, 210. 147 H. Wescher, “Dyeing in France”, 620. 148 Brunello, 192. 149 Lawrie, 101. 150 Sidney M. Edelstein, “The Allerley Matkel – Study of Earliest Printed Book on Spot Removing and Dyeing,” Am. Dyestuff Rept. 54 (1965): 501-509. Reprinted in Sidney M. Edelstein, Historical Notes on the Wet-Processing Industry. (New York? 1972). 151 Edelstein, “The Allerley Matkel”, 133 152 Edelstein, 132-134. Edelstein also list all the different publications of the book. 153 Brunello, 179.

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Few comprehensive books on textile dyeing exist from sixteenth century Europe. We can speculate that the reason for this is that few dyers could afford them or had any need for them.154 Traditionally, this kind of tacit knowledge was transferred through apprenticeships, and as Brunello pointed out “skills were transmitted orally rather than through the written word”155. The master dyers themselves would rely on their own handwritten recipe books. Two Greek manuscripts from about 300 AD are the oldest documents that contain a collection of dye recipes. Both these manuscripts belonged to Johann D’Anastasy, the Swedish vice-consul in Alexandria, Egypt, who in 1823 sold the major part of his papyri collection to the Dutch government. One section was donated to the Swedish Academy of Antiquities in Stockholm, where the Swedish philologist, Otto Lagercaranz studied this papyri and suggested that these two collections were both written in the same period.156 Earle Radcliffe Caley who had studied and published on both the Swedish and the Dutch papyri, recognized that the two were complementary.157 The ten large leaves that are kept in the Netherlands are commonly known as Papyrus Leydeniensis or The Leyden Papyrus, and contain a total of one hundred and eleven recipes, of which only eleven deal with preparing dyes and the methods for dyeing. This included two recipes for dyeing purple, as well as instructions for the use of alkanet (Alkanna tinctoria).158 The papyri kept in Sweden,

154 Moshe Ron, “The Sidney M. Edelstein Collection of the History of Dyeing, Bleaching and Dry-cleaning of Textiles,” Textile History 12 (1981): 118-128. 155 Brunello, 127. 156 Otto Lagerkrantz, Papyrus Graecus Holmiensis. (Leipzig, 1913). 157 Earle Radcliffe Caley made an English translation of the Leyden Papyrus, “The Leyden Papyrus X,” Journal of Chemical Education 3 (1927): 1149-1166; followed by “The Stockholm Papyrus,” Journal of Chemical Education 4 (1928): 979-1002. 158 R. J. Forbes, Studies in Ancient Technology, 9 vols. (Leiden, 1964) 4:109; Alkana or alkanet was produced from the root of Alkanna tinctoria or Anchusa tintoria, its colouring matter is dioxymethyl-anthrachinone, “…and stains the hands the colour of blood, it prepares wools for costly colours.”

50 appropriately known as Papyrus Holmiensis or The Stockholm Papyrus, consists of fifteen loose leaves and described various dye techniques. The most common dyes were alkanet, archil,159 woad,160 and madder,161 which indicate that the author or authors were familiar with both mordant dyeing, and vat dyeing for blue. An evaluation of the quality of raw materials was also included in the Swedish manuscript. The linguist K. Reinking determined that about seventy of the recipes could be reconstructed; consequently this papyri gives us an extensive understanding of wool dyeing in Hellenistic times.162 Brunello also speculated that the Greeks learnt block printing from the Egyptians.163 The monasteries played an important role when it came to preserving the knowledge of traditional handicrafts and it was also in these monasteries that some of the early European manuscripts with dye recipes originated.164 One of these early documents is the Mappae Clavicula from 821–822, which derives from the Benedictine monastery of Reichenau, but now only exists in a much later copy.165 It contains a few recipes for creating dye liquids, between instructions for metal working and pigment production. In his study on early

159 Forbes, 109. Archil (orselle or litmus) was produced from lichens like Lecanora tartara and Rocella tinctoria. 160 Forbes, 4: 110; Woad was more popular in the classical world than indigo for blue dyeing. 161 Forbes, 4: 108; Madder was well known and cultivated in the classical world. It was mentioned in Pliny’s Natural History vol. 19: 47-48; vol. 34, 94. 162 Forbes, 4: 131, 149; referred to K. Reinking, Wollfärbevorschriften aus den griechischen Papyri (Leipzig, 1938); and Die Färberei der Wolle im Altertum, manuscript about 1938, never published. 163 Brunello, 100. 164 Ploss, 155- 157, contains a comprehensive list of handwritten manuscripts in German collections. 165 Cyril Stanly Smith and John G. Hawthorne, “Mappae Clavicula; A little Key to the World of Medieval Techniques,” Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, n.s. 64 (1974).

51 dyestuffs and dye technology, Ploss emphasized that handwritten manuscripts from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries were an assembly of knowledge that contained recipes relating to many different areas such as medicine, veterinary medicine, fragments of scientific knowledge, technology relevant for different arts, as well as curiosa and memorable facts. Der Innsbrucker Handschrift from about 1330, included the technology for dye preparation and colouring, and was the oldest of these manuscripts.166 Only two of the manuscripts from the fifteenth century contained any information about textile printing. One was written in Italy by Cennino Cennini, the other was Das Nürnberger Kunstbuch from the Dominikanerinnenkloster St. Katharina zu Nürnberg; St. Catherine’s convent in Germany.167 This manuscript is believed to date from about 1460, and was an extremely important source for understanding early European textile printing. It consisted of one hundred recipes where seventy actually addressed the painting and printing of textiles. It is also the earliest source that focuses thoroughly on the technology of textile printing.168 This manuscript actually contained a section that described what Ploss referred to as “the ‘ideal’ printing method” 169. In addition, it clearly explained how to carve the woodblocks for printing, and also confirmed the use of the painters’ mineral pigments for printing textiles. Furthermore, it contained a group of formulas, which Brunello evaluated as “undoubtedly in the monastic tradition.” For him, dyeing in the fifteenth century was clearly a continuation of preceding traditions, or as he expressed it “A founded capital of technical knowledge handed down … from Classical times”170. It is intriguing that the application of gold and silver onto textiles was also addressed in Das Nürnberger Kunstbuch, since examples of such textiles

166 Ploss, 43, 98. 167 Das Nürnberger Kunstbuch was examined by Ploss. A transcript of a section of this manuscript is included in his book, 101 -123. 168 Brunello, 170-172. 169 Ploss, 93. 170 Brunello, 127.

52 survive in German collections.171 Brunello also envisioned that an important part of the function of convents and monasteries was to act as exchanges for this extremely specific, professional knowledge “A continuous exchange of technical ideas between the most advanced artisans, and the monks, who … made it available to other artisans”172. Gioanventura Rosetti’s book Plictho de l’arte de Tentori,173 was the first publication intended for dye specialists and the author stated this intention in the title “both for Master Dyers of the Greater and Lesser Arts” 174. It was published in Venice in 1548, and was an exceptionally comprehensive account of the dyers art.175 Sidney Edelstein explained that “The word Plictho was a precursor of the Italian word plico and undoubtedly means a collection of important papers or ‘instructions’”. This title was very appropriate since Rosetti affirmed in the preface that these dye recipes and processes were a collection from Venice, Genoa, Florence, and other Italian cities.176 The material was

171 The archaeologist Robert Forrer studied early printed textiles and published Die Zeugdrucke (Strassburg, 1894); Die Kunst des Zeugdrucks von Mittelalter bis zum Empirezeit (Strassburg, 1897); Die Zeugdrucke des byzantinischen, romanischen, gotischen, und später Kunstepochen (Strassburg, 1897) and donated his textile collection to the museum in Nüremberg. The other substantial collection of early European printed textiles is in the Textile Museum in Krefeld, Germany. 172 Brunello, 127. 173 Gioanventura Rosetti, The Plictho: Instructions in the Art of the Dyers which Teaches the Dyeing of Woolen Cloths, Linens, Cottons, and Silk by the Great Art as well as by the Common, 1548; trans. Sidney M. Edelstein and Hector Borghetty. (Cambridge, London, 1969). However, according to Brunello, 181, his first name is Giovanventura. 174 Brunello, 181. Brunello examined The Plichto and in his book he compared it to contemporary literature, 181-195. 175 For a discussion of the dating of the first edition as well as a complete list of editions see Sidney M. Edelstein, “The Various Editions of the Plichto,” in preface to The Plictho. (Cambridge, London, 1969): xxiv to xxviii. 176 Edelstein, preface, xiii.

53 divided into four sections; the first two addressed the dyeing of wool, cotton, and linen; the third focused on the dyeing of silk; while the fourth section considered the dyeing and tanning of leather and skins. Altogether, the Plictho contained one hundred and sixty recipes, and about two thirds of them were allocated for textile dyeing.177 Edelstein argued that “Rosetti simply wrote down the recipes and directions as he received [them] without much modification”178. However, Brunello pointed to the peculiar reality that other contemporary dyers “preferred to keep their procedures jealously secret,” and he underscored the importance of this book by the statement “all other dyeing manuals published during the sixteenth century are eclipsed by the Plictho”179. During the first half of the eighteenth century, there was an increase in the number of printed dye books, comparable with the expansion in technical works published during the same period. In the second half of the eighteenth century, the number of published works on textile dyeing tripled compared to what was in print during the first half of the century.180 However, the tradition of craftsmen’s recipe books did not disappear with the publication of dye books; instead it continued as personal notebooks for the master dyers. Hardly any of them are still in existence, but it is reasonable to believe that this was a universal and widespread system, which kept these important recipes or secrets available only for a select few; hence the textile printers would be able to maintain an edge over the competition. One of these important handbooks, Ryhiner’s Traité (1766), served as a comprehensive manual for textile printing. It contained many dye recipes and included his perception of the management of a successful printing operation. His introduction was an explanation of the Indian method for painting and printing textiles and he continued to show how this craft was practiced in

177 Brunello, 187. 178 Edelstein, preface, xvi. 179 Brunello, 183-194. 180 Lawrie, 14. There are twenty seven books listed for the early period and seventy five books listed for the later period.

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England and other countries. He was clearly aware of different regional area’s particular expertise. One chapter focused on the colouriste, the person in the factory responsible for colour substances and additives to create the desired colour and just as importantly, one that can be exactly replicated. Only five pages (from pp. 178 to 183) contain recipes, contrary to the forty-five pages (from pp. 183 to 228) which contain in alphabetic order a catalogue of the extremely important raw materials, drogues, the natural colour substances and other resources essential for the production of printed textiles. Here Ryhiner also shows the prices to illustrate how to produce these printed textiles cost effectively. Daniel Dollfus-Ausset published in his own book excerpts from Ryhiner’s manuscript, the very importante catalogue “Tableau des drogues employées dans la fabrique d’impression sur étoffes de J. Ryhiner, à Bâle, en 1766”181. The materials were all first listed in French, or what he referred to as Termes de fabrique, then in German, and were also given a chemical description. The materials were divided into seven different groups: Thickeners (15), Salts (25), Acids (4), Alkalis (6), Metals (9), Colouring materials (38), and odds and ends, or as he described them: Diverse (18), which contained everything from lamp-oil and firewood to sulphur and pins. The list gives an amazing insight into the variety of materials necessary to produce these colourful and fashionable printed textiles.

IV. 1. B THE USE OF CHEMICAL SYMBOLS IN HANDWRITTEN DYE BOOKS

BY THE TEXTILE PRINTER TOBIAS LANG IN VISBY

The personal notebooks of Swedish textile printer Tobias Lang from Visby on Gotland have also survived, but they are not well known and unfortunately have never been thoroughly studied.182 Lang started his training under the textile

181 Dollfus-Ausset, 2: 246-248. 182 Henschen and Frankow, 123-147. His dye recipe books and other papers are in the Archives in Visby, Sweden.

55 printer Breuer in Gölnitz, in his native Hungary and continued his apprenticeship in Mannheim and Heidelberg in Germany. He was initiating his Gesällwandring and on his way to St. Petersburg, when the ship he was onboard was shipwrecked outside Gotland in Sweden. The only existing printed textiles attributed to Lang’s workshop are two extremely small samples both now in Landsarkivet in Visby. However, the collection of Lang’s documents is vast. It consists of the handwritten dye-manual Practica Chemca Technica eller aller handa konstfärdiga experiment dated 1784, which contains two hundred and sixty dye-recipes in addition to Chemische Caracteren with explanations of the substances used for textile printing and dyeing. A second volume, Continuation der Practica Chemia Tecnica oder allerley künstliche Experimente, appeared in 1817 and a later variation of the dye manual was written in 1834.183 A huge collection of Lang’s business correspondence, as well as information about his involvement in other areas of industrial development on Gotland is also kept in the archive. Lang’s handwritten dye manuals demonstrate that the special symbols (chemische caracteren) he used to describe substances and chemical processes were second nature to him. He continued to use this code in all his dye manuals and he also utilized the same symbols on coloured off-prints to indicate different chemical substances added to the dyes. We do not know if Tobias Lang was taught chemistry during his apprenticeship. Nevertheless, when we compare Lang’s symbols with the symbols included in the Swedish academician Scheffer’s chemical lectures, we recognize that there is more than 93% correlation between these two sets of symbols. Since Scheffer’s book was

183 Tobias Lang, “Practica Chemia Tecnica eller allehanda konstfärdiga experiment vilka alla utarbetats genome gen flit, Gud til ära, och de efterkommande til nytta. Anno 1784.”; “Continuation der Practica Chemica Tecnica oder allerly künstliche Experimente vilka alla utarbetats genome gen flit, Gud til ära, och de efterkommande til nytta. Anno 1817.”; “Practisk Förtsettning i Färgeri, Tryckeri och andra Techniska konster, som efterhand äro påfundna eller Förbättrade, och genome gen flit utarbetad. Gud til ära, och de efterkommande til Nytta. och gagn uptecknad. Gifven Anno 1834.”

56 published in a German translation in 1779, it is reasonable to assume that during his apprenticeship Lang was introduced to chemistry, dye chemistry and chemical symbols.184 This suggests that the education of skilled craftspeople by 1784 had developed from simple teachings on the workshop floor to the inclusion of significant theoretical components.

IV. 2. COMMUNICATING SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE

“Nothing can be of more importance to the people of a manufacturing country than the cultivation of a taste for chemical and philosophical inquiries. Manufactories can not be conducted without the employment of a variety of artificial as well as natural productions, and it behooves the workmen as well as their employers, to become acquainted with the intimate nature and properties of the respective materials on which they have occasion to operate.”185 The early dye-books were assembled from existing artistic- and craft- traditions. They contained mostly dye recipes using conventional dyestuffs as well as rudimentary instructions on how to dye textiles. By the end of the eighteenth century this changed. Now, methodical books appeared written by scientists not craftsmen. Instead of repeating traditional recipes and methods, these publications were based on new discoveries, particularly in chemistry. Furthermore, they would reveal contemporary scientists’ interest in applied science and their attempts to rationalize and comprehend the colouring process itself. Berthollet’s dye books from 1791 and the expanded version published in 1804, were firmly based on this new, enlightened scientific tradition. The first

184 H. T. Scheffer, Chemische Vorlesungen, über die Salze, Erdarten, Wässer, entzündliche Körper, Metalle und das Färben; gesammlet, in Ordnung gestellt und mit Anmerkungen herausgegeben, vom Herrn Professor und Ritter Torb. Bergmann, trans. D. Christian Ehrenfried Weigel. (Greifswald, 1779). 185 Samuel Parkes, “Preface.” In Chemical Essays, principally relating to the Arts and Manufactures of the British Dominions, 5 vols. (London, 1815), 1: iii.

57 volume discussed the different steps of the dye processes and the materials used. It also demonstrated that the application of the latest chemical knowledge could be used to increase our understanding of textile dyeing. However, in the second volume, which was organized according to colours, the author was still persistently conforming to old craft practices listing different dyestuffs and methods with a catalogue of traditional dye recipes. In 1784, Claude Louis Berthollet was appointed Inspector of Dye Works and Director of the Manufacture Nationale des Gobelins. Since its reopening in 1697, this famous factory had produced tapestries for Royal use and for presentation pieces. However in the fifteenth century, the Gobelins factory had begun as a dye works, specializing in the red dye, scarlet,186and according to Berthollet “This enterprise was regarded as so rash, that the name of Gobelin’s Folly was given to the establishment; and the success which it obtained so astonished our ancestors, that they believed Gobelin had entered into a compact with the devil”187. The French government had realized the benefit of appointing chemists to the position as Inspector of Dye Works and Berthollet’s predecessors were the scientists Charles-François Dufay, Jean Hellot, and Pierre-Joseph Macquer, who each published internationally acclaimed, groundbreaking studies on different aspects of textile dyeing.188 Berthollet described the importance of their work for the development of the French dye industry. “Dufay, Hellot, Macquer, were, in succession, charged with the duty of presiding over the art of dyeing; and to their labours we owe valuable improvements”189.

186 Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1961 edition. 187 Berthollet, (1824), l: 23. 188 M. Sadoun-Goupil, “Science pure et science appliquée dans l’œuvre de Claude- Louis Berthollet,” Revue d’histoire des sciences 27 (1974): 127-145. [Sadoun-Goupil, (1974)] 189 Berthollet. (1824), 1: 29.

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Charles-François (du Fay) Dufay de Cisternay was considered the “founder of the great family of dye theorists”190. In 1575 the difference between grand teint and petit teint had officially been recognised in France and the plain-cloth dyers had been given their own guild.191 Dufay revised the governmental standards for the closely regulated French dye industry and developed a rough classification system for textile dyeing. He realized that the dyeing of textile fibres was more a chemical than a physical phenomenon. Dufay established an analytical test for control of textile dyes, which he first made public during his lecture in 1737, Observations de quelques couleurs dans la teinture. The lecture was also published that same year in Mémoires de l’Académie des Sciences. Dufay exposed the dyed cloth to different chemical and physical actions, including sunlight, and classified the quality of the dye according to the degree of resistance to different chemicals, as well as air and light.192 Jean Hellot’s concept of textile dyeing was based on a purely physical phenomenon, that colour fixation could be expressed as an imprisonment of colour atoms, which entered the pores of the fibre.193 He presented his ideas to the French academy in 1740-1741 under the title Théorie chimique de la teinture des étoffes. In 1750 he published the first systematic treatise on wool dyeing, L’art de la teinture des laines et des étoffes de laine, en grand teint et petit teint, which became the prototype for later dye books; especially those that focused on dyeing the other textile raw-materials, silk and cotton.194 The book was poorly translated into English by a country dyer who knew “but little

190 Brunello, 223. 191 Wescher: “Dyeing in France”, 624. 192 Brunello, 224-227. 193 Brunello, 227. 194 H. Wescher: “Great Masters of Dyeing in 18th Century France,” Ciba Review 18 (1939): 634-635.

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French and no chemistry,” according to the anonymous translator of the second edition.195 Pierre-Joseph Macquer was the celebrated author of the Dictionnaire de chymie published in 1766. He believed that the fastening of colour particles to textile fibers depended on the ratio of affinity between dye substance and fiber.196 Following extensive research he published an important and comprehensive book on silk dyeing, L’Art du téinturier en soie. This work was included in a major edition on arts and crafts, published by the Academy in 1759, to popularize the latest developments in technology.197 Berthollet followed their example when he published Éléments de l’art de la teinture. Here Berthollet did not only consider fiber-, thread- and cloth dyeing (the traditional dye methods), but he also referred to the particular problems that concerned the relatively new dye techniques used for printing textiles. In this book, for the first time, the different aspects of textile dyeing were given scientific, chemical explanations instead of simply containing dye recipes. It opened a methodical discussion about dyeing and was “an attempt to find an adequate set of theoretical principles to explain the chemical actions involved”198. His son, Amédée Barthélemy, worked in the small laboratory of Oberkampf’s manufacture in Jouy-en-Josas. As a result he acquired firsthand experience with dye substances, textiles and dye chemistry. He co-authored with his father an expanded version, Éléments de l’art de la teinture avec une description du blanchiment par l’acide muriatique oxygèné, which differed from the first by incorporating Berthollet’s new bleaching method. Here he presented ideas first introduced in his Essai de statique chimique, arguing that

195 “Preface.” In The Art of Dyeing Wool, Silk and Cotton translated from the French of M. Hellot,, M Macquer, and M. Le Pileur D’Apligny. (London, 1789): viii. 196 Wescher: “Great Masters of Dyeing”, 636. 197 Brunello, 231 198 DSB, 2: 74.

60 the dye molecules bond with the textiles by affinity.199 In 1824, this edition was translated to English by Andrew Ure, the author of a dictionary of chemistry and professor of natural philosophy at the Andersonian Institution, Glasgow.200 In 1841, Ure published an expanded version “revised and corrected by an experienced practical dyer and calico printer.”201. Berthollet’s own objective with this book was “to connect the theory of the phenomena presented by the art of dyeing, with the great discoveries which had effected at that period a revolution in chemistry”202. Sadoun-Goupil pointed to the importance of

199 Michelle Sadoun-Goupil, Le Chimiste Claude-Louis Berthollet (1748-1822) sa vie son oeuvre. (Paris, 1977): 142. [Sadoun-Goupil (1977)] 200 Ure, DSB vol. XIII, 547. 201 Ure's English editions are faithful translations of the second edition of Berthollet’s French original text, published in 1804. Both the 1824 edition: Elements of the Art of Dyeing with a Description on the Art of Bleaching by Oxymuriatic Acid.(London, 1824) [Berthollet, (1824)] and the 1841 English edition: Elements of the Art of Dyeing and Bleaching, with annotation by an experienced practical Dyer and Calico Printer. (London, 1841) [Berthollet, (1841)] are word for word identical in all the chapters I have worked with (except for minor updates in spelling). For the technical terminology Ure leaves the original French terms in brackets after his English translations to avoid any confusion. In the 1824 edition measurements are given in kilogrammes, while in the1841 edition it is changed to pounds. Berthollet’s notes are left at the bottom of the pages as in the French original. However, Ure includes a supplementary set of notes at the end of the book, printed in capital letters in Berthollet’s text. Here Ure expands on each topic in order information about English accomplishments and how these procedures were executed in English and Scottish factories. This section is largely expanded in the 1841 edition with the annotations of what Ure referred to as “an experienced practical dyer and calico printer.” However, I have not found the textile printer’s name or the textile-printing establishment. 202 Berthollet, 1824, 1: 30. Barbara Whitney Keyser, “Between Science and Craft: The Case of Berthollet and Dyeing,” Annals of Science, 47 (1990): 213-260, makes an evaluation of the Elements of the Art of Dyeing’s relation to contemporary chemical understanding and nomenclature, as well as compares the chemical content, the

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Berthollet’s books “Cette œuvre devint immédiatement et resta longtemps un manuel indispensable aux ouvriers teinturiers”203. Berthollet’s interest and substantial knowledge of textile dyeing traditions became clear in the first chapter, “Historical Summary of the Art of Dyeing.” He drew attention to what Pliny wrote in Natural History about the Egyptians that they “had discovered a mode of dyeing analogous to that of our printed calicos. Cloths, impregnated probably with different mordants, were plunged into a bath, in which they assumed different colours”204. In Berthollet’s time, the madder dyeing process was the only dye method where a number of different mordants could be subsequently applied to different sections of one textile before it was immersed in one coloured dye solution. After only a single dye bath this method could achieve a multicoloured textile, within the red, violet, brown and black colour range. Berthollet immediately recognized this as the only possible explanation for Pliny’s observation. Colbert had attempted to stimulate and reform the French dye industry. He introduced regulations to control the dye methods used by both dyers of grand teint (colourfast dyes) and petit teint (fugitive dyes), and also devised standardized tests, débouilli, to identify the different dyes.205 Later, the French government under Louis XV tried to improve these tests by developing a more efficient differentiation between colourfast and fugitive dyes. They turned to the Académie des sciences and in 1773 appointed Charles Francois Dufay as Inspector General of the Dye Industry. Conforming to the French enlightenment’s ideals, he wanted to understand the dye process and presented his studies in an address to the French Academy, Observations physiques sur le

descriptive system and the explanations used in the two French editions, published in 1791 and 1804. 203 Sadoun-Goupil, (1977), 28. 204 Berthollet, (1824), 1: 5. 205 John J. Beer, “Eighteenth-Century Theories on the Process of Dyeing,” Isis, 51, (1960): 21. [Beer, Isis,]

62 meslange de quelques couleurs dans la teinture.206 With this Dufay initiated a change to the concept of textile dyeing, which went from an empirically based craft to a chemically based science.

Berthollet supported the developments that took place within the international chemical community. He was also aware of the changes in the concept of how textile dyeing functioned. In his book he acknowledged the Swedish chemist Torbern Bergman’s (1735-1784) work and recognized him as the first person to give textile dyeing a chemical explanation, “Bergman is the first who referred to the phenomena of dyeing entirely to chemical principles”207. As the current Inspector of Dye Works, Berthollet was familiar with his predecessors’ understanding of the bonding between mordant, dye substance and textile fibre. Dufay had perceived this attraction as a purely chemical condition, while Hellot’s explanation reverted to a purely mechanical concept. For Macquer, the bonding was a chemical phenomenon: the mordant was a chemical intermediary between the dye and the fibre. In the revised edition of his Dictionnaire de Chymie, published in 1778, Macquer wrote a twenty-page article about dyeing where he defined the bond which existed between fibres, dyes, and mordants.208 Berthollet stated “A short while thereafter Macquer adopted this theory, and made just applications of it to the action of the mordants, and particularly of alumina”209. The concept of the colouring particles’ affinity, as well as their ability to combine with other dye substances and to textile fibres was the central

206 Beer, Isis, 23-24. Dufay’s address was published in Mémoires de l’Académie Royale des Sciences (1737): 253-268. 207 Berthollet. 1824, 1: 58; Footnote at the bottom of the page: Analyse de l’Indigo. Mém. des Savans Etrange. tom ix.; Mém. envoyé pour le prix proposé en 1776, et dans les notes sur le traité de Scheffer. 208 Beer, Science and the French Dye Industry, 159. 209 Berthollet, (1824), 1: 58. Footnote at the bottom of the page: Diction. de chim.2nd edition au mot teinture, 1778.

63 theoretical idea connected to the early scientific concept of dyeing.210 Berthollet made this theory of the particles’ attraction an important and integral part of his argument for treating textile dyeing as an applied chemical science when he presented it in Elements of the Art of Dyeing:211 “Whatever may be the physical cause of colours, the colouring particles, which it is the object of the art of dyeing to apply to stuffs possess chemical properties distinguishing them from other substances dependent on the affinities which their particles collectively exercise, as well as on the reciprocal action of these particles, and on their constitution, which disposes them more or less to assume the solid or liquid state.”212 In Berthollet’s opinion, colour substances possessed certain particular and unique affinities. This explained how the dye substance could combine with solvents, mordants and fibres. Under specific conditions the colour substance would bond with the salts or the metal oxides present in the mordants to form supercompounds.213 Berthollet explicitly defined and categorized these specific qualities, which he considered essential to the chemical abilities of the colouring molecules. “It follows from what has been stated, 1. That the colouring molecules have affinities which produce their solution and their combination, the effects of which, combining with those of their own constitution, form the differences that distinguish them from each other. 2. That they unite directly with the stuff [textile], or by the aid of an intermedium; but the stuff has relations with them according to its nature.

210 Beer, Science and the French Dye Industry, 146. 211 Beer, Science and the French Dye Industry, 165. 212 Berthollet. (1824), 1: 58-59. 213 Keyser, 234-235.

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3. That, in combining with a substance, they experience a change which modifies their colour, besides the modification resulting from the shade peculiar to the substance to which they combine. 4. That the colouring molecules differ not only from one another by these different dispositions, but likewise by the ulterior changes which they may suffer from the action of other substances, and particularly from that of the air and light.”214 For Berthollet textile dyeing was a unique chemical process. He analyzed dyeing in the same way which he would approach any other chemical question and related the dye’s chemical composition to the properties of the dye substance. This approach represented Berthollet’s view and changed textile dyeing from a craft, based on traditional recipes and accidental improvements, to a contemporary technology based on scientific knowledge and systematic improvements. Methodical analysis should be the means to determine chemical properties, which distinguished the colour particle from all other particles. He also defined the individual substance’s unique affinity and explained why the particles combined with acids, alkalis, metallic oxides, earths and fibers:215 “The means of chemical analysis which we possess, are so far from enabling us to determine the composition of the colouring particles with sufficient precision, for showing to what principles they owe their properties, that we often observe a very different composition giving rise to a colour of the same kind.”216 As one of France’s leading chemists, Berthollet’s substantial knowledge and experimental research in chemistry were confirmed in his approach to textile dyeing. After reviewing the table of contents in the first volume we can see Berthollet’s scientific intentions since he titled Section I, chapter I: “Of the Theory of Colours, and the Distinctive Properties of Colouring Particles,” and Section III: “On Bleaching by the Muriatic Acid”. A scientific approach was

214 Berthollet. (1824), 1: 62-63. 215 Keyser, 215, 232. 216 Berthollet. (1824), 1: 52.

65 clearly his aim, but in reality his explanations and treatment of the dyeing processes fall into three separate categories. The first was based on contemporary chemical science, the second was based on empirical knowledge collected from different dye factories, especially Oberkampf’s establishment; but in the last category Berthollet reverted to the old fashioned tradition of quoting recipes and methods. This craft based approach was prominent in the second volume in the section he classified: “Second Part Processes of the Art,” where he discussed methods for dyeing different colours. Berthollet was fully aware of the importance of theoretical knowledge for the different industries. He emphasized the support and significance the

French Academy had given the dye industry. “It is to the Academy of Sciences that the French owe the superiority which they enjoy in several arts, and especially in that of dyeing”217. On the other hand, he was clearly aware of the value of empirical evidence for a traditionally craft based industry. Due to his personal relations with Oberkampf, Berthollet was familiar with the production methods used for textile printing and supplemented his own knowledge with Samuel Widmer’s personal comments about the factory’s successes and failures; Berthollet quoted him extensively. He realized how important it was to learn about the craft- practices of the individual dye houses in different areas of France and corresponded with Chaptal to remain familiar with his latest research.

Nevertheless, in the second volume of his dye book Berthollet reverted to the old way that traditional dyers’ manuals were organized as he categorized the material by colour. In the section describing the Turkey red dye process, Berthollet returned to the old convention of simply listing ingredients and describing the processes step-by-step. He recorded the various raw materials used and divulged where the best materials came from for this extremely complicated and difficult process. This text became a catalogue of materials and methods selected from well-known, recognized publications on this specific method for textile dyeing. Berthollet also incorporated and referred to letters

217 Berthollet, (1824), 1: 29.

66 from people who wrote to him and described their manufacturing practices within this particular field. Since many of the factories he visited or contacted to obtain information refused to co-operate and considered their methods as mysteries or trade secrets, it is questionable how complete Berthollet’s knowledge and understanding truly were.218 A large section of the chapter on Turkey red dyeing was copied from earlier publications and he rarely referred directly to successful factory experiences. Berthollet no longer endeavored to explain the chemical reactions that took place, nor did he attempt to analyze why the manufacturers insisted on using particular raw materials from specific geographical areas. Berthollet, France’ great chemist and Inspector of Dye Works, whose objective it had been to connect the art of dyeing with developments in chemistry, did not suggest any chemical theories or make any attempt to explain the reason for the complicated chemical reactions involved in Turkey red dyeing. Instead he conscientiously repeated the dyer’s claim “that it was important for the dye process to use bullock’s blood.” This practice was certainly based on old craft traditions and superstitions rather than the new enlightened chemical science. In his book Experimental Research concerning the Philosophy of Permanent Colours, published in London in 1813, the American chemist, physician and double agent Edward Bancroft (1744-1821) tried to justify and furthermore explain the effect of oxblood: “Blood was probably first employed in this way with madder, from an expectation that the red colour of the former would augment that of the latter; though this must have been a fallacious expectation, … but I am persuaded notwithstanding, that this employment of blood is beneficial by affording some thing which contributes to fix the madder colour, though the particular part of it, which produces this effect has not been ascertained.”219

218 Berthollet. (1824), 2: 121. 219 Edward Bancroft. Experimental Researches concerning the Philosophy of Permanent Colours. (London, 1813), 2: 257-258.

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In the introduction, he clearly drew attention to Berthollet’s misconception regarding the effect of bullock’s blood in the dye process. On the other hand, Berthollet, who always aimed to give a scientific explanation to the art of textile dyeing had no justification and could not give a chemical account for the importance of this additive to the Turkey red dye process. Instead he had reverted to an artisan’s accepted method for writing dye recipes and just quoted the old craft practices and long-standing myths.

IV. 3. OTHER SOURCES FOR THE TRANSFER OF KNOWLEDGE

Factual knowledge about both dyeing and textile printing was readily available long before the ban on textile printing was officially lifted in France in 1759. When the colourful Indian cotton textiles reached Europe in the seventeenth century they fascinated consumers and produced a veritable fashion craze. The competition from these imported textiles created pressure within the old European wool- and silk-industries. The mill owners complained about the devastating effects the competition from printed textiles would have on their production, and stressed the social consequences such as loss of employment.220 They actively lobbied the French government and on October 26th 1686 a decree was introduced banning the import of painted and printed fabrics. This was followed in 1692 with a prohibition “on all wearing and use of these goods throughout the Kingdom” 221. The decree specifically singled out “toiles de coton peints aux Indes ou countrefaits dans le Royaume,” the imported painted cottons from India and specified that no imitations could be produced in France.222 This represented the beginning of what became known as the Painted Calico Quarrel, which for several years confronted supporters and adversaries

220 Chapman and Chassagne, 17. 221 Chapman and Chassagne, 104. However, both A. Juvet-Michel and Josette Brédif refer only to the edict of 1686, and they do not differentiate between the date for the prohibition on import and the prohibition on wearing toiles peintes. 222 Juvet-Michel: “The Controversy”, 1092.

68 in the debate over the freedom to manufacture.223 Apparent shortcomings in the law led to a series of revisions in the period from 1686 to 1748, when the Council of State granted no less than two edicts and eighty decrees.224 The consequence of this ban on production was that the craft knowledge of how to produce these attractive cotton textiles did not easily reach local French craftsmen. However, the handwritten dye manuals and the scientific published books with information about textile dyeing and specifically textile printing were only two of the several resources that included particulars about this craft subject. This information was also circulated through less conventional sources, hidden in plain sight.

IV. 3. A THE ENCYCLOPÉDIE

What we today frequently refer to as Diderot and D’Alembert’s Encyclopédie started out as a very limited project; to translate into French Ephraim Chambers’ two-volume English dictionary, Cyclopedia (An Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences), which had been published in 1728.225 Before the project with the Encyclopédie was finished, Diderot and D’Alembert’s limited venture had developed “into the greatest intellectual enterprise of its century”226. It consisted of seventeen folio volumes of text and eleven volumes of plates and explanations, followed by supplementary volumes. It was published over a period from 1751 to 1777 in Paris, Neufchâtel and Amsterdam. In total there were “twenty-eight volumes, 72,998 articles totaling some twenty million words written by hundreds of contributors”227. In January of 1751, before the publication of the first volume, Denis Diderot’s article on

223 Brédif, 17. 224 Chapman and Chassagne, 104. 225 For an introduction, see John Lough, The Encyclopédie.. (London, 1971); Blom, Encyclopédie: The Triumph of Reason in an unreasonable Age. 226 Blom, xxiv-xxv.. 227 Blom, xvi.

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Art was published separately.228 Here he defined the objective, justified his motive and emphasized the importance of including the arts (applied arts, crafts) as well as what we today refer to as the applied sciences in his new Encyclopédie. It was Diderot’s unquestionable intention to dignify the most unassuming of crafts and he wanted to “tear away the barrier of prejudice that had prevented the cultivated reader from appreciating the artistry of the craftsman” 229. Not only did Diderot confirm that the arts were “complex and subtle achievements of human intelligence”230, but he assumed that these arts, as they were applied, along with the artists who practiced them, were in need of considerable improvement. Diderot also considered the representation of arts as a social responsibility.231 It was therefore meant to be a positive contribution, not just by introducing new ideas, but also by teaching the foundations of the useful and practical arts and thereby improving the social welfare of artisans. Consequently, the Encyclopédie became an instrument for transmitting knowledge of technological ideas.232 The eleven folio volumes of plates with their explanations, in addition to the extra segments included in the supplementary volumes, illustrated and described existing artisans’ and craftsmen’s know-how and expertise. True to the spirit of the Enlightenment,

228 Nelly S. Hoyt and Thomas Cassirer, Encyclopedia Selections Diderot, D’Alembert and a Society of Men of Letters. (Indianapolis, 1965): 3. 229 Raymond Birn, “Words and Pictures: Diderot’s Vision and Publishers’ Perception of Popular and Learned Culture in the Encyclopédie.” In Popular Traditions and Learned Culture in France from the Sixteenth to the Twentieth Century, ed. Marc Bertrand (Saratoga Calif.: 1985):79. Quoted and translated in Birn, 76. 230 William H. Sewell, Jr., “Visions of Labour: Illustrations of the mechanical Arts before, in, an after Diderot’s Encyclopédie.” In Work in France: Representations, Meaning, Organization, and Practice, eds. Steven Laurence Kaplan and Chynthia Koepp. (Ithaca and London, 1986): 275. 231 John R. Pannabecker, “Representing Mechanical Arts in Diderot’s Encyclopédie,” Technology and Culture 39 (1998): 33-73. 232 Pannabecker, 34.

70 the editors included these artistic and technological facts and in doing so made craft knowledge, which had traditionally been kept secret by the artisans, available to a large readership.233 However, the inclusion of these segments, which described in detail the different technological processes of arts or of trades and industry, has always been controversial. Not just because of the dispute over the originality of the plates,234 but also because some of their contemporary critics disapproved of “the whole idea of filling page upon page of an encyclopedia with such sordid details”235. In the Encyclopédie, the art and technology of the industries were structured into three different parts. In the first part, the articles were organized alphabetically in text volumes. The second part contained the plates and the third held the explanations that accompanied these images. Describing technical processes and the proper tools were at times difficult for the many contributing authors, especially since the artisans used jargon and often had developed specific trade vocabularies not easily understood by outsiders.236 This was one of the reasons that Diderot encouraged the elaborate use of illustrations, or as Gillispie so eloquently expressed it, “A picture speaks what words concealed”237. Diderot wanted the illustrations to give the impression that the artists who were preparing the plates had sketched work processes, tools and machinery from real life,238 and he stressed that his

233 Guerlac, 99. 234 For a discussion about the plates and the representation of technology in the Encyclopédie see Pannabecker, 33-73, with several interesting references in his elaborate footnotes; Loch. “The technological articles and plates,” 85-91. 235 Lough, 86. 236 Cyntia J. Koepp. “The Alphabetical Order: Work in Diderot’s Encyclopédie,” in Work in France: Representations, Meaning, Organization, and Practice, ed. Steven Laurence Kaplan and Chynthia Koepp. (Ithaca and London, 1986): 250-251. 237 Charles Coulston Gillispie ed., A Diderot Pictorial Encyclopedia of Trades and Industry. (New York, 1959): 211. 238 Birn, 77.

71 authors went directly into the workshops.239 It was also Diderot’s intention to give the readers an impression of the occupational hazards.240 In his original concept this would be accomplished by an interaction between author and artisans. Unfortunately, before the work on the Encyclopédie was finished, he had become rather disillusioned and frustrated with the people employed in the workshops and felt that misinformation and secrecy obstructed his efforts.241 In the eighteenth century scientific thought was profoundly analytical, so to better understand the artistic, as well as the technological processes Diderot was determined to divide each process into smaller elements. The illustrations of mechanical art consisted of two separate segments, often printed on the same page. One was a portrayal of the people laboring in the workshops and the other image was a precise rendition of the tools and equipment of the trade. Dyeing silk at Gobelins was thoroughly illustrated, bleaching was presented, but textile printing was not mentioned at all, even in the supplementary volumes.

IV. 3. B JACQUES SAVARY DES BRUSLONS

Inspecteur Général des Manufactures, Jaques Savary des Bruslons (1657 – 1716) compiled the information for the Dictionnaire universel de commerce contenant tout ce qui concerne le commerce qui se fait dans les quatre parties du monde. It was published posthumously in three volumes in Paris in 1723 by his brother Louis Philemon. Although the book was never intended for the craft community, it contained practical information that could have been useful for both dyers and textile printers. The section about the trade with the Netherlands in the first volume includes a catalogue of imported natural dyes and their origins.242 Imports from India were a separate subdivision, which included

239 Koepp, 248. 240 Birn, 73. 241 Pannabecker, 67-68. 242 Jaques Savary des Bruslons, Dictionnaire universel de commerce (Paris, 1723) 1: colonnes 916-987.

72 textiles decorated with block printing and painting called chites. He stressed that the most beautiful textiles originated from the Kingdom of Golconda, especially Masulipatan on the Coromandel Coast.243 This district became a very important area for trade in painted and printed textiles. The débouili test was used to determine if materials made from silk or wool were colourfast.244 Dyes used to produce bon teint and petit teint were also included.245 The third volume contained information about workshops in Amsterdam that produced printed cotton textiles in the same way as they were made in India and Persia.246 This Dictionnaire universel de commerce became very popular and was reprinted a number of times, beginning in 1726. It was also translated into English. It is impossible to speculate if this very exclusive publication was ever used by ordinary crafts people. However, the scientists and academicians in Paris would certainly have had access to all this information, as well as the opportunity to pass this knowledge on to members in the crafts community.

IV. 3. C JOURNAL DE PHYSIQUE AND ANNALES DE CHIMIE

In 1785, Jean-Claude de la Métherie (1743–1817) became the editor of Journal de physique, de chimie, d’histoire naturelle des arts, avec des planches en taille-douce dédiée a M. Le Comte D’Artois (Journal de physique), a monthly periodical that was known for the publication of new scientific ideas.247 This created a problem since De la Métherie was a phlogistonist, as well as a vocal opponent of Lavoisier’s ideas. Antoine Lavoisier and the chemists interested in his new chemistry wanted to present their ideas “though a campaign of persuasion” and maintain correspondence with chemists globally”248. For that

243 Bruslons, 1: colonnes 1125-1131. 244 Bruslons, 1: colonnes 1655-1657. 245 Bruslons, 1: colonnes 1761-1762. 246 Bruslons, 3: colonnes 526. 247 Donovan, 174. 248 Bensaude-Vincent and Stengers, 89.

73 reason, in 1787 they contemplated starting a new publication. Two years later, in 1789, their new journal, Annales de chimie: ou recueil de mémoires Concernant la chimie et les Arts qui en dépendent (Annales de chimie), was presented to the Academy, and was ready to counteract the arguments of the phlogistonists.249 Douglas McKie who wrote about the scientific periodicals from 1665 to 1798 called it “the most important journal to appear between 1780 and 1789” 250. It was edited by de Morveau, Lavoisier, Gaspard Monge (1746- 1818), Berthollet, Fourcroy, Philippe Frédéric de Dieterich (1743-1793), Jean- Henri Hassenfratz (1755-1821) and Pierre-Auguste Adet (1767-1848). Between 1789 and 1815 ninety-six volumes were published in Paris. These two journals became a resource for both scientists and artisans who contributed to and read the published reports related to dyestuffs such as madder and indigo, along with studies to improve dye processes. Besides that, the periodicals published purely chemical studies such as Berthollet’s research of oxymuriatic acid, which brought about a new textile bleaching method.

IV. 3. D JOURNAL ŒCONOMIQUE

Despite the severe and long lasting French prohibition on the import of painted and printed textiles, studies into the Indian methods of textile printing were still presented in many reports that found their way into French contemporary publications. In the June issue of 1755, the Journal oeconomique published an article about the production of printed textiles at the Arsenal in Paris, as approved by the French government - despite the severe restrictions. The author stressed that the Bureau de Commerce had specifically endorsed this particular method of cold resist dyeing in the English manner. The article was illustrated by eight actual textile samples, all with a simple white design on a coloured background.251

249 Donovan, 174. 250 McKie, “The Scientific Periodical,” 7. 251 “Manufacture de Toiles Peintes,” Journal oeconomique (Juin 1755) : 144-146.

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In the June issue of the following year, the Journal oeconomique began a series of articles describing textile dyeing in India. This collection was published from June to September of 1756 and consisted of thirteen individual articles, which clearly described the methods and materials as they were employed in Pondicherry and Mazulipatan, as well as red dyeing in Palicante and blue dying in Negapatan outside of Palicante.252 Only one article, “Mémoire sur la façon de peindre les toiles dans les Indes,” directly addressed the painting and printing of multicoloured cotton textiles, which in France were known as indiennes.253 Despite the French prohibition on printing cotton textiles, the author stated “It can, however, only be a good thing to know how these people set about applying colours to their cotton cloth”254. However, this particular essay only describes two different techniques for transferring the design onto the textile. A separate article addressed the finishing methods, which was one of the characteristics of these fashionable, Indian textiles.

252 Journal oeconomique (Juin 1756) “ Mémoire Concernant les teintures des Indes,” : 44-51 ; “Article I : De la manière de teindre en rouge à Pondicéry,” : 51-60 ; “Article Second : De la Manière de teindre an rouge à Palicate,” : 60-62. Journal oeconomique (Juillet 1756) “Suite de Mémoire concernant les teintures des Indes. Article Troisième : De la façon de teindre en rouge à Mazulipatan,” : 53 –63 ; “Article IV : Teinture du fil de coton en rouge avec le seul bois de logard,” : 63-66 ; “Article V : De la manière de teindre en bleu usitée depuis Negapatan jusqu’à Palicante,” : 66-73. Journal oeconomique (Aoust 1756) “Suite de Mémoire concernant les teintures des Indes. Article VI : De la façon de teindre en bleu à Mazulipatan,”:49-53 ; “Article VII : De la manière de teindre en verd à Pondicéry,”: 53-56 ; “Article VIII: De la manière de teindre en verd à Mazulipatan,” : 56-57 ; “Article IX : De la façon de teindre en jaune à Pondicéry,” : 57-58 ; “Article X : Teinture en noir de Pondicéry,” :58-60 ; “Mémoire sur la façon de peindre les toiles dans les Indes,” 60-68. Journal oeconomique (Septembre 1756) “Suite de Mémoire concernant les teintures des Indes. De la façon de lustrer les Indiennes,” 74-89. 253 The article concerning the method for printing and painting cotton textiles was translated and included in John Irwin and P. R. Schwartz, “Appendix “B”; 119-120. 254 Journal oeconomique (Aoust 1756): 60-68.

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All the observations about the Indian process that were published in the Journal oeconomique are anonymous. Nevertheless, the editors mention how they obtained this material: “A wise citizen of the town of Amiens brought to light the memoirs of one of his friends containing everything he had seen and even had had demonstrated to him”255. This clearly implies that the information was the result of the author’s personal observations. Other references in the text indicate that he had also been in contact with the Compagnie des Indes. In an effort to identify the author P. R. Schwartz, the former Director of the Musée de l’Impression sur Étoffes in Mulhouse, studied and compared the texts in the Journal oeconomique with other known descriptions of the process, primarily Beaulieu’s manuscript and Father Courdoux’s letters, but despite some glaring similarities he was not able to positively identify the author.256

IV. 3. E P. J. MACQUER: STUDIES ON DYEING

Macquer is unique among his contemporary chemists as the author of Eléments de chymie théorique in 1749, followed by Eléments de chymie pratique in 1751. In 1763 he published L’art de la téinturier en soie, before his most famous work Dictionnaire de chymie was published in 1766; an augmented and revised second edition followed in 1778. These writings were all published in Paris.257 Macquer’s Dictionnaire de chymie was the first dictionary of theoretical and general chemistry. His English translator Keir stated in the preface “I believe we may just affirm that this dictionary contains more chemical knowledge than

255 Quoted in John Irwin and Paul R.Schwartz. Studies in Indo-European Textile History. (Amedabad, 1966). The articles in the Journal oeconomique was examined in P.R. Schwartz, “New Light on Old Material,” chapter 2, part 2 in Studies in Indo- European Textile History. (Amedabad, 1966): 94-104. 256Irwin and Schwartz, “New Light on Old Material,” 94-104. 257 L. J. M. Coleby, The chemical studies of J. P. Macquer. (London 1938).

76 any one book extant”258. In the edition published in 1778, Macquer included a twenty page article on dyeing. He divided dyes into three classes:259 • Those which required no preparation (substantival dyes) • Those such as indigo which required treatment such as fermentation before they could be used • Those by far the largest class which required the use of mordant (adjectival dyes) Macquer’s dictionary was very well known and some of this information about dyes and dyeing as well as his separately published studies would have been familiar to both dyers and textile printers.

IV. 3. F HENRIC THEOPHIL SCHEFFER’S LECTURES FOR DYERS

In the end of the 1740’s the Manufacturkontoret (the Swedish Office for Industrial Development) encouraged the chemist Henrik Theophil Scheffer (1710-1759) to teach the first specialized chemistry classes for textile dyers. His area of expertise was metallurgy and he was the Director for Production at Ädelfors’ gold-mine. Scheffer became a member of the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences in 1746.260 He possessed a longstanding interest in textile dyes and textile dyeing. In 1748 he wrote a report to the Manufacturkontoret defining and explaining the difference between painting a dye solution onto textiles and dyeing with colourfast materials. He also described in detail how to dye with different dyestuffs. This was most likely what encouraged the Office to invite him to lecture for textile dyers. Scheffer’s lectures were not published until after his death. This publication, Herr H.T. Scheffers Chemiska Förelesningar (Mr. H.T Scheffer`s

258 Quoted in Coleby, (1938): 23. 259 Coleby, (1938): 91-94. 260 Axel Fredr.Cronstedt, Åminnelse-Tal Öfver Framledne Directeuren Och Kungl. Vetensk. Acad. Ledamot, Välborne Herr Henric Teoph. Scheffer. (Stockholm, 1760): 27.

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Chemical Lectures) was produced by another famous Swedish chemist, Torben Bergman, (1735-1784) who used Scheffer`s student, Patrik Ahlströmer`s handwritten notes from when he attended lectures in 1749, 1750, and 1751 as his main source.261 In 1775, the first edition of the book was published in Uppsala. Scheffer’s original text was expanded with comprehensive annotations by Bergman who related each individual segment to the latest chemical knowledge. The sixth section addressed textile dyeing and was divided into five segments: A general introduction was followed by sections on red dye, yellow dye, blue dye, and black dye. In two appendices, Bergman included an updated version of his chemical symbols and a list showing the chemicals affinities of different substances. The book was translated into German and published in Greifswald in 1779, with French and Italian editions to follow. A second expanded Swedish edition was published in Stockholm in 1796. It contained two illustrations together with Torben Bergman`s extensive commentary, which now also included references to international studies of textile dyeing. Among them was Berthollet’s Éléments de l’art de la teinture,, as well as Jean-Michel Haussman’s published dye studies. In 1802 and 1803, it was considered ground-breaking when Oberkampf invited French scientists to teach his workers chemistry and physics.262 Nevertheless, fifty years earlier the Swedes had already realized that such theoretical knowledge was essential for successful textile dyeing. Sweden is located far from the centre of Europe, where textile printing in the Indian manner became a complete fashion craze. However, for a period in the mid eighteenth century Sweden was truly in the forefront, giving lectures to the dyers in chemistry. Here they were printing textiles in the Indian manner, as well as realizing the importance of chemistry for textile dyers and employing one of their best academicians to instruct them.

261 H. T. Scheffer: Framledne Direct. Och Kungl. Vet. Acad. Ledamots Herr H. T. Scheffers Chemiska Föreläsningar. (Upsala, 1775): I. [Scheffer’s Chemical Lectures] 262 Brédif, 28.

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IV. 4. THE COOPERATION BETWEEN SAVANT AND ARTISAN

In order to determine if any collaboration was present in Enlightenment France between the scientists (particularly chemists) and the manufacturers of printed textiles, as well as to reveal the impact applied science had on this significant industry, we must first establish where such cooperation existed. One of the written sources that documents both cooperation and difficulties scientists experienced with the crafts community is Berthollet’s book Éléménts de l’art de la teinture published in 1791. The expanded second edition, which he wrote with his son Amédeé Barthélemy and published in 1804 is also a valuable source. Throughout the books, he referred to a number of scientific studies on textile dyeing, in addition to what he had learnt from craftsmen in the establishments that cooperated with him. He also expressed his frustration when the artisans refused him access, since they considered their particular processes to be mysteries and full of secrets.263 For his grand scale bleaching trials, Berthollet wrote in the book that the textile printers who undertook these tests at a manufacturing level were Samuel Widmer, Oberkampf’s nephew who worked for his uncle, and Jean-Michel Haussmann from Logelbach.264 These two textile printing establishments with a first class reputation and huge production were also in the forefront of introducing new chemical and technical innovations into their textile printing processes. “Widmer and Haussman made some trials, each in his own way, from which it was ascertained, that a liquor, composed in the portions which we have pointed out for the lixivium of Javelle might be employed with success, but with the precaution of diluting it for use with a larger quantity of water”265.

263 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 121. 264 The spelling of Jean-Michel Haussmann’s last name varies in the literature: Hausman, Haussman, and Haussmann exist. 265 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 243.

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IV. 4. A CLAUDE-LOUIS BERTHOLLET

Claude-Louis Berthollet was born in Talloir near Annecy in Savoy on December 9th 1748.266 He qualified as a physician from the University of Turin in 1768.267 However, after moving to Paris in 1772, he continued his medical studies and became a doctor of medicine at the University of Paris in 1778.268 In Paris, he also studied chemistry under Pierre-Joseph Macquer and Jean-Baptiste Marie Bucquet (1746-1780), and in 1780, when Bucquet died prematurely his seat in the Académie des sciences was given to Berthollet,269 who in the short period from 1778 to 1780 had presented seventeen memoirs to the Académie. Satish C. Kapoor pointed to his idealistic conviction “to put science at the service of man’s practical needs”270. According to Sadoun-Goupil, who in1977 published a substantial biography on Berthollet,271 between 1784 and 1791 his work focused particularly on applied chemistry.272 His investigations were divided between four very different areas; his studies on explosives, and his investigations on ferrous substances. This was in addition to his textile research where he developed a new method for bleaching and the publication of his substantial work on textile dyeing. In 1784, when Macquer died, Berthollet was appointed to his position as Directeur des teintures à la manufacture des Gobelins, where his work would follow Macquer’s standards and would include “en un mot dans l’exécution de l’excéllent prospectus que M. Macquer avait

266Charles Coulston Gillispie, ed. Dictionary of Scientific Biography, (DSB) 16 vols. (New York, 1970-1976) 2: 73-82. 267 This happened in 1770 according to the Éloge de M. le Comte Berthollet given at L’Académie royale de médicine 28th of March 1826. Archives de l’Académie des Sciences, Paris. 268 DSB, 2: 74. 269 Éloge, 168. 270 DSB, 2: 74. 271 Sadoun-Goupil, (1977). 272 Sadoun-Goupil, (1974): 127-145.

80 fait paraître à ce sujet” 273. In 1791, Éléments de l’art de la teinture, was published in two volumes. In the introduction, Berthollet defined his own function: “J’ai cherché à me placer entre le physiciens & les artistes”274. This book also addressed textile printing, since this craft restricted the dyes to clearly defined, limited areas. Berthollet worked with Lavoisier, Fourcroy and Guyton de Morveau on the reform of chemical nomenclature, which incorporated Lavoisier’s new chemical concept oxygen and was published in 1787.275 However, “Berthollet wanted to improve rather than revolutionize”276, and although his studies on textile bleaching started out as a completely chemical analysis, he later developed this into a straightforward technique and introduced it to the textile industry. After he finished his appointment at Gobelins, he accompanied Napoleon to Egypt where he had the opportunity to return to his dye research and studied in situ the dyestuffs henna and charthame (safflower).277 Berthollet corresponded with many international scientists278 and became a member of the Royal Society of London in 1785, the Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen in Haarlem in 1786, and the Académie des sciences de Turin in 1785.279 He definitely had an illustrious career. In 1794, he became a professor at L’École centrale des travaux publiques,280 and in 1795, he became one of the first members to be elected to the Institut de France, which replaced the Académie after the revolution. In 1803, Napoleon appointed Berthollet senator for Montpellier, and bestowed on him the title of nobility as a count. He was made administrator of

273 Sadoun-Goupil, (1977): x. 274 Berthollet, (Paris, 1791), xliii. 275 Sadoun-Goupil, (1977): x. 276 DSB, 2: 74. 277 Sadoun-Goupil, (1977): 142. 278 His corespondence is listed and annotated: Sadoun-Goupil, (1977): 305-342. 279 Sadoun-Goupil, (1977): 28. 280 Sadoun-Goupil, (1977) : xi.

81 the mint, presented as Grand officier de la Légion d’honneur, and given the Grand cordon de l’ordre de la Réunion in 1814.281 He retired to Arcueil, then just outside Paris, where he continued his scientific studies and in 1807, together with Pierre Simon de Laplace (1749-1827) founded the Société d’Arcueil, a privateresearch society that focused on problems in physics and chemistry.282 He died at the age of seventy-four on the 6th of November 1822.283

IV. 4. B CHRISTOPHE-PHILIPPE OBERKAMPF

Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf 284 was born on the 11th of June 1738 in Weissenbach, Germany,285 into a family of Lutheran textile dyers and printers,

281 Éloge, 181. 282 Crosland, (1967). 283 “Éloge historique de M. le Comte Berthollet par M. le Baron Cuvier, Secrétaire- Perpétuel.” In Recuil de Discours lus dans la séance publique de l’Académie Royale de Sciences. Le 7 Juin 1824, 32. 284 Because Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf had such an illustrious career and was so well known in his own time, the literature regarding him and his establishment is huge but the information from these different sources is sometimes contradictory. However, the French historian Serge Chassagne, the author of Oberkampf: Un entrepreneur capitaliste au Siècle des Lumières, had access to the Oberkampf family’s rich archives, listed as one hundred and twenty-eight boxes, as well as the Mme. Elisabeth Fortuit’s copy of the rare, unpublished family manuscript Mémorial de la Manufacture de Jouy by Gottfried Widmer. Consequently, his information is probably the most comprehensive. For a list of Chassagne’s as well as other authors’ publications about Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf see the bibliography. 285 Michel Sementéry, Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf sa famille et sa descendance. (Paris, 1990): 13. Weissenbach, which today is located in Germany, was at this time a separate state, Brandenburg-Anspach.

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“la famille des teinturiers à bon teint”286. In 1744, his father, Philippe-Jacob Oberkampf, moved to a factory in Klosterheilbronn, where he printed flannel in two colours using copperplates.287 The family moved on to Basel, Switzerland in 1749, and Philippe-Jacob began to work for the textile printer M. Ryhiner, staying on until 1752.288 Here he also perfected his skills in printing cotton with indigo; both white designs on a blue background, reserve printing, as well as blue designs on a white background.289 Even if his son, Christophe-Philippe, was only a young child at the time, these two events were important for his future as a textile printer since they gave him, through his father, an insight into printing direct with indigo, which was still at an experimental stage in Europe, as well as a connection to M. Ryhiner, who at this period was a leader in his field. At the age of eleven, Oberkampf began as an apprentice in textile printing with M. Ryhiner training in design and engraving.290 Later he started work as a printer’s assistant, applying mordant to woodblocks in his father’s establishment in Aarau, Switzerland.291 After two years, in 1756,292 Christophe-

286 A. Rouxel. “Oberkampf.” In Les grands hommes de la France – industriels, ed. A. Rouxel, Mossmann and L. Larcy. (Paris, 1879): 185. In footnote 1 referred to as a quotation from Triqueti, Discours sur le travail, 2. 287 Rouxel, 186. Serge Chassagne pointed specifically out that this was “ une fabrique d’impression sur flanelles (lainages) à la planche de cuivre, à Heilbronn” in Oberkampf: Un entrepreneur capitaliste au Siècle des Lumières, 25. The design was applied by copperplate printing on wool flannel, but it was not washable; clearly both chemically and technically different from block printing with mordants on cotton. 288 Sementéry, 13. 289 Rouxel, 186. For blue printing see Chapter VII. 290 Rouxel, 186. The French word gravure can in this context mean both woodblock cutter and metal engraver, both skills needed for textile printing. However, as a young apprentice he would probably have started with carving the wood blocks used for textile printing, since copper plate engraving is an extremely demanding and meticulous skill. 291 Rouxel, 186-187.

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Philippe left his father’s enterprise and began working as an engraver for Samuel Kœchlin et Dollfus, in Mulhouse, where he stayed for six months before returning home to his father.293 In October 1758, twenty year old, Christophe-Philippe left for Paris and was employed by M. Cottin in the Arsenal as a colourist, preparing colours,294 in addition to carving printing blocks;295 although according to Alfred Labouchère’s biography he did not speak a word of French.296 Due to M. Cottin’s strained financial situation, Oberkampf left this company in late 1759 and started to work for a Swiss dyer, Abraham Guerne also called Travanne. He was a civil servant at the Contrôle Général des Finances in Versailles, who offered him the directorship of a textile printing manufacture. 297 “Oberkampf rose with abrupt speed from the rank of skilled worker to that of a business partner”298. In September of 1759, his brother, Frédéric Oberkampf, joined him in Paris.299 When the French ban on textile printing was lifted on the 9th of November 1759, Christophe-Philippe had secured funding to start a textile printing establishment in Jouy-en-Josas.300 The location was chosen specifically on the Bièvre River because of the water quality. The famous dye establishment Gobelins in Paris was located on that

292 Sementéry, 19. 293 Rouxel, 187. 294 Chassagn. Oberkampf, 30. Here Chassagne explicitly points to that Cottin’s establishment only produced “des toiles « en faux teint »”, i.e. “teintes à froid et à l’eau seulement, sans mordant,” hence Oberkampf would have been preparing colours but not mordants. 295 Rouxel, 189. The Arsenal was located in one of the exempt areas where resist printing on cotton textiles was permitted. 296 Alfred Labouchère, Oberkampf (1738-1815). (Paris, 1866): 10-11. 297 Sementéry, 19 298 Riffel and Rouart, 14. 299 Sementéry, 19. 300 Rouxel, 192. At this time the town was named Jouy later the name changed to Jouy- en-Josas, however, I have tried to use Jouy-en-Josas consistently to avoid confusion.

84 same river.301 It was also conveniently located close to the court at Versailles and not too far from Paris; two prospective markets.302 On the first of May 1760, Christophe-Philippe and his brother Frédéric produced the first textiles printed in Jouy-en-Josas and two months later they began to sell indiennes.303 However, the commercial side of the business could not accommodate the rapid expansion in production, since the partnership did not have enough capital.304 Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf acquired two new associates, the silk trader Levasseur de Verville, a Paris merchant, and Dailly, a merchant from Lyons.305 In 1761, the factory produced three thousand six hundred pieces, but Levasseur could have sold three times as much since there was, according to A. Rouxel’s bibliography, a huge demand for printed textiles.306 For financial reasons, by December of 1761 the partnership with Levasseur was expanded to include a new associate, Joseph Alexandre Sarrasin de Maraise, a lawyer of the Grenoble Parliament.307 Levasseur attempted to take over the company and was finally dismissed in 1772.308 The partnership between Oberkampf and Sarrasin de Maraise was very successful and lasted for twenty-seven years. As Oberkampf explained, “Il ne s’est jamais mêlé de rien dans la manufacture et m’a laissé faire tout ce que j’ai voulu”309. Sarrasin de Maraise’s wife was also active in

301 Howard C. Rice, A Visit to the Birthplace of Toile de Jouy. (New York, 1935): 5-6. 302 Riffel and Rouart, 18. 303 Rouxel, 193. Indienne: mordant printed cotton in the Indian style. 304 Brédiff, 24. 305 Riffel and Rouart, 16. 306 Rouxel, 194. However, Josette Brédiff wrote: “By the end of 1761, when they had been in business a year and a half, 2,600 pieces about twenty ells long had been printed, or 72,000 ells,” 24. 307 Rouxel, 194. 308 Brédif, 25. 309 Chassagne, Oberkampf, 52. These early faces of Oberkampf’s establishment and the financial partnerships as well as their dissolutions were complicated and filled with legal disputes. Cassagne. “La formation d’un entrepreneur,” chap. 2; “Les débuts

85 the business part of the enterprise, and was authorized to purchase many of the textiles used by the printers; Oberkampf wrote that she “avait notre confiance depuis plusieurs années pour l’achat de nos toiles”310. After the partnership with Sarrasin de Maraise was dissolved, on December 31st 1789, Christophe- Phillipe Oberkampf became the exclusive owner.311 From the very small and simple building which they rented in 1760, the manufacture expanded quickly, and by 1812 the factory compound covered more than fourteen hectares.312 From 1760 to 1762 the workforce went from three people to one hundred and according to existing records, it reached its maximum in 1790 with two thousand and twenty-six workers.313 Oberkampf also added workshops in other locations and in December, 1769, he acquired another textile printing factory for his brother Frédéric, who had not entered into partnership with de Maraise. It was popularly called L’Indienne and was located by the Juine River in Corbeil outside of Essonnes.314 Here they printed the simplest and most popular prints, as well as small designs in china blue, which according to Mélanie Rieffel was the kind “that his father had produced”315. When Frédéric retired in 1796, the factory became an annex of the Jouy establishment and it was used for bleaching and dyeing.316 By the end of the

difficiles (1760-1769),” chap. 3 in Oberkampf: Un entrepreneur capitaliste au Siècle des Lumières, 21-39, 40-74.

310 Chassagne. Oberkampf, 75. Madame de Maraise was a very capable businesswoman and the relationship between her and Oberkampf as well as her important contribution to the manufacture was studied by Serge Chassagne. Based on their business correspondence he published: Une femme d’affaires au XVIIe siècle: la correspondance de Madame de Maraise, collaboratrice d’Oberkampf. 311 Sementéry, 20. 312 Brédiff, 25. 313 Riffel and Rouart, 24. Unfortunately, the existing records are not complete.. 314 Brédif, 27-28. 315 Riffel and Rouart, 20. 316 Brédif, 27.

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Ancien Régime, Oberkampf’s business had the second largest capital base in France and it was only surpassed by the mirror factory in Saint-Gobain.317 Oberkampf’s expansions also included the Bouvier farm, the source of the vital Bièvre River, so that he could maintain control of the purity of the water.318 In 1804, he acquired a tannery at Chantemerle, which by 1810 he had rebuilt and turned into a spinning mill and weaving workshop that produced cloth for the textile printing in Joye-en-Josas.319 Brédif maintained that the first cloth they produced was of poor quality and therefore could only be used for very ordinary prints, which sold at lower prices. Oberkampf himself stated “The calico manufactured by us is more expensive and less good than what I buy, and I have no choice but to use it”320. After Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf’s death on October 4th 1815,321 his son Emile Oberkampf took over management of the establishment.322 However, Brédif claimed that the factory had been in recession since 1809.323 In addition, Chassagne suggested that there were three main reasons for the decline: the necessary tying up of capital during the period of rebuilding of the tannery at Chantemerle, the second-rate quality of the thread they finally produced there, and their distribution system which kept too many warehouses with large inventories operating on a sale-or-return basis. The factory was sold out of the family on December 30th 1822.324 It stopped production in 1843, after

317 Riffel and Rouart, 24. 318 It was acquired in 1795, Brédif,, 25. The many disputes over water rights are addressed by Chassagne: “La guerre des eaux,” chap. 3 in Oberkampf, 44-48. 319 Riffel and Rouart, 20. 320 Brédif, 33. This statement in French is also quoted in Cassagne, Oberkampf... , 306. It was taken from Gottlieb Widmer’s manuscript, Mémorial de la manufacture de Jouy. 321 Rouxel, 214. Josette Brédif, 33 has this date as October 6th 1815. 322 Brédif, 37. 323 Brédif, 32. 324 Cassagne, “Le decline (1810-1843),” chap. 10 in Oberkampf, 305-333.

87 eighty-three years of operation325 and by 1845 the remaining property was divided and sold.326 In 1770, after meeting the legal requirement of ten years of French residency,327 Christophe-Philippe and his brother became French citizens.328 On June 19th 1783, Louis XVIth awarded this flourishing manufacture Royal privilege, along with the right to use the title Manufacture royale des toiles peintes.329 Subsequently, in March of 1787, the founder, Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf, received his lettres de noblesse; nevertheless, as a consequence of the French revolution, both the factory’s Royal privilege along with his title were abolished.330 In 1790, Oberkampf was elected the first mayor of Jouy-en- Josas; this was followed by many other official appointments. 331 When the political situation stabilized, the Emperor Napoleon and his entourage visited Oberkampf’s manufactory on the 20th of June, 1806. It was then that Napoleon decorated him with the Légion d’Honneur, with the words “Personne n’est plus digne de la porter”332. Oberkampf’s satisfaction was evident when he wrote: “Voilà mes lettres de noblesse bien remplacées.”333 In 1807, he was elected to the Société d’Encouragement,334 the French association for industrial development, where he was an active member and a contributor to their

325 Riefel and Rouart, 15. 326 J. M. J. Bouillat, “Oberkampf, Industriel (1738-1815),” Les Contemporaines 23 (1902): 16. 327 Riefel and Rouart, 14. 328 Claude Zuber, “ Oberkampf,” in Société des amis de la maison de la chimie: Cycle de conférences du printemps 1939. (Paris, 1939): 4. 329 Rouxel, 214. 330Alfred Labouchère, “Galerie des Hommes utiles: Oberkampf,” La Fraternité : Journal des sociétés de secours mutuels, ed. Henri Giraud (1865): 2, 159-165. 331 Sementéry, 20. 332 Riffel and Rouart, 15. 333 Rouxel, 211. 334 Cassagne., Oberkampf, 224. See note #13.

88 publication, the Bulletin de la Société d’Encouragement à l’industrie nationale. His ultimate triumph was realized in 1810, when he was awarded Le grand prix décennal, which according to the statutes was “destiné au fondateur de l'établissement le plus utile à l’industrie.” The selection committee consisted of Gaspar Prony (1755-1839), and Jaques-Constantin Périer (1742-1818), in addition to the two chemists Chaptal and Berthollet. In their report, they explicitly stressed the importance of his work in industrial development, as the expansion of his textile printing business also included cotton spinning and weaving.335 When Berthollet chose Oberkampf’s textile printing enterprise to perform his large scale bleaching trials, he not only chose an economically successful manufacturer, he chose one based in a solid craft tradition, whose principle was “Always aim at perfection in manufacturing the product”336. Nevertheless, this traditional textile printer was fully aware of the benefits of incorporating research in applied science into his printing processes. He was eager to modernize the operations, which benefited from new chemical research, as well as the introduction of new technology, and his aim was to “always be informed ahead of your competitors”337. The textile printer Oberkampf and the chemist Berthollet were much more than just business associates. Oberkampf’s nephew, Samuel Widmer, had studied chemistry with Berthollet338 and when Berthollet’s son Amédée studied applied chemistry, he practiced at the factory in Jouy-en-Josas.339 When Berthollet chose Christophe- Philippe Oberkampf’s establishment, he already knew the man personally and

335 ”Prix décennaux fondés par Napoleon,” 76. La pochette Berthollet (le Comte Claude-Louis dossier manuscrits). Archives de l’Académie des sciences, Paris. 336 Brédif, 28. 337 Brédif, 28. 338 Guillaume Widmer, Widmer, Samuel, 50. Archives de famille, Folder Archives Widmer, 50-67. Musée de la toile de Jouy-en-Josas, n.d. 339 Sadoun-Goupil, (1977): 68.

89 was familiar with his principles and standards, in addition to his accomplishments.

IV. 4. C SAMUEL WIDMER

Samuel Widmer, the son of Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf’s sister, Sophie Dorthée, was born in Othmarsingen in Germany on the 7th of March 1767. Before he moved in with his uncle in Jouy-en-Josas in 1778, he spent a great deal of time with his grandfather Philippe-Jacob Oberkampf and became familiar with the textile printing business. In 1779, his uncle sent him to Paris to learn French, since most people in Jouy-en-Josas spoke German. From 1783, Samuel Widmer received instruction in engraving, textile printing, and the preparation of colours at the factory. His uncle realized his nephew’s potential and recognized the importance of giving him a theoretical, scientific education. Therefore, Samuel Widmer studied physics with Professor Charles and chemistry with Berthollet. “Il l’envoya étudier la physique dans le cabinet de l’habile professeur Charles, et la chimie dans le laboratoire du savant Berthollet". By the time he was twenty-one, his uncle entrusted him with the general operation of the factory. “C’était la position qui convenait le mieux à ses goûts et à son caractère. Il considéra la manufacture comme l’établissement le plus propre à exercice de ses diverse talents”340. Widmer worked for his uncle until Oberkampf died on October 4th, 1815, and continued to work for his son, Emile Oberkampf. After his father’s death, Emile made Widmer an associate in the operation. Soon after he began investing in the company (on January 1st 1821) the factory changed its name to Oberkampf et Widmer ainé. In the previous year, on April the 9th 1820, King Louis XVIII awarded him la Croix de Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur, for his

340Widmer, Widmer, Samuel, 50.

90 industrial work. Samuel Widmer continued work at the factory until his untimely death on the 9th of May 1821, at the age of only fifty-four. 341 Samuel Widmer’s deep interest in different sciences and his scientific knowledge were substantial, which the content of his library at the time of his death emphasized. It consisted of nine hundred and nineteen volumes; most of them were scientific works, including books by Fourcroy, Chaptal, Berthollet, Louis Jacques Thénard (1777-1857), Bancroft, and Benjamin Thompson (Count Rumford) (1753-1814), as well as ninety-two issues of Annales de Chimie. In all, chemistry and physics were represented by two hundred and forty six volumes, of which twenty-six were in English, and the other sciences were represented by two hundred and sixty volumes.342The family archives list Samuel Widmer’s most important inventions and discoveries as: • The apparatus for chlorine-bleaching according to Berthollet’s discovery • The invention of the machine that prints textiles with engraved copper cylinders • The invention of a device to mechanically engrave the copper cylinders • The invention of another apparatus to engrave the copperplates for textile printing • The invention of a steam machine to heat the water in the dye vats; this machine could also be used for other applications • The discovery of the important green colour for textile printing applied in only one single operation • Importing the machine for opening the raw cotton [to release the cotton fibres for spinning], which had been given a design prize in Manchester

341 According to notes in the family archives, he was given this well deserved medal of the industrial class “chevron industriel qu’il avait bien mérité”. Widmer, Widmer, Samuel, 66-67. 342 The list, dated 14th of May 1821, is quoted in Chassagne.Oberkampf, 182. Note #23. However, despite Samuel Widmer’s German background none of his books are listed as written in German.

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• The invention of an apparatus to wash unbleached cotton named the Hydrocyclophore.

IV. 4. D JEAN-MICHEL HAUSSMANN

The Haussmann family originated from Tennstœdt in the Electorate of Saxony (now Germany). Jean–Michel’s grandfather, Balthazar Haussmann, moved to Colmar where he worked as a pharmacist. His oldest son, Christian (also known as Chrétien) was born in Colmar in 1715. He stayed in Colmar and succeeded his father at the pharmacy.343 Christian’s third son, Jean-Michel, born on the 4th of February in 1749, practiced in his father’s pharmacy with the intent of carrying on the family tradition. Therefore, he was first sent to Geneva,344 and later to Paris to study to become a pharmacist at the Collège des apothicaires.345 Here, the appeal of his father’s pharmacy disappeared when he developed a specific interest in chemistry.346 At the age of twenty, he joined his older brother, Jean (1740-1820) a commerce student, who now was working on the financial aspects of textile printing for a German company, Schüle et Cie, in Augsburg. Under Johann Heinrich Schüle’s leadership the manufacturer who became known as Germany’s Oberkampf, Jean-Michel acquired knowledge of the applied chemistry of colouring materials and furthermore gained important experience with textile printing. In 1774 Jean moved to Rouen to start his own business for producing printed textiles. Jean-Michel soon followed him and

343 Dr. Faudel and Émile. Schwœrer, “A la mémoire de Gustave-Adolph Hirn,” “La famille Haussmann,” chap. 3 in Bulletin de la société d’histoire naturelle de Colmar nouvelle série I (1891): 279-288. 344 Schmitt, “Notice Haussmann,” 1455. 345 Faudel and Schwœrer, 282.

346 Note, however, the interaction between chemistry and pharmacy in this period: see Johnathan Simon, Chemistry, Pharmacy and Revolution in France, 1777-1809. (Aldershot, Hants., 2005).

92 became responsible for the practical aspects of the production.347 He used the colour recipes he had become familiar with and that he had obtained from Mr. Schüle.348 The textiles printed at their company in Rouen achieved clear and brilliant colours.349 The company must have been successful since Jean-Marie Schmitt, who wrote about the business aspects of the company in the Bulletin de la Société Industrielle de Mulhouse, stated that “Le 26 juin 1775 fut enfin rendu l’arrêt de Conseil d’Etat portant privilège royal en faveur de l’entreprise”350. Because of excessive costs, the brothers ended this business enterprise in 1775.351 Instead, during that same year, the three Haussmann brothers, Jean, the economist, Jean-Michel, and Christian (1738-1800), the medical doctor who supplied the financing, established a new textile printing company, Hausmann et Cie, in Logelbach.352 Paul Leulliot mentioned in L’annuaire de la Société historique et littéraire de Colmar that the Royal privilege for textile printing, which originally was given to their factory in Rouen, was transferred to their new establishment,353 and Schmitt maintained that the transfer of this Royal privilege was confirmed by the Counseil d’Etat

347 Nouveau dictionnaire, 1454-1455. 348 Paul Leuilliot, “Notes sur les Haussmann et la manufacture du Logelbach (jusqu’en 1830),” L’annuaire de la Société historique et littéraire de Colmar (1951-1952): 86, spells the name of this manufacturer as Schulé, however, the information corresponds with Faudel and Schwœrer, and I assume that the variations are due to the difference in German and French spelling. 349 Leuilliot, 86. 350 Jean-Marie Schmitt, “Les établissements Haussmann”, 13-22. This vital information was published in the Bulletin de la Société Industrielle de Mulhouse, 1988, which focused on Haussmann’s production of printed textiles and coincided with an exhibition at the Musé de l’Impression sur Etoffes, Mulhouse. 351 Nouveau dictionnaire, 1455. 352 Faudel and Schwœrer, 279-288. Jean Haussmann married Johann Heinrich Schüle’s daughter, and thus kept in close contact with the factory in Augsburg. 353 Leuilliot, 86.

93 on August 13th 1776.354 A letter dated September 25th 1776, was sent to Jean- Michel who was now was back in Augsburg informing him that this transfer now was finalized.355 “Cette semaine les armes royales surmontant l’inscription

MANUFACTURE ROYALE PRIVILEGIE DE PERSES ET D’INDIENNES seront placées au-dessus de la porte cochère”356. However, the bright red colours Jean-Michel had achieved in Rouen became dull in Logelbach, despite the use of the same recipes and raw materials. He studied the problem and determined that it was the difference in the water itself which caused the colour change. The water in Rouen was naturally saturated with calcium; hence the same bright colours could be accomplished in Logelbach by adding chalk to the water. This discovery assured the company’s success.357 In 1778, the company expanded its financial resources. Two bankers, M. Emerich from Augsburg and M. Jourdan from Berlin, were added to the business.358 Consequently, the company’s name was changed to Haussmann, Emerich, Jourdan et Cie.359 Jaqueline Jacqué, curator at the Musée de l’Impression in Mulhouse, determined that by 1777 their designs were indiennes, textiles decorated with graceful fantasy flowers in the Indian style, often depicted against a white or black background.360A notice from 1779 pronounced that the factory produced printed borders with silver and gold, just as Schüle’s factory did in Augsburg.361 In 1777, the manufacture employed four hundred workers, but by the end of the Ancien Régime, the company had expanded to a workforce of

354 Schmitt, 14. 355 Faudel and Schwœrer, 280. 356 Faudel and Schwœrer, 291. 357 Faudel and Schwœrer, 283. 358 Schmitt, 14. 359 Faudel and Schwœrer, 291. 360 Jaqueline Jacqué, “Les motifs des tissues Haussmann,” 39-41. 361 Faudel and Schwœrer, 291.

94 between twelve and fourteen hundred people.362 The business experienced serious problems during the French revolution and the company was dissolved in 1798.363 In 1803, when their financial situation improved, the company restructured and opened under a new name Haussmann et frères, and in 1805 they appointed the very talented artist, Jean-George Hirn (1777-1839), as designer for the factory. The Bulletin de la société d’histoire naturelle de Colmar, claimed that this was a significant contributor to the company’s further success. “La beauté de ses dessins et le perfectionnement qu’il introduisit dans les procédés de fabrication ont puissamment contribué à la renommée de la maison”364. According to the President of the Musée de l’Impression in Mulhouse, A. Ketterer, Manufacture Haussmann was one of the most important producers of printed textiles in France and was in direct competition with Oberkampf.365 Samuel Widmer travelled to different textile printing establishments in Alsace and wrote in a letter to his uncle, that he had visited Mr. Haussmann’s establishment on the 8th of August 1809. “Cette manufacture emploie à peu près 200 tables, fait beaucoup de châles à fonds unis, nuances diverses, tous charmants et d’une égalité parfaite”366. Although Jean-Michel Haussmann withdrew from the company in 1817, he continued with his scientific work. He moved to Strasbourg where he died on the 16th of December 1824.367 From around 1830 onwards, the Haussmann company’s production of printed textiles was gradually reduced,368 until it was

362 Leuilliot, 87. 363 Faudel and Schwœrer, 291. 364 Faudel and Schwœrer, 274. 365 A. Ketterer. “Introduction,” Bulletin de la Société Industrielle de Mulhouse, 810, (1988): 11. 366 Samuel Widmer, “Lettres écrites d’Alsace,” Bulletin du Musée historique 34 (1910): 7. 367 Faudel and Schwœrer, 284. 368 Schmitt, 13

95 discontinued in 1842. Nevertheless, it maintained the spinning and weaving divisions of the factory. The family finally sold the company in 1880.369 Over the years, Jean-Michel Haussmann published papers on applied chemistry, as well as his chemical studies on textile dyeing, in major French scientific periodicals; in Annales de chimie between 1774 and 1824, in Journal de physique between 1785 and 1806, and in Journal de mines between 1810 and 1815.370 He was recognized by the leading scientists of the day for his knowledge of both science and the art of textile printing. Berthollet referred to him as “monsieur, qui réunisse aux lumières de la physique une grande connaissance de l’art”371. Chaptal wrote that Haussmann was “avantageusement connu parmi les chimistes qui appliquent les découverts de la science au perfectionnement des arts”372. During his lifetime, Haussmann was in direct contact with many of the most famous French chemists;373 Lavoisier, Fourcroy, Chaptal, Louis Nicolas Vauquelin (1763-1829), and Berthollet. Just before his death, he sent Joseph-Louis Gay-Lussac (1778-1850) a paper concerning the formation of diamonds and a method for trials of their artificial production.374 As a textile printer, Jean-Michel Haussmann was unique since his qualifications combined a theoretical, scientific education with practical, craft training. The company’s progress and considerable success in textile printing originated from Jean-Michelle’s theoretical research and systematic testing of

369 Faudel and Schwœrer, 293. 370 Faudel and Schwœrer, 284. A comprehensive catalogue over Jean-Michel Haussmann’s publications can be found in the bibliography. 371 “Lettre de M. J. M. Haussmann a C. L. Berthollet,” Annales de chimie 11 (1791): 250. 372 Jean Michel Haussmann, “Observations: Sur le garançage suivies d’un procédé simple et constant pour obtenir de la plus grande beauté et solidité la couleur connu sous la dénomination de rouge du Levant ou d’Andrinople,” Annales de chimie 41 (1801): 124. 373 Faudel and Schwœrer, 283. 374 Faudel and Schwœrer, 286.

96 new chemicals, in addition to the use of new and advanced methods that he employed in the manufacturing process. Unlike most textile printers at this time, he published his studies in recognized scientific publications and created an exceptional forum for the discussion of problems that were unique to the manufacturing of printed textiles. According to the Bulletin de la société d’histoire naturelle de Colmar, published in 1891, Jean-Michelle Haussmann’s most important discoveries were:375 • Using oxalic and tartaric acids to clear the white on top of aluminium or iron mordants • The beautiful colours prepared with tin salts for textile printing • The clearing of the colours376 • The application of Prussian blue by the method later attributed to Raymond, to attach it to the textile fibre by using an iron oxide or potassium prussiate377 • The use of an acetate sulphate of indigo to produce pistachio green also called Saxony green • The use of iron nitrate in black dyes for textile printers.378

IV. 4. E CONCLUSION

A unique relationship existed between the scientist and academician Berthollet and these three leaders of the textile printing industry. Berthollet was not just an acquaintance of Oberkampf, they were close friends. According to the private letters kept at the Musée de la Toile de Jouy, Berthollet was a frequent visitor. Widmer knew Berthollet from his chemical studies in Paris and they would have kept in touch since he, like his uncle, lived within the factory

375 Faudel and Schwœrer, 284. 376 See Chapter VI 377 See Chapter VII 378 This colour was not used for printing on cotton or linen.

97 compound. In addition to being a successful textile printer, Haussmann was also a researcher and frequent contributor to the scientific publications of the day, particularly Annales de chimie. Here he carried on dialogues with Berthollet regarding theoretical questions and practical problems facing the manufacturer, and published innovative experiments with dyes and dye additives in addition to novel production methods that could benefit the textile printing industry. Widmer must have been familiar with Haussmann’s published work. According to the list of books and periodicals assembled after his death, he was a frequent reader of Annales de chimie. Oberkampf was very interested in scientific improvements and introduced many into his textile printing business. He would have eagerly followed Haussmann’s research. This is the basis for the cooperation between savant and artisan as it manifested itself within the French textile printing industry in the eighteenth century.

V. ‘A LA MODE’: THE FASHION THAT WOULD NOT DIE

V. 1. INTRODUCTION

“Fashion, a futile matter in itself, but which is an essential part of luxury and of interest to commerce, takes on various modifications according to nations and to individuals. It is impressive because of the number of its devotees. It occupies the mind and distracts the heart, it affects customs no less than clothes, and it increases the means of our subservience to the French.”379 Portuguese merchants are believed to have been the first to introduce colourfast painted or printed textiles from India and the Levant to the French market between 1630 and 1640.380 However, church records in Lisbon, from as early as 1508, document vestments and accessories made from Cambay and Calicut textiles, from India’s East Coast.381 The trade in painted and printed textiles did not originate with the European trading companies, arriving in India. Textiles, especially from the Coromandel Coast on India’s south east coast had long been valuable for the spice trades of the Malay Archipelago. John Irwin stated in Studies in Indo – European Textile History that “Owing to the underdeveloped economies of the spice-islands, there was little use for bullion, and no stable demand for any foreign commodity other than clothing”382. Consequently, the Asian exchange system overwhelmingly employed Indian textiles to barter. South East Asia was closely linked through Melaka (Malacca) and the western Indian port of Cambay (later in the 17th century named Surat). Merchants of the Red Sea,

379 Giornale enciclopedico, 1777. Quoted in Catherine M. Sama, “Liberty, Equality, Frivolity! An Italian Critique of Fashion Periodicals,” Eighteenth-Century Studies, 37 (2004): 393. 380 A. Juvet-Michel, “The Controversy”, 1091. 381 Guy, Woven Cargoes Indian Textiles in the East. (London, 1998): 9. 382 Irwin and Schwartz, 28.

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Arabian Peninsula and Persian Gulf would gather in Cambay each year, form companies and hire Gujarati ships for the journey to Melaka, which served as a commercial centre and gave access to the spice goods.383 This trade would “ensure a steady supply of these prized condiments to the markets in India, West Asia, China and Europe”384. They would exchange bullion for textiles in India to barter for spices in the Malay Archipelago. The Flemish gem trader, Jacques des Coutre, lived in Melaka from 1593 to 1603 and observed the arrival of the ships carrying textiles from India. “Furthermore, 35 or 40 ships used to come to Melaca from Goa, from Chaul, from Cochin, from Nagapattinam, from Mylapur, and from the entire Coromandel Coast, and from the kingdom of Bengal, and from the kingdom of Pegu. These ships used to come laden with textiles from Chambay and from Sindh; and other ships [used to come laden with] textiles from the Coromandel Coast, and others would come laden with textiles and colchas [a fine cotton piece], ... [and] marquees made of [colcha] de montaria.”385 When they returned, the spices would be sold for bullion so the merchants could go back to India to buy more textiles etc. The merchants cultivated relations with the Sultanate of Ache for pepper and the North coast ports of Java for cloves, nutmeg and mace. John Guy pointed out that “Consortia of investors and merchants generally shared in the lease of a vessel, thus spreading the ever-present risk of piracy and loss at sea”386. He discussed just how easy it was to trade in Indian textiles, even those that were obtained illegally. “When

383 Irwin and Schwartz, 28. 384 John Guy, “One Thing Leads to Another’ Indian Textiles and the Early Globilization of Style.” In Interwoven Globe: The Worldwide trade, 1500-1800, ed. Amelia Peck. (New York, 2013): 13-27. 384 Guy, Interwoven Globe, 15. 385 Peter Borschberg ed. The Memoirs and Memorials of Jaques de Coutre: Security, Trade and Society in 16th- and 17th-century Southeast Asia. (Singapore, 2014): 223. 386 Guy, Interwoven Globe, 15.

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Captain James Lancaster, commander of the English company’s first fleet to South East Asia, seized a Portuguese carrack loaded with Indian cotton goods in 1601, he readily traded his pirated cargo for pepper in the great mart of Banten”387. It was this lucrative trade that the Europeans wanted to be part of: to trade directly with locals on the Spice Islands and benefit economically by cutting out the middle man. That the Indian textiles were the key to this exchange is documented not only by textile finds, but also by archives of commercial correspondence from as early as the mid eleventh century preserved in the Geniza records of the old Fustat (old Cairo) synagogue. These records indicate that Fatimid Cairo.388 served as the terminus for the Mediterranean and the West Indian trade during this period. In Fustat we also find very early examples of Indian printed textiles, identified as Indian imports from Gujarat on India’s North West Coast.389 To get an idea of the enormous value of this early trade and the economic importance it had for Europe, we must recognize that in the twelfth century many European towns kept their accounts in pepper. Peppercorns would be accepted as currency and counted out one by one. In the fourteenth century, one pound of saffron cost the same as a horse, one pound of ginger as much as a sheep and two pounds of mace would buy a cow. The German records from 1393 stated that one pound of nutmeg was worth the same as seven fat oxen.390 The Portuguese merchants who brought Indian textiles to Europe, encountered competition in the seventeenth century when English and Dutch trading companies challenged them for the control of the textile market. The last half of the century experienced a dramatic shift in this trade. From an

387 Guy, Interwoven Globe, 18. 388 The Fatamids ruled Egypt from 969 to1171. 389 Guy, Interwoven Globe, 14-15,140. 390 Alice Baldwin Beer, Trade Goods A Study of Indian Chintz in the Collection of the Cooper - Hewitt Museum of Decorative Arts and Design Smithsonian Institution. (Washington, 1970): 14-15.

101 interest at the beginning of the century in cotton goods for re-export and inexpensive textiles for household needs, the trading companies now focused on the lucrative and expanding market in imported cotton for clothing.391 In Molière’s play, Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, written in 1671, Monsieur Jourdain says “I have had these indiennes made. My tailor tells me that men of fashion wear such gowns in the morning”392. Starting in the 1650s -1660s a universal fascination for these exotic textiles with brilliant colours, fantastic patterns and amazing colourfastness, conquered the European consumers.393 Much earlier both the Dutch and the English had set up successful trading companies. They were specialized in commerce with the Orient and the lucrative spice trade, with well established centres of operations for their impending trade in India, as well as the Far East. The English East India Company was founded in 1599 and granted privileges in 1600. However, the capital was only set up for one voyage at a time until 1612, when the financial accounts were first calculated over a series of future voyages. Not until 1688 were the company’s shares negotiable on the London Stock Exchange.394 The Dutch started trade in the Indies as early as 1594 when the private company, Compagnie van Verre (Long Distance Company), was founded. Their first expedition’s profit was meagre, but the profits quickly increased by four hundred percent (after deduction of cost) for their 1598 expedition. However, by 1599, nine different companies were participating in the East India traffic in Holland and Zeeland. This frantic activity inevitably caused chaos, and led to sinking profits. This pushed merchants within the different companies to ask the States of Holland and Zeeland to intervene, and in 1602

391 Gittinger, Master Dyers to the World: Technique and Trade in Early Indian Dyed Cotton, 177. 392 Juvet-Michel. “The Controversy,” 1091. 393 Gittinger, 177. 394 Fernand Braudel, Civilization & Capitalism 15th - 18th Century, vol. 2: The Wheels of Commerce, trans. Siân Reynolds. (London, 2002), 2: 450.

102 they agreed to the charter of the Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie or VOC (United East India Company).395 The French did not establish oriental trading companies until 1664, when Colbert founded the Compagnie des Indes Orientales.396 The company was given substantial governmental support in an attempt to dominate a larger share of European and colonial trade from the well established companies, especially the English and the Dutch. At the same time the company would bring these alluring oriental textiles directly to France.397 However, the company “was soon faced with financial difficulties and its privileges were withdrawn in 1682”398. In the seventeenth century, the trade in printed and painted cotton fabrics from India was increasing both in quantity and splendour.399 Identified as toile peinte, chintz, indiennes, chites, suratas or patnas, just to mention some of the more common names, these textiles were often identified and named after their production area in India. These imported textiles were too expensive for common people,400 but started as a fashion at court and reached its height in 1684 with the visit of the Siamese envoys to the court of Louis XIV at 401 Versailles. It soon became the vogue for furniture textiles, as well as clothing for both women and men. It expanded so much among the wealthy, that it became known as the Indian Craze.402 This trend was publicly ridiculed in an

395 Jonathan I. Israel, The Dutch Republic Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall 1477-1806. (Oxford, 1998): 319-322. 396 H. Wescher, “The French Dyeing Industry and its Reorganisation by Colbert,” Ciba Review 18 (1939): 643. 397 Colin Jones, The Cambridge Illustrated History of France. (Cambridge, 1999): 164. 398 Braudel, 451. 399 Gittinger, 180. 400 Juvet-Michel: “The Controversy”, 1091. 401 Gittinger, 177. 402 Chapman and Chassagne, 103.

103 attempt to deter this fashion mania. The English author Daniel Defoe (1660- 1731) wrote in The Weekly Review in 1708: ”Such is the power of a mode as we saw our persons of quality dressed in Indian carpets, which but a few years before their chambermaids would have thought too ordinary for them; the chints were advanced from lying upon their floors to their backs, from the footcloth to the petticoat; and even the Queen herself at this time was pleased to appear in China and Japan, I mean China silk and calico. Nor was this all, but it crept into our houses and bedchambers; curtains, cushions, chairs and at last beds themselves were nothing but calicoes and Indian stuffs.”403 Unfortunately, the trade records for the English and the French Oriental trading companies are not complete. However, by studying the orders of chintz (painted and printed textiles) sent to India for one single year by the English East India Company we can get an indication of the actual volume: 404 ORDERS FOR WESTERN INDIA FOR1695-1696 • 20,000 Palampores [a kind of chintz bedspread] large • 10,000 Palampores middling • 10,000 Palampores small • 2,000 Quilts large new patterns, 3¼ x3 yards • 2,000 Quilts middling • 5,000 Quilts small • 10,000 Chintz Culme [figured chintz] • 20,000 Chintz Caddy [a coarse cotton cloth], as much variety of works and stripes as may be, • 10,000 Chintz broad, 9 x 1 yard of variety of new patterns • 20,000 Chintz narrow • 10,000 Serunge [Sironi] Chintz, the best and newest works and paintings on good strong cloth, ½ stripes, ½ flowers.

403 Braudel, 180. Quoted from E. Lipson, The Economic History of England. .3: 39. 404 Irwing and Schwartz,18.

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• 20,000 Chintz Pauch Runge [probably panch range lit. ‘five coloured’] • 5,000 Chintz Surat

405 ORDERS FOR THE COROMANDEL COAST FOR 1695-1696 • 20,000 Chintz, Gulconda, Bramporeas as much variety as my be, but 50 at least of each work, some purple and some dark coloured grounds, some red grounds, a few greens. But the greatest quantity white grounds, some purple flowered, some red flowers. Note half the quantity to be upon stripes, and half upon flowers, and some both striped and flowers. • 10,000 Very fine Metchlepatam paintings, the finest can be made, done by the neatest hands can be got, done upon fine thick cloth such as Metchlepatam Sallampores, Norcees, Longcloth, as much variety of works, new fancyes of the country’s invention, nothing like English, the grounds as above, some upon a a good brisk red, or green or purple, or sad Cloth Colour, or Blew, and the greatest part upon white grounds. But be sure the Cha or the Paint be the best can be done. • 2,000 Pallampores of the ordinary Gulcondah sort of painting, 1½ yards broad and 2 yrds long, that used to come for England • 5,000 Pallampores of the fine sort of Metchlepatam painting, the same breath and length. • 2,000 Pallampores 3 yards broad and 3½ yards long of the painting as mentioned above. We can no longer identify all the different textiles from these lists, but such written records provide us with a clear picture of the variation of painted and printed textiles that the trading companies brought to Europe. Two textile historians, John Irvin and P. R. Schwartz, included a limited glossary at the end of their collection of articles describing production and trade in Indian textiles, Studies in Indo- European History. It contained a hundred and forty-three

405 Irwing and Schwartz, 38.

105 words, relating to both silk and cotton production, and was compiled mainly from the East India Company’s trade documents and contracts, as well as auction records.406 Regrettably, most of these textiles are only vaguely described and the lack of corresponding textile samples makes any identification challenging at best. This was not exclusively an English problem. The economic historian Donald C. Wellington who studied the trade of the French East India Companies, covering the period before, during and after the ban on printed textiles in France, also included a “Glossary of Textile Terms” in his book. One of his sources for the definitions was the first edition of Jacques Savary des Bruslons’ Dictionnaire Universel de Commerce. It included the terminology for a number of textiles brought to Europe, along with the import-taxes applied by different European countries. Unfortunately, as in Wellington’s book, the definitions are not detailed enough to recognize the different types and regrettably references to any identifying textile samples are absent.407 The trade records are an unequalled source, which clearly indicate the volume, the value and the trade names of these textiles. However, the orders were submitted one year to be picked up the following year. There were no reports to determine if the Indian workers always precisely followed these instructions or gave detailed information of substitutions when they could not fulfill the original directives, especially if these substitutions were of economic benefit for themselves. In Woven Cargoes Indian Textiles in the East, John Guy emphasised that: “in reality the Company and their agents could not supervise the actual production: methods had to be devised to ensure a degree of quality control. Samples (‘munsters’) were sent to serve both as models for the

406 Irwing and Schwartz, 57-72. 407 Donald C. Wellington, French East India Companies: A Historical Account and Record of Trade. (Oxford, 2006): 213-228.

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cloth painters to follow and as a standard of quality against which to assess new stock, Consistency became an vital issue.”408 It is also difficult to establish if any of the European representatives were capable of distinguishing between the many different types of textiles, determining their quality, or even recognizing a substitution. We can ascertain what was ordered, but not always verify what was shipped back. Only a small fraction of the original material has been passed down to us. With more knowledge of Indian craft traditions, we might be able to relate ports to trade from local, as well as very limited geographical areas in addition to individual families who specialized in one particular type of textile. By knowing the raw materials they had access to, what was found locally or obtained from other districts, such as dyestuffs, mordants, and additives, we might be able to recognize local traditions and specialities, and identify more of these exported textiles. The second hand information we heavily depend on, unfortunately leaves us with a number of unanswered questions. The huge amount of exotic colourful textiles textiles that the trading companies brought back to Europe frightened traditional silk-and wool- producers, who found themselves distressed over the possibilities of losing some of their income. In France where the silk industry and silk export were a very important part of their economy the producers had influence over the government who chose to support them. And in 1686 the first decree was introduced banning the import of painted and printed textiles. How extreme these measures became, were presented by the French historian Fernand Braudel who states that in 1695: “Brillon de Jouy, a merchant in rue de Bourdonnais in Paris proposed to pay anyone 500 livres ‘to strip .. in the street, any woman wearing Indian fabrics’, or if people thought this too extreme a measure to ‘dress up streetwalkers in Indian fabrics’ in order to strip them publicly as a statuary example.”409

408 Guy, Woven Cargoes, 35. 409 Braudel, 178. Refers to Archives Nationales, Paris, G7, 1695, p.252.

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However, neither ridicule nor imaginative and preposterous suggestions for punishment discouraged the fashion-conscious consumers and the vogue for these attractive, light, washable, and very colourful textiles persevered. Stronger and more drastic measures were found necessary to protect local wool and silk production from this continued demand, and Braudel continues: “In France over thirty-five judgments did not succeed in curing people of this obstinate contraband [in Indian cottons]; even though, besides the confiscation of goods and a fine of one thousand écus on those who buy and sell them, it was deemed necessary by the edict of 15 December 1717 to add to these even harsher punishment, among others sentencing to the galleys for life, and even worse if the case called for it.”410 Local French manufacturers wanted to compete with the prosperous trading companies and produce printed cotton textiles in the Indian manner. While the French dyers possessed expertise in wool- and silk-dyeing, they were not as experienced with the demands of vegetable fibres.411 Both their painting skills and their ability to produce colourfast cotton dyes for textile printing were lacking, and their clumsy substitutes did not equal or even rival the originals.412 The ban on local production destroyed the early tentative development of the calico printing industry in France.413 It ended the advancement of an upcoming new sector within French industrial activity and completely destroyed this inexperienced industry. However, the prohibition gave the printed cotton fashion new inspiration, a second wind; and these textiles became more popular than ever. At the French court it was considered particularly fashionable to defy the law and the king’s mistress, Madame de Pompadour, had furniture covered with the forbidden printed textiles.414 Violations of the prohibitions were

410 Braudel, 180. Restrictions and the edict of 1717 quoted from Savary des Bruslons, vol. 3. 1762 edition. 411 Chapman and Chassagne, 104. 412 Juvet-Michel, “The Controversy”, 1091. 413 Chapman and Chassagne, 104. 414 Juvet-Michel, “The Controversy”, 1093-1095.

108 common and it was through smuggling that chintz continued to be available.415 In the first half of the eighteenth century, both production and import of indiennes were prohibited not only in France, but also in England and Germany.416 In the period from 1695 to 1698 France was regarded, despite the prohibition, as the major transit area for imported painted and printed textiles destined for re-export to other European countries.417 The economic consequences for the country were enormous. “Mais la mode de ces tissues n’avait rien perdu de son empire sur toutes les femmes, qui nobles, et bourgeoises, dédaignait les étoffes indigènes. La contrebande avait beau jeu; il fallait à tout prix, frauder, et cette prohibition n’avait pour conséquence que de faire sortir annuellement vingt millions de France au profit de manufacture suisses, allemandes et anglaises.”418

V. 2. TEXTILE PRINTING IN THE INDIAN MANNER

The European consumers’ demand for Indian painted and printed textiles provoked the English and French governments to introduce severe restrictions on import and local production. The Netherlands was the only country that never restricted these colourful, fashionable textiles and European craftsmen were eager to learn the Indian method. The Indian dyers had great experience and unique expertise in creating cotton textiles decorated by mordant painting. While the Europeans were familiar with different mordants and used them for fibre-, yarn-, and cloth-dyeing, it was the Indian dyer’s ability to produce multicoloured, elaborately patterned, colour-fast cotton textiles that fascinated Europeans. However, the observers who brought this knowledge to Europe were not craftsmen, nor did they possess the scientific background necessary to

415 Brédif, 18. 416 Brunello, 246. 417 Juvet-Michel, “The Controversy”, 1094. 418 Rouxel, 190.

109 fully understand this very complicated process, or to accurately follow the production sequence. As early as 1626, the quality and diversity of printed textiles produced on the Coromandel Coast was being observed and admired. The English merchant William Methwold (1590-1653) referred to them in Relations of the

Kingdom of Golconda, “a plentiful variety of Northern Coromandel cotton cloth (Calicoes) were available and that they were readily identifiable by the strength of their colours, most notably the red and the blue derived from local grown chay and indigo”419. The earliest descriptions for painting chintz were discovered in the Netherlands and were revealed by Pieter van Dam in “Description of the East India Company 1678-1682.” The first report was made by Piet van den Burg in 1677, followed by Daniel Havart’s (1650-1724) report in 1693.420 Havart was working for The Dutch East India Company (VOC) from 1674 to 1686. In 1688 the report by the VOC’s Commissioner General, Hendrick Adriaan van Rheede tot Drakesteyn, Lord of Mydrecht, reached the Netherlands from Pulicat on the Coromandel Coast.421 This centre was already well known for its quality of printed cotton textiles and it was here that the Dutch had their headquarters until 1690 when it was moved to Nagapattinam. John Guy reasoned that the move was to “ensure the future commercial dominance of the textile export by the southern Coromandel Coast”422. In his report van Rheede clearly

419 William Methwold, Relations of the Kingdom of Golconda. (1629). Quoted in Guy, Woven cargoes, 30. 420 Pieter van Dam, “Description of the East India Company 1678-1682.” In Beschrijving van de Oostindische Compagnie, ed. F. W. Stapel and C. W. Th. Van Boetzelaer. (‘s-Gravenhage, 1977). Quoted in Judith H. Hofenk de Graff, The Colourful Past: Origins, Chemistry and Identification of Natural Dyestuffs. (London, 2004): 353. 421 Guy, Woven cargoes, 34. In a footnote Guy points out that the report was probably written two years earlier since that was the time it took shipments to reach Europe. 422 Guy, Woven cargoes, 31.

110 emphasized that “since this manner of painting is unknown in Europe, and it is so admirable, it may please Your Honour to learn the way in which it happens and how it is done”423. He continued with a detailed report where he described the different kind of dyes and how to produce them. He mentioned four different raw-materials that made red from roots or bark. Among them were chay root and sappan wood (Caesalpinia Sappan which he described as a form of Brazil wood), and continued with an explanation for extracting their colouring substances. This was followed by two different ways to prepare the cloth and a description of their tools; referred to as brushes and writing pens. The outlines of the design were drawn with an ink made from burnt blacksmith’s coal mixed with rice vinegar. The flower petals were painted next with juice of sappan wood mixed with alum, before the cloth was put into the big dye bath prepared with chay. In Rheede’s description he also mentioned a second dye-bath. This process would be followed by a cleaning with goat’s or sheep’s dung and water. For blue he described the process of waxing before submersing the cloth into the blue vat. After removing the wax, the cloth would be treated with a yellow dye, as well as a special mixture that would create a deep purple before it was washed and dried. He concluded by saying: “In this way, all the painted cloths and chintzes coming from Coromandel and going to Europe are made”424. Based on the Dutch sources, Judith Hofenk de Graff has written about the technique for textile painting and printing chintz in the Indian manner, published as “Indian chintz and its European imitations: unraveling the technology”425. Hendrick van Rheede also stressed the fierce rivalry that existed between the different European countries and their East India Companies, as well as the constant, stiff competition that the trading companies were alarmed would develop if local European producers discovered the secret.

423 Guy, Woven cargoes, 34. 424 Guy, Woven cargoes, 35. 425 Hofenk de Graff, 325-364.

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“Now I believe that it would, in the first place, be very profitable in our home country, if this invention were used in producing nightwear, similar to that in cotton that has been sent from Negapatnam; [then] to find out if it would be desired for any other purpose; and, later yet, if many other colours might be discovered. As examples and specimens six morning coats will be sent Your Honour,…, and if they can be of profit,…, they can be ordered quickly, because I am afraid that, if they are successful in Europe, they can’t be kept a secret for long or the English and the French will imitate them.”426 Despite the French ban on printing textiles in the Indian manner, reports were written aiming to develop their local industry. Two of these reports are exceptional and set themselves apart from the earlier statements; Captain Beaulieu’s, because it contains textile samples showing each step of the process; and Father Coeurdaux’s (1691-1779), a Jesuit priest and missionary in Pondicherry, since he spent most of his life in India, was familiar with the language and wrote a Grammar Book for the local dialect. He could speak directly with the craftsmen and most likely understood the locals as they explained the process to him (despite his lack of prior knowledge of the craft). In 1735, naval officer M. de Beaulieu returned to France from Pondicherry in India. He brought with him his thorough study on the traditional methods for producing painted and printed cotton, Le Chapitre Ier, de la Méthode des Indiens, selon le rapport de M. de Beaulieu à M. Dufay, de Pondichéry. The Director of the Musée d’Impression sur étoffes in Mulhouse, P. R. Schwartz, assumed that Dufay was the official Inspector of Dye Works at this time. Beaulieu followed the long, time-consuming dye process and transcribed the method onto twelve notebook pages. He also supplemented the text with eleven small individual textile swatches, illustrating every successive step, accompanied by samples of all the raw materials used. However, with the French ban on cotton painting and printing still in effect, Mr. Dufay, an officer

426 Guy, Woven cargoes, 36.

112 of the Government, would have found it difficult, if not impossible to publish these studies. The first to mention that such reports existed was the textile printer Jean Ryhiner. In his manuscript from 1766 he analyzed the Indian method and verified that he based his research on two sources: a letter written in 1742 by Father Coeurdoux to Father Halde in Paris, and “the account given by M. de Beaulieu to M. Dufay from Pondicherry”427. However, six years earlier in 1760 Traité sur les toiles peintes dans lequel on voit la manière dont on les fabrique aux Indes, et en Europe had been published in Amsterdam anonymously by M. Q. The author was later identified as Chevalier de Quérelle. In the first chapter he described Beaulieu’s rapport, and pointed out that Beaulieu had repeated the whole process in front of him using the raw materials he had brought back from India.428 In 1956, P. R. Schwartz reported in the Journal of Indian Textile History that he had located Beaulieu’s long lost and forgotten manuscript. Now it belongs to the library of the Musée national d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris. This museum owns three identical versions of this handwritten document; however, two are without textile samples. Despite the ban on cotton printing, Schwartz suggests that men of science who were interested in the problems regarding textile dyeing and textile printing could either copy the text themselves or have it copied. In his comprehensive analysis of Beaulieu’s manuscript, Schwartz included both the original French text and an English translation. In the form of footnotes he added the supplementary comments that M. Quérelle published in his book and attributed to Dufay. Colour photographs of the eleven original textile samples showing each individual step of the process were also included. The Beaulieu manuscript was the only original text describing the Indian methods for textile painting that Berthollet specifically referred to in his

427 P. R. Schwartz, “The Beaulieu manuscript.” In Irwin and Schwartz, 76-91. 428 M. Q… Traité sur les toiles peintes dans lequel on voit la manière dont on les fabrique aux Indes, et en Europe. (Amsterdam, 1760).

113 book. He concluded, however “that the processes of the Indians are so complicated, tedious, and imperfect, that they would be impracticable elsewhere, from the difference in the price of labour. European manufacturers soon surpassed them in correctness of design, variety of shade, and simplicity of manipulation”429. It was not only the oriental trading companies and naval personnel that were involved with discovering the method of painting and printing colourfast cotton textiles in the Indian manner. Father Coeurdoux’s letter of 1742 described the Indian method of textile painting. He had been stationed in India since 1732, where he stayed until his death forty-seven years later. Schwartz confirmed that he was “versed in Tamil and Telugu”430. In the introduction to this letter Father Coeurdoux explained that he “drew his knowledge from various neophytes skilful in this sort of work, on whom I recently conferred baptism. I have questioned them frequently and separately, and it is their replies that I am now sending you”431. As Beaulieu had reported in his document, he described the process in stages, taking extra care to convey in detail the plant materials used and identify similarities with what was used in Europe. Father Coeurdoux wrote a second letter, with further information about some of the dyes and local additives, as well as the preparation of these substances. He also referred to some practical research work he had observed. To eliminate any confusion about Cadou he included this lengthy explanation in this letter: ‘another product from the Cadou tree [is] called by them Cadoucaipou, i.e. blossom of Cadoucaie, although it is anything but its blossom. It is a kind of dry fruit, or simply a flattened shell ... It does not seem to have ever contained anything, unless it be the eggs of the insects that probably gave birth to it, for this kind of nut is to be found on the very

429 Berthollet, (1824), 1: 10. 430 Schwartz, “New Light on Old Material,” 94. 431 P. R. Schwartz, “Appendix “A” The letters of Father Coeurdoux, 1742 and 1747.” In Irwin and Schwartz, 104.

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leaves of the Cadou and is originated in the same way as the gall nut ...”432 There are obvious differences between the descriptions of the two processes as they were presented by Beaulieu and Father Coeurdoux. Most puzzling is the fact that Father Coeurdoux wrote that after the first treatment of the cloth and mordanting of the lines of the drawing, the cloth continued directly to the blue vat. Beaulieu, on the other hand, first exposed the cloth to a dye bath with chay root before he continued with preparations for the blue vat. For this reason, Father Coeurdoux’s process only included one dye bath with chay root. Schwartz, who compared these two descriptions thoroughly, considered it a conundrum. “Could Father Coeurdoux, excellent observer, thought he was (at that the time aged 51) have forgotten to describe one operation? This may seem unlikely but we cannot entirely discount the idea of an omission”433. Schwartz concluded his comparison by stating: “We can therefore hardly go beyond the observation that at a certain date in a certain part of India a certain investigator saw a piece of cloth made in a certain way – after which all generalizations must be avoided”434. Regardless of the French prohibition, in 1743 Father Coeurdoux’s first letter was published in Paris in the twenty-sixth collection of letters from Jesuit missions. 2010 saw the publication of a collective reflection on the question of the unequal treatment written documents have undergone in the historiography of science in Asia.435 The introduction specifically addresses how documents became sources. Dhruv Raina points to the fact that the first European approach to Indian knowledge in astronomy did not rely on texts, whether in Sanskrit or any other language of the Indian subcontinent. Rather, French Jesuit

432 Schwartz, “Appendix A,” 116. 433 Schwartz, “New Light”, 88-89. 434 Schwartz, “New Light”, 89. 435 Florence Bretelle-Establet, ed., Looking at it from Asia: the processes that shaped the sources of history of science. Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science. (Dordrecht, New York, 2010): 265.

115 missionaries acting in India wrote “protagonist reports on the astronomical activities they could observe”. The French Académie des sciences’ “interest in India was restricted to that domain of knowledge that would serve the purpose of navigation, commerce, the transfer of particular techniques notably in the area of textiles and pharmacopeia”. Between 1700 and 1750, Europe viewed India primarily through the medium of the letters of French Jesuits stationed throughout the world. These letters were assembled and published between 1702 and 1776.436 While evaluating the inconsistencies between the two French reports, is it reasonable to ask if the content in Father Coeurdoux’s two letters suffered from the same predicament that Dhruv Raina suggests ? Did his letters to Paris actually describe what he had examined, or was his description an interpretation of what he was told? Or was this information corrupted by what he believed Europeans wanted? The next first-hand report to be published arrived about fifty years later, when the English botanist William Roxburg (1750-1815) produced an illustrated three volume set, Plants of the Coromandel Coast. In the first volume he gave a detailed description of chay, the dye plant used to produce red. It was followed by a detailed description of the dye process as it was practiced in the Masulipatam area. This was the first study of what Schwartz referred to as being completed by “a trained scientific mind”437. He first described in detail how to dye red with chay root before he went on to explain how this same dye substance could be manipulated to produce brown, purple and orange colours. In regards to the painted cotton textiles, he confirmed the use of the cold blue vat prepared from indigo. Roxburg’s account was the only

436Dhruv Raina, “The French Jesuit Manuscripts on Indian Astronomy: The Narratology and Mystery Surrounding a Late Seventeenth – Early Eighteenth Century Project.” In Bretelle-Establet, 115-140. 437 P.R. Schwartz, “Appendix ‘C’ The Roxburgh account of Indian cotton-painting: 1795.” In Irwin and Brett, 55-58.

116 one that explained the different finishing treatments these cotton textiles were exposed to. “There now remains only that part of the process which prepares it for the market, viz. starching, beetling and chanking; this last is similar to calendering, which is preformed with a smooth shell rubbed backwards and forwards over the painted side of the chintz, till it has required a very high gloss or polish.”438 In 1965 John Irwin discovered an unpublished manuscript in the Bibliothèque nationale, Paris, La manière de négocier dans les Indes Orientales, that described cotton printing centres in Western India. The author was Georges Roques, the agent for the Compagnie des Indes, and it was written between 1678 and 1680. P. R. Schwartz edited three chapters that dealt with cotton printing in Ahmedabad and published them in the Bulletin de la Société Industrielle de Mulhouse, in 1967.439 This manuscript was completely unknown to researchers until Irwin’s discovery in 1965 and had not been mentioned in any of the early textile printing manuals or published texts. It addressed the method of textile printing in West India and added valuable information to the existing specifics of the predominantly painted textiles from the Coromandel Coast (on India’s East Coast). According to Schwartz the manuscript was divided into three parts and was paginated from page one to page three hundred and thirty-three. However, he also noted that “we read on the last page before the index the following lines: There are many other useful observations which are better spoken by word of mouth than set down in writing; there is sufficient in these three volumes [sic] to be examined and closely studied”440.

438 Schwartz, “Appendix ‘C’,” 57. 439 It was reprinted by the Calico Museum of Textiles, Ahmedabad, India in 1969. Paul. R. Schwartz, Painting on Cotton at Ahmedabad, India in 1678. (Ahmedabad, India, 1969): i. 440 Schwartz. Painting on Cotton at Ahmedabad, 1-3.

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Schwartz’ article was the basis for George Bryan Souza’s441 study of how the European textile manufacturers incorporated the Indian artisans’ superior knowledge of selecting raw materials as well as the techniques they used. It was published in How India Clothed the World: The World of South Asian Textiles 1500 – 1850, in 2009, as part of the Global Economic History Series.442 In his evaluation he compared P. R. Schwartz’s examination of the Roques manuscript with the contemporary situation in France, especially the manufacturing of printed textiles in the Marseilles and Rouen areas. Souza pointed out that the Indian artisans in West India used predominantly block printing to apply mordants and dyes onto the textiles, while the producers on the Coromandel Coast, as reported by Beaulieu and Father Coeurdoux, primarily hand painted them. Souza’s research highlighted Roque’s manuscript and gave attention to the least expensive of the Indian decorated textiles, the block print. He divided his study into three main areas: the Indian artisan’s selection and preparation of the cotton materials; mordant technology especially what he referred to as “aluminous mordant dyeing” and red dyeing.443 However he concluded that “There is no evidence to suggest that this information was diffused,” and concluded that Roque’s report was “read internally [by the Compagnie des Indes], discussed and archived”444. These are the only sources we know that reached Europe and tried to explain how to paint and print cotton textiles in the Indian manner. The economic benefits for European-based producers were enormous and their endeavor to learn this process essential. Printing textiles is a chemical process and unless you know precisely what to do step by step, it simply will not work.

441 George Bryan Souza is a specialist in global maritime economic history. 442 Souza, “The French Connection: Indian Cottons and their Early Modern Technology.” In How India Clothed the World: The World of South Asian Textiles 1500 – 1850, eds. Giorgio Riello and Tirthankar Roy. (Leiden, Boston, 2009): 347-363. 443 Souza, “Aluminous Mordant,” 352-354. 444 Souza, 361.

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V. 3. IN THE INDIAN MANNER ACCORDING TO M. DE BEAULIEU

PONDICHERRY 1734, WITH EXPLANATIONS

Indian know-how for the painting and printing of cotton textiles was based on empirical evidence, gained via trial and error, throughout more than two millennia of experience in handling cotton, mordants and dyes. Their skills were second to none and Mattibelle Gittinger was justified when she called the Indian craftsmen the Master Dyers to the World. European craftsmen became very eager to learn these skills and improve their own expertise In Elements of the Art of Dyeing Berthollet chose only to mention Beaulieu’s report from 1734445. This description became the traditional Indian process that Berthollet compared to the new methods developed in Europe. Consequently, it becomes necessary to understand this practice in order to reveal the changes that were introduced into French textile printing. In 1731, Georges de Beaulieu, second lieutenant on a French East India Company ship, arrived in Pondicherry, the French colony on the East Coast of India. His report dated 1734 is the most comprehensive description of the Indian process that exists today. M. Beaulieu observed the intricate dye-process and cut off one swatch from the textile for each step so we can follow each individual phase of the procedure. In this manuscript a 14.6 cm x 11.2 cm textile sample is pasted-in on the right page of the manuscript and the corresponding text is hand-written to the left.446 The foundation for any successful painted or printed textile is the quality of the cotton material. The Indian spinners’ ability to create an extremely fine thread and the high thread count in the weave are essential for the textile’s ability to limit the absorption of mordants and dye substances to a

445 Berthollet, (1824), 1: 10. 446 A full transcript of the text with English translation as well as colour images of the eleven textile samples are published in P. R Schwartz, “The Beaulieu manuscript,” in Indo-European Textile History, 75-93.

119 very small and controlled area. As a result, the finished textile will achieve a sharp, detailed, and crisp design. In the Indian chintzes mordant dyeing and resist dyeing are always combined. Mordant dyeing involves applying a mordant before the textile is submerged into the dye-bath. Different mordants contain different metal salts, which after dyeing in chay root (the equivalent to European madder) would give a wide variety of colours, from yellowish reds and bright reds, to purples and browns. Resist dyeing is used for dye substances that easily create permanent bonds with the textile fibers. Consequently, everything that is not supposed to have this colour must be covered with a resist, which is often a wax or a starch paste. Indigo dyeing belongs to this group and this process is often done by different craftsmen belonging to another caste of dyers. M. de Beaulieu’s descriptions cover the preparations of the textile, as well as both these methods.

M. DE BEAULIEU’S SAMPLE NO. 1: FIRST STEP, THE PREPARATION OF THE CLOTH First the cotton was bleached, “without using either rice-water or lime,”447 but unfortunately, M. de Beaulieu did not explain how. The textile was then prepared for dyeing by repeated soakings in a mirabolan solution mixed with buffalo milk. Mirabolan is the fruits of the plant Terminalia chebula, which is indigenous to India and its solution is a tannic acid.448 The tannin in the solution easily attaches to the fibres and prepares the cotton textile for the dye process. Since the tannin forms an insoluble compound with the metallic mordants, as well as the dyestuff, it produces fast colours. The mirabolan treatment gave the textile an ochre colour. In Europe such tannin solutions were most commonly prepared from Gallnuts, alder bark, or oak bark. In his first letter from 1742, Father Coeurdoux gave a detailed explanation for the use of buffalo milk.

447 Schwartz, “The Beaulieu …,”82. 448 For identification of Indian plants: Cardon, Natural Dyes: Sources, Tradition Technology and Science.

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“The reason for buffalo milk being put into the infusion in preference to cow’s milk is because the former contains more fatty matter and is more oily. The milk produces in cloth much the same effect as gum and other preparations used on paper to prevent the ink from spreading. In fact I tried painting on a cloth prepared only with Cadou with some of our ink and found that it spread much and soaked through to the other side of the cloth.”449 After the textile had been beaten on a very hard polished wooden block with fifteen inch batons, it was ready for applying the design. This would be drawn by hand in charcoal or craftsmen used patterns where holes were pierced along the contour lines and the charcoal punched directly onto the textile. For repeat design, printing blocks could also be used. The outlines of the designs to be coloured blue, green or purple as well as areas that should remain black, were painted with an iron solution that turned blue-black almost immediately as it reacted with the mirabolan soaked cotton. The iron solution was prepared from sulphuric stone and chouris (a liquid made from coconut palms). In his text, M. de Beaulieu includes an elaborate description of how to prepare this. Areas with red designs had a red outline that was accomplished with an alum mordant. The alum mordant was colourless and therefore they would add a fugitive colour from Sappan wood to detect where the craftsmen had already applied the mordants. In Europe, Brazil wood was commonly used for this purpose, especially by Oberkampf. He continued the practice with red outlines for design elements that would remain red in the finished product.

M. DE BEAULIEU’S SAMPLE NO. 2: SECOND STEP: DYEING WITH CHAY ROOT The textile was first washed in water and dried, then the cloth was boiled in a solution of chay root for two hours over moderate heat and left to cool in the solution. Chay root comes from the plant Oldenlandia umbellate, which originates in India, Burma, Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and Java. The plant is

449 Schwartz, “Appendix A…,” 106.

121 brushwood and grows in sandy places, particularly at the seacoast. The best quality chay root comes from the Coromandel Coast - the area that is so famous for their Palampores, as well as other painted and printed textiles. Chay root is the red dye used in Indian chintzes and it contains only the dye substance alizarin. The alum mordant reacted with the alizarin in the chay root solution to yield red. In Europe they used the root from madder, Rubia tinctorium, and large amounts were cultivated locally for dyeing and textile printing. Madder contains not only the dye substance alizarin, but also purpurin.

M. DE BEAULIEU’S SAMPLE NO. 3: THIRD STEP: FIXING AND BRIGHTENING THE

COLOURS The chay root solution will colour the whole textile, but it only remains colour- fast in the areas treated with mordant. To get rid of the dirty colour, also described as a yellowish pink, on the background of the design, the textile was first soaked overnight in a dung bath prepared from kid dung (goat droppings) then it was spread out on the ground during the day, bleaching. This treatment also removed the mirabolan and the fugitive colour added to the mordants. The process was repeated three times. The chay-red and black colours became so well attached to the fiber that they did not fade during this treatment. On the contrary, they became even brighter and more beautiful.

M. DE BEAULIEU’S SAMPLE NO. 4: FOURTH STEP: APPLICATION OF

WAX RESERVE FOR THE OUTLINES The cloth was washed in clear rice water and beaten against a tree trunk as preparation for the next treatment. Dyeing the Indian chintzes in indigo is a reserve process (also known as resist dyeing). Before immersing the textile into the indigo vat, lines of molten wax were applied with an iron pen to any detail that would remain white in the blue and green areas of the design.

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M. DE BEAULIEU’S SAMPLE NO. 5: FIFTH STEP: APPLICATION OF

WAX RESERVE ON THE REST OF THE DESIGN The same pen was used to outline the whole design with molten wax. All areas that were not supposed to be blue or green, including the white background were now covered with wax. On the sample, the wax itself looks blue because of prior use. Some observers mentioned that after this treatment, they left the textile flat on the ground where sun and heat would melt the wax slightly so it was absorbed into the fiber.

M. DE BEAULIEU’S SAMPLE NO. 6: SIXTH STEP: DYEING WITH INDIGO

FOLLOWED BY WASHING TO REMOVE THE WAX The textile was pleated into four inch folds before it was dipped several times in succession into the indigo vat. In India, indigo is obtained from the plant Indigofera tinctoria. Only the so-called fermentation vat was known in India where the dyestuff in the indigo plant is transformed into a water-soluble form, leuco-indigo. In this form the dyestuff attached itself to the textile fibre and oxidized in the air to become the insoluble, colourfast indigo. When one removed a textile from the yellowish leuco-indigo vat, it changed colour and became blue right before one’s eyes. The textile was then opened up and extra liquid was applied to areas that had not absorbed the dye liquid sufficiently. Afterwards, the cloth was spread out in the shade to dry. Immersing the textile in hot water and changing the water from time to time removed the wax. When the wax had been totally removed, the cloth was washed with water and kid droppings, then exposed every day to the sun as described before. This was repeated three times. In Europe, this time consuming process was replaced by painting on the indigo (penciling), using indigo in a slow-oxidizing form.

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M. DE BEAULIEU’S SAMPLE NO. 7: SEVENTH STEP: PAINTED COLOURS The textile was soaked for half an hour in a mixture of water and a little buffalo-milk. After drying it was beaten on a wooden block. To delineate the flowers in the design, the craftsman penciled in lines in molten wax for the details inside the flowers that were to remain white before they applied the mordant.

M. DE BEAULIEU’S SAMPLE NO. 8: EIGHTH STEP: SECOND MORDANTING Additional mordants were now applied to create other colours. The alum and iron mordants would be mixed and the shades they accomplished depended on the proportion of the two mordants. M. de Beaulieu specifically pointed out that alum and terra merita (Turmeric, Curcuma) were mixed and used for the areas that would be yellowish red or yellow, and sulphuric grit was dissolved in sour cranje (weak acid made from fermented rice-water) and applied to areas that would appear brown.

M. DE BEAULIEU SAMPLE NO. 9: NINTH STEP: SECOND DYEING WITH CHAY

ROOT The textile was boiled for four hours over low heat in the chay root solution, then left to cool down in the dye. Red, purple and blue now became visible in the design. The textile was then washed and any stains were removed with lemon or the fruit of Jambelon (Eugenia Jambolana), commonly known as the black plum.

M. DE BEAULIEU’S SAMPLE NO. 10: TENTH STEP: FIXING AND BRIGHTENING THE

COLOURS The textile was washed in a dung bath on three consecutive days and spread out on the bank of a pond to remove all the rusty colour; the surplus dye the textile had absorbed from the second dye bath in areas that had not been treated with

124 mordant; actually bleaching the white background. Then it was washed several times in warm soapy water and dried.

M. DE BEAULIEU’S SAMPLE NO. 11: ELEVENTH STEP: FINISHING The cloth was first washed in a mixture prepared from equal amounts of buffalo milk and water, then dried. The final dye treatment was the application of the yellow dyestuff, prepared from cadouca flowers, mirobalan seeds and mixed with powdered chay root. It was painted directly on all areas that should remain yellow, as well as on top of the blue areas that would be green; since green cannot be dyed directly with natural dyestuffs. The textile was then washed in water in which kid-droppings, chaouroux (an earthy and salty sand found near the seashore) and soap had been dissolved the day before. This was followed by spreading the piece out on the ground next to a pool of water, which the dyers used from time to time to keep the textile moist. In the evening it was beaten against a stone and the next day it was dried. This concludes M. de Beaulieu’s description of the process.

V. 4. CHANGES TO THE ORGANIZATION OF THE CRAFT

The exotic and colourful painted and printed textiles that reached Europe from the Orient required a totally new textile printing technology. From the traditional methods, which used painters’ pigments in an oil solvent, the craftsmen needed to reveal the mystery of distinctive and often exotic dyestuffs and additives in addition to learning an entirely new and different methodology. The assumption that the French know-how for textile printing disappeared or was debilitated after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, when the Huguenots left France, is incorrect. Studies about Huguenot settlements in both England and Switzerland stress that the majority of the artisans and craftsmen

125 who arrived were silk workers; textile printers were not mentioned at all.450 According to the English researcher Natalie Rothstein, with the arrival of the Huguenots first at Canterbury and later in the Spittalfield district of London, the silk industry in these locations began to expand rapidly.451 Jean Baptiste Colbert wanted to regulate the French dye industry and prepared a comprehensive study which was incorporated in the decree of 1671, General Instructions for the Dyeing of Woolen Manufactures of all Colors, and for the Culture of the Drugs or Ingredients Employed in Them. Different parts of France used a variety of established, traditional methods for dyeing and it was Colbert’s intention to standardize them. This would at the same time impose a form of quality control to guarantee superior textiles and give France a reputation as the country of indisputable dye experts. In 1708, much of the information gathered was published as a dyer’s manual, Le Teinturier Parfait, and it was also officially distributed outside of France. “It was decided to publish all manufacturing secrets so that all French dyers could have the benefit of the best known processes available”452. John Joseph Beer stated that “it acted as a kind of advertisement for French dyed cloth”. However, Beer went much further in his analysis of the situation when he claimed: “It was a very astute move on the part of Colbert to encourage and approve the disclosure of the best French dyeing recipes for he was probably aware of the fact that the secrets of France’s generally backward dye technology were not going to be of much help

450 Bernhard Cottret, The Huguenots in England Immigration and Settlement c. 1550 – 1700. (Cambridge, 1991); Irene Scouloldi, Huguenots in Britain and their French Background 1550 – 1800. (London, 1987); Warren C. Scoville, “The Huguenots and the Diffusion of Technology,” The Journal of Political History 60 (1952): 294-311, 392-411. 451 Natalie Rothstein, “Huguenots in the English Silk Industry in the Eighteenth Century.” In Huguenots in Britain and their French Background 1550 – 1800, ed. Irene Scouloldi. (London, 1987): 125-143. 452Beer, Science and the French Dye Industry, 29.

126 to foreign dyers”453. Colbert had already in 1671 evaluated the condition of the French dyers’ work and found them lacking, otherwise he would never have permitted this dyer’s manual to be distributed among France’s rivals and strongest competitors. The French author and specialist on textile printing Jean François Persoz wrote in his five-volume study that when these religious problems forced the Protestant craftsmen to leave France, they first went to the Netherlands where the northern part was predominantly settled by Protestants. The refuges needed to create an income for their own existence and many worked in textile printing.454 In the last part of the seventeenth and first half of the eighteenth century Amsterdam was the major center for both import and trade in Indian chintz (in Dutch called Indische sitsen). Contracts dated 1611 and 1617 regarding uniform and stable pricing, demonstrate that a number of textile printers were already established in the Amsterdam area. However, these early printers are believed to have worked with oil based printing materials. Amsterdam was extremely well suited for textile printing since the canals gave easy access to water. Therefore, when the new and upcoming industry ‘katoen druckkerije’ (cotton printing almost certainly with mordants) entered the scene the textile printers working in the Indian manner established themselves by the Amstel river where they also had access to large beaching fields. In the English and French languages, textile printing is the common term used to describe both printing with oil based materials and mordant printing. The Dutch and Swedish languages use different terms for textile printing, stoffdruck in Dutch and tygtryck in Swedish; while they refer to printing on cotton as katoenendruk in Dutch and kattun tryck in Swedish. The similarity between the Dutch and Swedish terms can be attributed to the first Swedish textile printer (in the Indian manner) Jan de Broen, who was born in the Netherlands around 1760. He lived and had his own workshop outside

453 Beer, Science and the French Dye Industry, 30. 454 Jean François Persoz. Traité théorétique et pratique de l’impression des tissus, 5 vols. (Paris, 1846), 1: XV-XVI.

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London when the Swede Jonas Alströmer approached him and offered to relocate him to Sweden, where there was no competition and no strict laws limiting textile printing in the Indian manner. De Broen arrived in Sweden in May of 1722 and settled in Sickla in Nacka outside of Stockholm.455 It is very likely that the Swedish terminology was influenced by the Dutch. Subsequently the use of two different terms for textile printing makes it easier to establish when this new method was introduced. Willem Johannes Smit wrote his doctorate De Katoendrukkerij in Nederland tot 1813 and explained that the Indian printing process arrived in Europe via Armenia and Turkey. He also documented cotton printing in the last part of the seventeenth century in the Netherlands. In 1673, the Dutch goldsmith Dirk Schmid reported that a drukker van katoenen, Willem Blomsaert, was working for him. The local paper Amsterdamsche Courant advertized on the 14th of April 1674 a katoenendrukkeriji in good condition for sale. The notary public Hemmineck verified on the 29th of October 1676 a sales contract between the katoen verkooper (the cottons buyer) Pieter Spies and the Andries Vinck katoendrukker (cotton printer, almost certainly mordant printed) in Egelantierstraat. Furthermore, in 1678 two people from Amsterdam submitted an application to establish textile printing in the Indian manner in Amersfort with the Turk Louwijis D’Celeby as head of production.456 Consequently, when the French refugees arrived sometime after 1685 they would have had an opportunity to study and work in some of these textile printing industries already established in the Netherlands. Here they could expand their practical knowledge, as well as be introduced to many of the various printed textiles the Dutch East India Company legally brought into that country. Persoz acknowledged that the French refuge M. Thomas started the first textile printing establishment in Richmond by the River Thames in 1690 and that Jacques Deluze from Saintonge emigrated to Neuchâtel in Switzerland and

455 Henschen and Frankow, 12-14. 456 Willem Johannes Smit, 59-62.

128 in 1689 established a very successful textile printing enterprise.457 One hundred and thirty five years later the French historian Serge Chassagne affirmed that by the end of the seventeenth century Hugenot calico printers were living in Berlin, Bremen, Frankfurt, Geneva, Lausanne and Neuchâtel. However, he particularly pointed out that it is not clear whether they started the industry in these places. 458 Textile printing occupies a very special niche among the old traditional handicrafts, but the workers do not appear to have had their own guild. From about 1500, the textile printers were part of the book printers’ guild, and in the middle of the sixteenth century they joined the guild of textile workers.459 It was not until the seventeenth century that they became almost exclusively governed by the guild of textile dyers. In a traditional guild structure the master craftsman’s accumulated knowledge and practical skills were handed down from the master-craftsman to his apprentices.460 In fifteenth century France, these guilds were known as choses du roi, literally, belonging to the king. They were organized in métiers statues, guilds with statutes approved by the French government. Due to accelerating economic growth and foreign competition, many regional governments attempted to intervene on behalf of what they considered to be useful, local industries. In February of 1776, the Controller- General Turgot attempted to abolish all guilds. However, they were reinstated and survived until the French revolution.461 It was an aspect of protectionism in support of the lucrative wool- and silk- industries that was the basis for the introduction of strict rules and regulations which effectively stopped painted and printed cotton textiles from reaching the European consumer. The French textile printing industry was heavily restricted and printed textiles were officially forbidden in France from

457 Persoz,1: XVI. 458 Chapman and Chassagne, 232. 459 “Historical Gleanings,” Ciba Review 26 (1939): 937. 460 James R. Farr, Artisans in Europe, 1300 – 1914. (Cambridge, 2000): 30. 461 Farr, 278

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1668, when Louvois, Director of Industry and Domestic Commerce, prohibited the import of painted and printed textiles.462 These laws went through a series of revisions until textile printing was formally legalized in 1759. Between 1673 and 1714, the French government passed four hundred and fifty regulations on manufacture and five hundred on the policing of trades in an ineffective attempt to control the situation.463 Such legislation seriously affected the new and upcoming French textile printing industry since local textile printing also was prohibited.464 Due to the long lasting ban, this traditional craft had no influential guild and no powerful labourforce. When the ban was lifted this lack of a well established, strong guild system to protect the rights of the local textile printers, made it possible to bring in craftspeople from outside the country. Suddenly France desperately needed the skill and expertise to start up its own textile printing enterprises and to confront the competition from Indian textiles, as well as other European imitations. Customarily, the craft guilds were governed by a rigid guild structure, which gave very limited access to non-guild members and blocked any direct involvement from the scientific community. Without such an obstructionist association representing the craftsmen, textile printing became the new and upcoming industry where modern, innovative ideas were accepted. The scientists’ research in applied chemistry could be adapted by experienced craftsmen to benefit this industry’s specific needs. Therefore, the us a unique opportunity to expand our knowledge of the extent of the association between science, crafts and manufacturing. To firmly ascertain that a working relationship existed between members of the French scientific community and the textile printers, and to evaluate the impact this association had on the industry, it becomes essential to examine the information that Claude Louis

462 Chapman and Chassagne, 104. Louvois introduced this bill after Colbert’s death in 1683. 463 Farr, 30. 464 Brédif,17.

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Berthollet presented in his books. He pointed out how textile printing was fundamentally different from textile dyeing and described how he worked not only with textile dyers, but also with two textile printers, Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf and Jean-Michele Haussmann. By examining developments within this French industry that became so exceptionally successful and internationally recognized, a new and expanded awareness of this unique bond between craft and academic science will become apparent.

V. 5. JOHN HOLKER’S SAMPLES OF ENGLISH PRINTED TEXTILES

The impact on French manufacturers from the experienced British textile printing industries was relatively limited in comparison to other European countries, such as the Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland. However, this has to be assessed in relation to the British government’s specific political concerns regarding the transfer of tradesmen’s skills and particularly British technologies. By the end of the eighteenth century, England had developed new technologies in a variety of fields, covering such diverse production areas as wool, iron, steel, brass, steam engines and the horological trade. This expertise was extremely attractive to Britain’s competitors who would go to extreme measures to obtain this professional know-how. Therefore, in order to maintain its technological advantage, the British government was driven to introduce new and important legislation, which was intended to protect these new technologies from what John Harris described as “international robberies”465. This legislation dealt with both the immigration of skilled laborers, the repatriation of emigrant workers, and the apprenticeship of foreign workers in Britain. In 1719, the Commons passed the Act that made industrial espionage illegal.466

465 John R. Harris, Industrial Espionage and Technology Transfer: Britain and France in the Eighteenth Century. (Aldershot, 1998): 7-12. 466 Harris, 8 - 9.

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Nevertheless, it did not put a stop to the lucrative transfer of British know-how to France. In the forefront of these “organized raids” was an English expatriate, John Holker (1719-1786), who worked for the Director of the French Bureau of Commerce, Daniel-Charles Trudaine.467 Holker was born near Manchester in 1719, and had actively sided with the Jacobites before he escaped first to the Netherlands and later to Paris.468 From 1747 he served with Ogilvie’s Scottish Regiment, which was attached to the French army469 until 1751, when he resigned his commission.470 Holker was well acquainted with methods and equipment used in the English cotton industry.471 He considered himself a “transplant to France” and engaged in commercial projects including “modernizing the French textile industry with English machinery imported for the purpose”472. According to H. Wescher, who wrote about Holker’s amazing and very successful career in France, “his plan was to import (in reality smuggle) both English equipment and English workers to train French labourers to use the new machinery “since the export from England of any machinery for manufacturing purposes was strictly forbidden”473.

467 Harris, 51. John Holker’s life and successful career is described in A. Rémond. John Holker, Manufacturier et Grand Fonctionnaire en France au XVIIIe Siècle 1719 –1786. (Paris, 1946); Harris, “Holkers and Trudaines,” in part 2, and “The Transfer of British Textile Technology in the Late Eighteenth Century,” in part 5 of Industrial Espionage and Technology Transfer: Britain and France in the Eighteenth Century: 43-169, 361-422. 468 H. Wescher, “John Holker, a Promoter of the French Textile Industry,” Ciba Review 135 (1959): 10-13.. 469 Florence M. Montgomery, “John Holker’s Mid-Eighteenth-Century Livre d’Echantillons.” In Studies in Textile History: In memory of Harold Burnham, ed, Veronica Gervers. (Toronto, 1977): 214-231. 470 Wescher, “John Holker”, 10. 471 Montgomery, “John Holker”, 214. 472 Wescher, “John Holker”, 10. 473 Montgomery, “John Holker”, 215.

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In 1750, the French government sent Holker back to England “on a three-month expedition of espionage and to seduce English skilled workers”474. Holker established agents in England whom he continued to work with for many years. He also brought back machine models, as well as textile samples. Harris emphasized that Holker probably wanted to convince the French government of his own substantial knowledge of the English textile industry; especially the production of cotton. He also tried to convince them of English superiority. Holker’s extensive and exceptionally successful career in France was focused on the firms he helped to create, which were often based on English technology, as well as his activities as Inspector General.475 In the collection of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, is a folio volume containing more than one hundred and fifteen English textile swatches complete with handwritten comments about their manufacture, assembled into a Livre des Echantillons. Florence M. Montgomery, who studied the samples in this unique collection, believes the manuscript to be from 1750.476 The introduction to the book claimed that these samples were manufactured in Lancashire mostly from Manchester, and that “The samples were collected on the spot by Mr. John Holker … and brought with him to France." Furthermore, these samples were “Presented to M. de Montigny, of the Royal Academy of Sciences, by his very humble and very obedient servant, Morel”477. Marc Morel was the Inspector for Cotton Manufactures in the Rouen district in France and had visited England in 1738. He was interested in methods used by the English textile industry and was familiar with the English language.478 Morel had met

474 Harris, 53. 475 Harris, 53-60, 68. 476 Montgomery, “John Holker”, 215. 477 Florence M. Montgomery, “English Textile Swatches of the mid-eighteenth century,” The Burlington Magazine, 102 (1960): 240-243. According to Montgomery, M. de Montigny is believed to be Marc Morel’s chief, the Director of Commerce Daniel-Charles Trudaine de Montigny. 478 Montgomery, “John Holker,” 214.

133 with John Holker in the early 1750’s and as indicated by Montgomery, this Livre d’Echantillons was a collaboration between them. Holker wrote comments for each textile, including place of manufacture, fibre content, as well as their intended use. This “provided detailed information of great interest for the conservative and technically less advantaged French manufacturers.” The printed textiles, swatches number eighty-eight to one hundred, or as Montgomery described them “the thirteen chintzes printed in bright madder colours on white grounds,” were clearly poached from the Manchester area.479 The accompanying text states: “This type of fabric is made in the Manchester district, especially in a small town called Blackburn.... The volume of business done with foreign markets is definitely greater than with the domestic market, although this is very extensive. They send large quantities to France, which are sold as Indian chintzes because of the special finish they are given and also because the purchasers of this type of English goods 480 have but slight knowledge of them.” Considering the unique circumstances that existed in France with the ongoing ban on textile printing, along with their persistent attempts to discover textile printing in the Indian manner, it is perplexing that this first-hand information on English textile printing was never utilized. Holker started producing cotton velvet in the Rouen area, as well as weaving and spinning with English know- how and machinery. However, his offer to introduce this new textile printing method, which was already satisfactorily established in England, was never acknowledged or accepted in France.

479 Montgomery. “English Textile Swatches”, 240-243. 480Linda Eaton, Printed Textiles British and American Cottons and Linens 1700-1850. (New York, 2014): 22.

VI. MAGICAL MADDER

VI. 1. THE MADDER PLANT AND MADDER CULTIVATION

Historically, red is one of the most popular colours and it has been endowed with numerous symbolic meanings.481 People’s love for red is particularly apparent in certain cultures, where the linguistic expression for red is synonymous with beautiful.482 Next to indigo, which produces blue colouring, madder is the most frequently used dye material for textiles. Madder is closely associated with our perception of red and in many languages the common term for red became the name for this plant. Red dyed prehistoric textiles and fibres have been found in archaeological excavations throughout many parts of the world. It is through those finds that we can trace the use of madder for textile dyeing. Various species of Rubiaceae or madder have been identified in many historical sites around the world. During her studies at Tel-Amarna in Egypt, a site that has been dated to c. 1370 BC, the textile archaeologist Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood documented madder dyed textiles.483 Madder was also identified on linen from

481Robert Chenciner, Madder Red: A History of Luxury and Trade. Plant Dyes and Pigments in World Commerce and Art. (Richmond Surrey, 2000); Amy Butler Greenfield, A Perfect Red: Empire, Espionage and the Quest for the Colour of Desire. (New York, 2005); Gösta Sandberg. , Purpur Kochenill Krapp en bok om röda textilier. (Stockholm, 1994); Michel Pastoureau, Jésus chez le teinturier: Couleurs et teintures dans l’Occident médiéval. (Paris, 1997); Herman Pleij, Colours Demonic & Divine: Shades of Meaning in the Middle Ages & After, 2002, trans. Diane Webb. (New York, 2004). 482 E .J. W. Barber, Prehistoric Textiles, The Development of Cloth in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages with Special Reference to the Aegean. (Princeton, New Jersey, 1991): 230. 483 Barry Kemp and Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood, The ancient textile industry at Amarna. (London, 2001).

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Tutankhamon’s tomb.484 Although a much earlier cotton cloth from Mohenjo Daro in India (from late in the third millennium BC) was said to be coloured with a dye substance believed to be madder,485 this textile sample has since been lost.486 Archaeological excavations of Chinese sites from around 500 BC indicate the use of madder as the red dye substance. Research has also shown that textiles from Pre-Columbian South America, as early as the Paracas culture, which existed from about 900 to 200 BC, were dyed with locally grown madder. 487 In Antiquity, the Greeks called madder erthyrodanon, the Romans rubia, and the German name for madder is röte. Plants belonging to the madder family can be found in temperate and tropical zones worldwide, but they are most prevalent throughout Europe and Asia. Robert Chenciner tells us that “The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening states that the Rubiaceae or Madder family contains 630 genera and 10.400 species”488. Nevertheless, only a few of them were of interest to the textile dyers.489 Madder was considered the most important of all the natural dyestuffs used by the textile printers.490 The two colouring substances present in madder are alizarin

484 Chenciner, Madder Red: A History of Luxury and Trade. Plant Dyes and Pigments in World Commerce and Art, 54. Note # 18; G. Eastwood, “Egyptian Dyes and Colours,” Dyes in History and Archeology 3 (1984): 9-15. 485 Barber, 232. 486 Chenciner, 32. 487 Sandberg, Purpur Koschenill Krapp en bok om röda textilier, 76-77. 488 Chenciner, 22. Chenciner’s italics. 489 Daniel Fues, “La garance: colorant de rouge de turc.” In Andrinople le rouge magnifique: De la teinture à la l’impression, une cotonnade à la conquête du monde, ed. Jacqueline Jacqué. (Paris, Mulhouse, 1995): 80. 490 Edmund Knecht, Christopher Rawson and Richard Loewenthal. A Manual of Dyeing for the practical Dyers, Manufacturers, Students, and all interested in the Art of Dyeing. (London, 1920): 361.

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(C14H8O4), the principal and most valuable colouring matter, and purpurin 491 (C14H8O5). Rubia tinctorum, also known as ‘dyer’s madder’, was a cultivated variation of wild madder.492 It was closely associated with textile dyeing and was included in the Encyclopédie; likewise Le Pileur d’Apligny referred to it as Rubia tinctorum sativa in his book L’Art de la Teinture.493 Wild madder originated in Persia and in the Eastern part of the Mediterranean where cultivation and production of this dyestuff began.494 From there, it was imported into Europe and later cultivated in the Netherlands, Silesia, Hungary, Provence and Alsace.495 Rubia tinctorum contains the most intense dyestuff, which consists primarily of alizarin.496 The dye pigment is contained in the root, within the substance between the outer skin and the woody heart, and had to be exposed to a complicated treatment process before reaching the market.497 The growers believed that the amount of dye pigment depended on how long the plant had been left in the ground. Consequently, most left them in the soil for at least two years. In central France, the plants were left for three years

491 M. C. Whiting, “The Analysis of Madder and related Dyes,” Dyes in History and Archaeology 7 (1988): 9. 492 Fues, 80. 493 Chenciner, 22; Note # 8: Encyclopédie, 7: 478; Le Pileur d’Apligny, L’Art de la Teinture. (Paris, 1765): 12. 494 Fues, 80. 495 G. Schaefer, “The Cultivation of Madder,” Ciba Review 39 (1941): 1398. 496 Chenciner, 22. See Chenciner Chemical terms, 301: “By 1997 Schweppe had identified 25 colourants found in madder, called ‘naturally occurring hydroxyanthraquinones’ and two other constituent colourants. G.W. Taylor comments on Schweppe’s hydroxyanthraquinones, “the principle colourants are alizarin and purpurin”. For the chemical composition and chemical properties of both alizarin and purpurin see Judith H Hofenk de Graaff, 91. For the main colouring substances such as Alizarin, Purpurin, Pseudopurpurin, Xanthopurpurin etc. that are present in different Rubiaceae or Madder family plants. See Hofenk de Graaff, 92. 497 Schaeffer, “The Cultivation”, 1398-1406.

137 before harvesting, while Iranian roots were left for seven years to achieve an exquisite, bright and brilliant red.498 The quantity of the dye was dependent on the nature of the soil, rather than the plant species. After the harvest, an interval of ten years elapsed before madder was planted in the same area again.499 Berthollet was aware of the different soil conditions used for madder cultivation. “Although madder can grow both in a stiff clayey soil and in sand, it succeeds better in a rich (grasse), soft, moist and very slightly sandy soil. It is cultivated in several of our departments”500. The quality of the dyestuff depended on soil characteristics. As a result, two different varieties were developed from the same original plant in Provence. One was grown in soil which was rich in calcium carbonate and these plants contained a larger quantity of the dye substance than the other, Rose- variation, which grew in soil containing very little calcium.501 Rubia peregrina, also called wild madder, is easily distinguished from the cultivated variations.502 The plant grows wild in Persia and was brought to Spain by the Arabs.503 This variant of madder was hardly ever used to replace the cultivated madder, Rubia tinctorum, since dyestuff from the wild madder does not contain alizarin; instead the main dye substance is purpurin. For that reason, the dyed textile attained a rose shade, not the bright red commonly associated with textiles coloured with the dye substance from this family of plants.504 We know that Berthollet was aware that madder contained two different dye substances, which would give the textiles different colouring. “It appears then that madder may be considered as composed of two colouring substances, one of which is dun (tawny), and the other is red. Both of these

498 Cardon, 102. 499 Schaefer, “The Cultivation”, 1405. 500 Berthollet, (1824) 2:98. 501 Schaeffer, “The Cultivation”, 1398. 502 Cardon, 111. 503 Schaeffer, “The Cultivation”, 1398. 504 Fues, 80.

138 substances may combine with the stuff. It is of consequence, however, to fix only the red part”505. Rubia cordiflora, the species that grows in Asia, was used for red dyestuff in India, China, and Japan.506 It was also known as Rubia munjistaand and Oldenlandia umbellata, and was used in India for dyeing cotton fabrics.507 This red dye was used on the painted and printed textiles made for the local Indian market and for export to the East and to the West. Indian madder was cultivated on the Coromandel- and Malabar-coasts of the Indian continent, areas that became manufacturing centres for the painted and printed textiles produced in large quantities for export to Europe.508 Franco Brunello stated that according to Pliny, the Romans had madder plantations outside of Rome as early as 50 AD. Dioscorides maintained that madder was planted outside Ravenna and that this product was an important source of the local income.509 Early European records are infrequent, but as early as the seventh century, madder cultivation was mentioned in the vicinity of St. Denis (formerly near Paris now an outer suburb)510 and a century later Charlemagne (768-814) ordered madder to be planted on his estate.511 The growing of madder was also referred to in the south of France; in Provence, in Languedoc, the Kingdom of Aragon, as well as in Lombardy.512 Nevertheless, madder agriculture on a large scale did not take place in Europe until the sixteenth century. In spite of this, the town of Goes in the Netherlands had already issued instructions for madder growing and tendering in 1494, and for more than three centuries that country had the highest standard for madder

505 Berthollet, (1824), 2:107. 506 Fues, 80. 507 Cardon, 118. 508 Schaeffer, “The Cultivation”, 1398. 509 Brunello, 399. Quoting from Pliny the Elder’s Natural History, Brunello, 107. 510 Hofenk de Graaff, 94. 511 Schaeffer, “The Cultivation”, 1400. 512 Cardon,109.

139 cultivation. Emperor Charles V (1519-1556) encouraged this form for agriculture, and madder husbandry was considered one of the principal sources of income.513 In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, no other European country could compete with Dutch madder production. Subsequently, the Dutch became very skilled refiners of this dye. They distinguished between three madder qualities; the best was called crop or krap in Dutch, garance robée and garance grappée in French; the ordinary powdered madder was known as gort gemeen in Dutch and mirobée in French; while the inferior quality was called mullen or garance courte in French.514 According to dye historian Gustav Schaefer, reputable merchants did not deal in this low-grade madder quality,515 and John Joseph Beer stated that “Dyers had to trust the reliability of their suppliers since it was difficult to tell quality (high alizarin content) by simple inspection”516. Berthollet wrote about the complicated classification system for the different categories of dye-quality madder. “Madder, prepared for the purpose of dyeing is distinguished into different qualities. That which comes from the parent roots (mères racines) is called garance grape; and non grape is the produce of the stems that sink into the earth, where they are transformed into roots, to which the name couchis (layers) is given. Each of these species is

subdivided into garance-robée, mi-robée, non-robée, short or male (courte ou male).”517 France had also encouraged and subsidized madder cultivation, especially in the southern parts; additionally it was established in Alsace in the 1550s. Madder production disappeared in France during the sixteenth century because of civil and foreign wars, as well as the loss of the Huguenot growers who left France after the Edict of Nantes was revoked (1685); many settled in

513 Schaeffer, “The Cultivation”, 1400. 514 Schaeffer, “The Cultivation”, 1400-1405. 515 Schaeffer, “The Cultivation”, 1405. 516 Beer. Science and the French Dye Industry, 132. 517 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 98-99.

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Zeeland, the Netherlands.518 In the seventeenth century, France started new initiatives to attract local growing of sufficient madder to meet the requirements of their own dye industry. In this manner, the government attempted to prevent the export of large amounts of money to Holland and the Orient for the imported madder and lizari.519 In 1601, and again in 1641, Colbert prepared an agricultural directive to persuade farmers to increase madder cultivation, and consequently reduce the French dependency on Dutch import.520 In Alsace, madder cultivation was revived in the middle of the eighteenth century,521 and in the latter part of the century an Armenian refugee, Johannis Althonian, established madder agriculture in the Vaucluse area.522 Berthollet was definitely aware of the variation of methods applied to madder production in different geographical areas, as well as the benefits that each specific method had for the final dye result.523 “It results from this difference of preparation, or perhaps also from a variety in the plant, that two kinds of madder are distinguished, which differ in their dyeing properties. The first, which is cultivated at Smyrna, in the island of Cyprus, and in the Levant, is known under the name of lizari. Its culture is established in our southern departments, where it is by no means of worse quality.”524 He continued with a description of madder culture in Southern France in accordance with notes given to him by Chaptal.525 He revealed the

518 Chenciner, 54. 519 Schaeffer, “The Cultivation”. 1401. Al lizari was the Arabic word for the red dye extracted from madder and the word that alizarin arrive from. Brunello, 123. 520 Fues, 82. 521 Schaeffer, “The Cultivation”, 1402. 522 Cardon, 110. 523 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 99. 524 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 99. 525 Berthollet, (1824), 2:100.

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“experiments on a very choice madder from Zealand” which “the celebrated Watt” had performed, as well as James Watt’s results for madder’s chemical reactions with alum, fixed alkali, potash and calcareous calk.526 Alsatian madder was similar to Dutch madder but of inferior quality, while madder from Avignon was much richer in colour and less hygroscopic.527 The distinct characteristics of French madder grown in different districts and the special concerns for storage, since madder had the potential to easily absorb water, as Berthollet pointed out: “The madder of Alsace is reduced to an extremely fine powder, and its colouring matter is extracted by a much longer ebullition than is necessary for the lizari. The prepared madders ought to be carefully preserved from humidity, because they easily imbibe moisture, in which case fermentation spoils their colour.”528 Gustav Schaefer’s historical commentary on madder cultivation affirmed that Alsatian pigment powder was considered to be the best quality madder, but most European madder, especially madder that was produced in the Netherlands and France, was also considered to be of high quality.529 Madder and indigo were the two colouring substances most frequently used at Jouy.530 The different madder varieties were distinguished commercially by the geographical name of the area where the plants were grown and the dye substance produced.531 In 1769, thirty-three percent of the drugs purchased by

526Berthollet, (1824), 2:103-106. 527 Christopher Rawson, Walter M. Gardner, and W. F. Laycock, A Dictionary of Dyes, Mordants, and other Compounds used in Dyeing and Calico Printing. (London, 1926); 224. 528 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 102. 529 Schaeffer, “The Cultivation”, 1406. 530 Inventory listings from December 30th 1769, printed in Clouzot, 1928, 56. 531 Rawson, Gardner and Laycock, 224.

142 the Oberkampf factory was madder, produced in France, primarily from Alsace, but also from Avignon.532

VI. 2. THE PROCESS OF MADDER DYEING AND THE ILLUSTRATIONS ON

OBERKAMPF’S TEXTILE LES TRAVAUX DE LA MANUFACTURE

In 1783 Oberkampf’s establishment received the title of Manufacture Royale, and to commemorate the honour Oberkampf commissioned the artist Jean- Baptiste Huet to design Les travaux de la manufacture ( (ROM 934.4.443). Huet was an experienced printmaker and knew exactly how to prepare a specific cartoon (drawing) for the textile engraver. Star Siegele, who studied the textiles with graphic looking designs in the Royal Ontario Museum’s collection, pointed out that “he could control the degree of difficulty and the amount of time it would take to engrave the copper plate, thereby controlling the cost for Oberkampf”. A number of letters written by Oberkampf regarding this commission have survived, presenting an informative picture of their collaboration. This was the first design Huet created for Oberkampf and the beginning of a very successful partnership; he continued to work for the factory until he died in 1811.533 This textile is exceptional because it is one of very few illustrations of the manufacturing process for textile printing, and consequently of considerable documentary importance.534 (Fig.1) Motives presenting the various stages of textile printing were arranged in an informal way showing different individuals working at the establishment. Represented were Oberkampf with his son, the skilled workers such as the block printers with their assistants and the copperplate printers, the pencillers who hand painted the blue and yellow details, people who were working the madder bath and constantly moving the

532 Brédif, 70. 533 Star Siegele, ROM’s accession records. 534 Four oil paintings by J. G. Rossetti, Fresques de la manufacture Wetter, illustrating the work at Wetter’s factory in Orange, are now in the Musée d’Orange.

143 cloth during the process, the designer, the colour maker, and people who took part in all the different washing procedures that were such an important part of the work. The design also shows some of the buildings and workers who secure the textiles to the ground for bleaching and drying. Although it is an idealized image of the production, at the same time it is incredibly rich in details. For Berthollet, textile dyeing was a unique chemical process. He analysed dyeing in the same way that he would approach any other chemical question, and related the dye’s chemical composition to the abilities of the dye substance. This characterized Berthollet’s view and he changed textile dyeing from a craft, based on traditional recipes and accidental improvements to a contemporary technology based on scientific knowledge and systematic progress. Methodical analyses should be the means to determine the chemical properties that distinguished the colour particles from all other particles.535 He also defined each individual substance’s unique affinity and explained why the particles combined with acids, alkalis, metallic oxides, earths and fibres. “The means of chemical analysis which we possess, are so far from enabling us to determine the composition of the colouring particles with sufficient precision, for showing to what principles they owe their properties, that we often observe a very different composition giving rise to a colour of the same kind.”536 Berthollet continued with an overview of the different processes involved in textile printing. He particularly quoted Samuel Widmer and described the various steps as practiced at the Oberkampf factory. “The manipulations of dyeing are neither difficult nor complex. Their object is, to impregnate the substance which we wish to dye with the colouring particles held in solution in a bath; to make the agency of the air co-operate in the fixation of the colouring particles, or in giving them lustre; and to discharge with care such as have not been fixed in the

535 Keyser, 232. 536 Berthollet, (1824), 1: 52.

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dyed stuff. We shall content ourselves with giving an account of the most common manipulations, and of denominations.”537 He also established his own model for how such a factory should be organized to obtain maximum efficiency. “If it may be regarded as a general principle, that operations performed in a great manufactory are more advantageous than those which are isolated, since from the subdivision of labour each workman, occupied with a single object, acquires celerity and perfection in his employment, and since every thing is concentrated, each portion of the work is carried forward without loss of time; this principle should be applied to dyeing for a peculiar reason, because the residuum of one process can frequently serve for another.”538 The organization at Oberkampf’s factory seems to follow this model. In 1760 he started unassumingly by renting a small house, Maison du Pont-de- Pierre in Jouy-en-Josas and in May of that same year he and his brother Frédéric produced the first printed textiles.539 His establishment was successful because he sought perfection not just for the printed textiles produced, but also within his workforce. From the very beginning he made sure that the exceptional people he selected to work for him had precisely the skills the factory needed. In 1760 he hired two workers from Switzerland, the block printer Hafner and the engraver Ulrich Bossert, followed in 1764 by the block printer Schramm and the designer and dyer Louis Rohrdorf.540 In 1764 the leadership of this new and innovative establishment consisted of Christophe- Philippe Oberkampf (twenty-six years old), Ulrich Bossert (twenty-five years old), Frédérich Oberkampf (Christophe-Philippe’s younger brother, twenty- three years old) and Louis Rordorf (twenty-two years old). Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf was the oldest of the group, and together with Bossert, Rohrdorf

537 Berthollet, (1824), 1: 265. 538 Berthollet, (1824), 1: 262. 539 Mémorial, 10. 540 Chapman and Chassagne, 130.

145 and his brother they trained apprentices to create their own skilled labourforce.541 The strong bond between Oberkampf and his workers was built on mutual respect and a common goal. He on the other hand demanded “sobriety, thrift and diligence” from his workers”542. The immediate success of their printed textiles generated a need for more space and in 1764 he bought land to build a new factory.543 In 1790 the business expanded again and began constructing a new factory, designed by the architect Jean-Benoit-Vincent Barré.544 It became commonly known as le Grand Bâtiment, and after a three-year construction period, the four-story structure was finished. The building was larger than any other industrial structure built previously: one hundred and eleven metres long, fourteen metres wide and twenty-three metres high (each floor was about six metres), and natural light came in through fifty-two windows. At the time, it was the largest factory building in both France and England. However, it was intended for manual labour only and was without mechanical power.545 Woodblock- and copperplate- printers were located on the ground floor, as well as the roller printing machines. Copperplate printing had been introduced to the factory in 1770546 followed by roller printing in 1797.547 Facing north on the second floor was the chambre des dessinateurs et des graveurs en cuivre, the workshop for the designers and copperplate engravers, (the workers referred to all areas used for manual labour as chambres). Opposite was the well organized artistic study room where they kept sketches and folders with original designs of all the patterns they had

541 Brédif, 28. 542 Rieffel and Rouart, 15. 543 Rieffel and Rouart, 18. 544 Brédif, 25. 545 Chapman and Chassagne, 127 546 Brédif, 52. 547 Brédif,129.

146 printed up to 1793. It also included a rich collection of textile samples of indiennes produced abroad and organized in ledgers as in an herbarium.548 Under the watchful eye of a foreman, the pinceautage or penciling women were seated twelve to a table in a room also located on the second floor.549 The top floor of the building was reserved for warehousing.550 After the new factory building had been completed in 1793, all manual printing processes were assembled under one roof, which secured Oberkampf’s tight control of his work force.551 He created an autocratic organization of his labourers and delegated only limited powers to his assistants and foremen; but it was always his goal to “make sure that at all times all hands were actually employed”552. His labour force was extremely loyal and the factory did not experience labour unrest like some other French factories.553 Oberkampf’s factory organization displayed many of the recommendations for the operation of dye-works, described by Berthollet. “On the contrary, it seems proper to encourage large undertakings in dyeing; and those who are to direct them ought to lay down a plan of the operations, so that there may be a relation between them all, and that there may be no waste of ingredients, time, fuel, or manual exertion. This arrangement should be made subservient to the probable demands of commerce.”554 Builders and carpenters were constantly occupied since it was unusual that nothing needed repair or improvement.555 In 1801 they added a professional workshop to the factory where they could undertake production of new

548 Mémorial, 107. 549 Brédif, 27. 550 Chapman and Chassagne, 127. 551 Chapman and Chassagne, 27. 552 Brédif, 28. 553 Beauvais in 1778 and Vernaison in 1787 in Chapman and Chassagne, 122. 554 Berthollet, (1824), 1:263. 555 Mémorial, 110.

147 machinery, repair existing equipment, as well as “servicing … innumerable objects”556. When an appraisal was done in 1821, the enterprise consisted of thirty- six buildings not counting the warehouses and the service sheds that were necessary for the operation.557 All located within an area of fifty-eight acres.558 The success of his establishment and the exceptional expansion it had experienced were all associated with Oberkampf’s skills as an administrator and his clearly identifiable working principles. “Always aim at perfection in manufacturing the product: try out new techniques before putting them into production,” “always think carefully before you undertake anything,” and, as we have already seen, “always be informed ahead of your competition”559.

VI. 2. A TOILES: THE IMPORTANCE OF THE CLOTH

The quality of the woven material used as the foundation for textile printing was extremely important for the quality of the finished product, since a coarse and uneven woven material could never achieve fine lines and sharp details. From 1760 to 1767 Oberkampf’s establishment used only the French made cloth, siamoise, which had a linen warp and a cotton weft. In 1773 he travelled to London and bought fine cotton textiles imported from India. These materials were more finely woven and absorbed mordants better than the cotton-linen mixtures.560 From 1776, Oberkanmpf started to purchase cotton cloth imported by the French East India Company.561 Widmer recorded that only one quarter of the white cloths for printing came from India, while the majority were produced

556 Rieffel and Rouart, 20. 557 Brédif, 46 558 Chapman and Chassagne, 174 559 Brédif, 28 560 Brédif, 65-66. Brédif listed different qualities; guineas, cassias, battetas, calipatis, percale and muslin. 561 Brédif, 66.

148 in Normandy and Beaujolais in 1779. These locally produced textiles were used for the considerable production of mignonettes. The production in 1779 was not only successful, but also very lucrative.562 However, in 1791 their requirement for cloth had increased and shifted focus. The purchase from La Nouvelle Compagnie des Indes à l’Orient totalled one million and twenty-five thousand nine hundred and eighty livres, while the white cloth from Rouen cost two hundred and forty-five thousand five hundred and three livres, and the cloth from Beaujoais cost one hundred and fifty thousand livres.563 In the period from 1779 to 1791, the factory’s success increased and the focus for their production shifted away from the inexpensive small designs to the more elaborate, exclusive and expensive printed textiles. Consequently, Oberkampf needed higher quality raw materials. In 1796 he bought fifteen thousand pieces from the oriental trading company in London.564 When the cloth arrived at the factory it had to undergo a number of processes before it was ready for printing. To Oberkampf, the quality of the cloth and the preparation before printing was extremely important. He stated: “Successful textile printing depends above all on the preparation of the white cloth”565. To get rid of oil and grease applied during spinning and weaving, as well as the sizing (starch or rice glaze), the cloth was washed and beaten. This process was called dégommage (de- gumming) and could take from fifteen to twenty days.566 All the tools for washing were assembled by the river. In the beginning they treated the cloth with a flail on a floating raft, but later this operation was mechanized and the first beating machine was installed in 1770. (Fig.2) This was later improved with a timber float placed on two circular platforms that were rotated by the flow of the water by means of a second wheel placed downstream. Simultaneously this wheel moved two large beaters. This strong

562 Mémorial, 60-61. 563 Mémorial, 90. 564 Mémorial, 133. 565 Brédif, 46. 566 Brédif, 46.

149 and noisy structure was called the batterie (beater).567 Underneath the structure that traversed the river, they installed equipment for a simple and quick process to replace hand washing. Here a series of eight rolling mills were suspended on two racks underneath the flow of the water and operated by a crank. The textiles to be washed were attached, twelve to sixteen pieces together end to end. They floated in the river, passed through the rolling mills and were returned into the water. In this way the textiles were soaked and rinsed eight times a minute.568 Before the printing could begin the cloth had to pass through the calender, (Fig. 3) consisting of two wooden rollers, to make sure the textiles were absolutely flat and stretched out.569 In 1797 these rollers were replaced when a new type of roller was produced on the premises. Mechanics from a company in Paris, M. Rayon père et fils, lived in Jouy during the three month period it took to produce them. Around a cylinder axis about four feet long, they added round paper sheets, sixteen inches in diameter, with a hole in the centre. Each roller was fitted with three thousand six hundred sheets tightly packed between two copper roundels that gave the rollers heavy density. This strong, thick paper was produced by the papermaker Didot in Essonnes. Afterwards, the surface of the paper rollers was shaved and scraped until it was as smooth as the pages in a book. These rollers would last longer than those made from wood since they did not split or crack and did not become misshaped. The first paper rollers had been tried at the factory in the 1780s, but according to the Mémorial at that time it was more or less perfect.570

567 Memorial, 105 568 Mémorial, 105 569 Brédif, 46. 570 Mémorial, 138-139.

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VI. 2. B ASTRINGENTS

Astringents or tannin substances are organic acids. These substances were used both in the dye industry and also applied to the printing industry since textile fibres, especially cotton and linen, readily absorbed them from aqueous solutions. The astringents combined with both the heavy metals in the mordants, as well as the basic dyestuffs to form insoluble compounds with the fibres. When cotton cloth was treated with tannic acid it would attract the dyestuffs more rapidly.571 Berthollet was very interested in the properties that these specific additives brought into the dye process, especially tannin and gallic acid. “Astringents deserve peculiar attention, not only because they are of great use in dyeing, but because by this title is distinguished a property common to a great many vegetables”572. Berthollet’s treatment of astringents, as well as his explanation of the bleaching processes, were directly based on the recent chemical research he had been involved with. The Académie des sciences undertook a study aimed at determining the chemical content of the active ingredients in various materials used as astringents. The members selected for this research-committee were Lavoisier, Vandermonde, Fourcroy and Berthollet; four of its greatest and most respected scientists. This signifies how important the government considered problems relevant to the lucrative French textile industry. Their mandate was to study different astringents, but limit the research to familiar raw-materials. The study was not aimed at concerns primarily related to the textile printing industry, but at the different raw materials used for dyeing black in general, since dyeing black was extremely difficult and had been a problem for dyers for a long time. “The present discussion was brought before the Academy of Sciences. The report of its commissioners contains details which may be useful, because they state the proportion of the astringent principle obtained

571 Knecht, Rawson, and Loewenthal, 178-188. 572 Berthollet, (1824), 1: 86-87.

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from different substances, and the comparative effect which they produce in dyeing black; for that reason we shall give an extract of it,” “The commissioners, Lavoisier, Vandermonde, Fourcroy, and the author of these Elements,573 compared in their experiments, nut-galls, oak- bark, the raspings of the oak taken from the interior of the wood, the raspings of the alburnum (white bark) of the oak, logwood, and sumac, in order to determine the proportion of the dyeing principle contained in these substances.”574 The tannin substances were most commonly used to transform hide into leather,575 but they were also applied to linen, cotton and wool, as well as silk, where it was used both to strengthen and weight the fibres (making them appear heavier, a better quality).576 However, astringents were also traditionally used in combination with iron solutions to obtain a deep black dye, and Berthollet explained “We shall content ourselves with remarking here, that tannin, and especially gallic acid, form with iron a solution of black-blue colour, as Delaval and Priestley observed with infusion of nut-galls”577. The Indian textile painters and printers used astringents. In Beaulieu’s report (sample one) he described the preparation of the cloth before the painting and printing commenced. He recorded that the cloth was soaked repeatedly in a mirabolan solution mixed with buffalo milk. This acts as an astringent. Oberkampf used astringents made from either oak-gall or sumac, depending on the colours he wanted to use in the printed textiles.578 Both these vegetable substances were rich in tannin. Oak-galls came from gall-nuts, which formed when a gall-wasp laid her eggs under the bark of certain oak trees. The best oak-galls came from Persia and the East Indies, but they could also be found in

573 Elements here referes to Berthollet’s book Elements of the Art of Dyeing. 574 Berthollet, (1824), 1: 105. 575 Knecht, Rawson and Loewenthal, 179. 576 Knecht, Rawson and Loewenthal, 186-191. 577 Berthollet, (1824), 1:.95. 578 Brédif, 46.

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France. The leaves and twigs of Sumac, especially those from Rhus coriaria, were also used for astringents. Sumac contained some red colouring matter and this astringent could therefore not be used for light and brilliant shades.579 Berthollet was aware that the use of astringents could influence and change the colouring of the textiles, and that under certain conditions the astringent alone could be used as a mordant. “In this point of view it may be compared to mordants; but as it possesses in itself a colour which has a tinge of yellow or dun, and as the effect of one colour must be to modify and darken that peculiar to another colouring substance, the use of astringents as a mordant does not suit bright colours, particularly those of little intensity.”580

VI. 2. C MORDANTS

According to A Manual of Dyeing, the term mordant comes from the French word mordre, which means to bite or to corrode. This was due to the beliefs of the early French dyers that metal salts were of a corrosive nature and would open the pores of the textile fibres so they could absorb the dye.581 The purpose of the mordant derived from their ability to combine with the colouring materials and form an integral part of the colour that would be permanently fixed on the cloth,582 or as it was so clearly stated by Berthollet. “The term mordant is given to those substances which serve as intermedia between the colouring parts and the textiles which they dye, either for facilitating or modifying their combination.”

579 Knecht, Rawson and Loewenthal, 184-185. 580 Berthollet, (1824), 1: 115. 581 Knecht, Rawson and Loewenthal, 4. 582 Rawson, Gardner, and Laycock, 235.

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“Mordants merit the greatest attention. It is by them chiefly that we diversify the colours, give them more brilliancy, fix them on the textile, and render them more durable.”583 This creation of an insoluble combination between dye material, textile fibre and mordant was the foundation for colourfast dyes in textiles, and the objective of the dyers of grand teint. Berthollet pointed out that characteristics for these permanent colours were their resistance to decomposition and disintegration after they had bonded with the textile fibre. “The substances employed as mordants should therefore furnish a base which attaches itself to the textile and to the colouring particles, and which resists their redissolution and destruction”584. In India, mordants were applied to the cotton textiles by woodblocks or more frequently by painting. A reminder of this was sustained in the French term for these imported textiles, toile peinte (painted textiles). Nevertheless, in Europe most of the mordants were applied to the cloth by carved woodblocks, block-printing, engraved copperplates, plate-printing, or engraved copper rollers, and roller-printing. Madder dyeing was an extremely versatile dye method that could produce a variety of different colours with different mordants. Aluminium mordant, which produced pink to scarlet colouring, and iron mordant, which gave maroon to reddish-brown tones were the most common. Although chromium mordants would produce a dull bluish-red to a crimson colour, copper mordants would give yellowish-brown tones, and tin mordants reddish orange colouring.585 Berthollet was aware of the different mordants the textile printers used and the incredible range of colours they produced. “From madder, with acetate of alumina more or less diluted with water, are obtained the deep reds, and their different shades, down to a delicate rose colour; with acetate of iron, from black to lilac, passing through all

583 Berthollet, (1824), 1: 65. 584 Berthollet, (1824), 1: 67. 585 Knecht, Rawson and Loewenthal, 362

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the intermediate violet hues; and finally with the mixture of these two mordants in different proportions, the amaranths, the mordorés (brownreds,) the browns, and the puce coloured.”586 He was also perceptive about what could not act as mordants and consequently might not be used by the dyers. He listed these materials in his dye book: 1. “The acids and the alkalies are not fit for mordants, that is to say, for intermedia or bonds of union between the textiles and the colouring substances” 2. “That of all the earthy substances, alumina is the one eminently endowed with the properties of a mordant, from its affinity with colouring substances and with textiles, and from its feeble attraction to acids” 3. “That among metallic substances we must distinguish those which afford a white base to the colouring substances, and those which affect the colouring matters by their own colour.”587 Berthollet was especially aware of the situation of the textile printers and specified the criteria they had to take into consideration before selecting a mordant “to attain the proposed end, sometimes decide the choice of the solution of the mordant, and the manner of applying it. This is particularly observable in reference to cloths for printing, which should be able to pass through several operations, without suffering injury from any one of them”588. This was not a hypothetical study of the effect of different mordants, but it was gained from direct experience while observing Oberkampf’s methods. Berthollet was familiar with the production methods for textile printing in Jouy- en-Josas and their superior results were an achievement he acknowledged and wanted to draw attention to. “The perfection to which it has been carried among us, principally by the active and enlightened industry of the celebrated Oberkampf,

586 Berthollet,(1824), 1: 83-84. 587 Berthollet, (1824), 1: 77. 588 Berthollet, (1824), 1:78.

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recently seconded by that of Widmer, is owing in part to the necessity of insulating the processes, in order to succeed, not only in varying the colours and the shades, but likewise in securing to them a permanence which may resist the operations requisite to give due whiteness to the intervals which separate the printed spots.”589 Berthollet further emphasized the two most important mordants used by the textile printer that gave them the colour range they needed to produce the bright colourful textiles that were so popular with the consumer. “The acetate of alumina and the acetate of iron possess these properties, and are sufficient to produce, with the different colouring substances, the great number of the diversified hues observed in printed goods”590. Furthermore, he underlined that the cloth “receives as many different impressions as there are different mordants; but no more are applied at the time than there are to be coloured in the same dyeing bath”591. Josette Brédif uncovered that Oberkampf bought most of the metal salts he used as mordants in France; mostly from the Paris area.592

VI. 2. D THE DUNG BATH

Berthollet stressed that the mordants were thickened with different kinds of gum, starch or flour. The process was followed by a treatment in the hot room to complete the decomposition of the mordants and force the reaction between mordants and textile fibres, the cloth was “exposed to a moderate heat in a chamber, called in the calico manufactories the hot room (or stove). This heat, by favouring the volatilization of the acetic acid, accelerates and completes the

589 Berthollet, (1824), 1: 79. 590 Berthollet, (1824), 1: 80. 591 Berthollet, (1824), 1:81. 592 Brédif, 70.

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decomposition of the mordants, as well as the combination of their bases with the cloth.”593 After this process, the textiles printed with mordant were exposed to the dung bath, bousage.594 Berthollet described it as “a boiler, which contains cow- dung diffused throught hot water”595. This treatment would dissolve the substances used to thicken the mordants, and further consolidate the mordant printed onto the cotton material.596 The white areas (often the background for the printed designs) that had not been treated with mordants would remain bright white even after being dyed with madder. Berthollet further observed that before the textile treated with mordant was immersed in the dye bath, it was extremely important to remove all remaining thickening agents and all loose mordants, not permanently bonded with the textile fibres, to avoid any unwanted colour spots that could ruin the finished product. Berthollet described this process as “Before being dyed, the cloths ought still to be carefully washed and beetled, to secure the removal of all the combined mordant. Water and mechanical beating are here employed”597. The dung bath, comprised of dung from cows, sheeps or other animals contained phosphates, silicates and carbonates that worked on the fixing action for the mordant. However, the real effect of the cow dung has not yet been completely explained.598 Due to the huge quantity of cow dung used, it became so expensive that English calico printers were known to keep cows to maintain a dung supply.599 The dyers perceived that the use of cow dung was an important part in preparing the textile fibre for the dye bath. The dung bath was a very important part of textile printing and Oberkampf included this particular

593 Berthollet, (1824), 1: 81. 594 Brédif, 58. 595 Berthollet, (1824), 1:81. 596 Rawson, Gardner and Laycock, 127. 597 Berthollet, (1824), 1: 82. 598 Rawson, Gardner and Laycock, 127. 599 Archibal and Nan Clow: , The Chemical Revolution. (1970), :203

157 process on Les Travaux de la manufacture. Here the picturesque female workers dressed in eighteenth century attire wash the mordanted textile in the dung bath. (Fig.4) Cow dung was an irreplaceable component of textile printing. The Mémorial stated that Oberkampf paid 50 sous per ton for cow dung and that the farm located within the factory compound (by the boilers) along with some cows from the village held the monopoly on providing this commodity.600 The cow dung was also believed to have a specific effect on the finished colour.601 Samuel Widmer believed that this triple combination of animal matter with alumina and cloth improved the beauty of the colours, “it is passed into a boiler, which contains cow-dung diffused through hot water. The effect of this operation is to dissolve the substance made use of for thickening the mordant” “Widmer conceives, that there is formed, besides, in the dunging, a triple combination of the animal matter with the alumina and the cloth, which improves the beauty of the colours.”602

VI. 2. E BLOCK PRINTING

From 1760 to 1770, woodblock printing was the only technique used at Oberkampf’s establishment.603 By 1767 they had expanded and the imprimerie (block printing area) with printing tables occupied the entire second floor of the principal building. In 1793 when le Grand Bâtiment was finished, it changed the organization of the production areas. By this time Oberkampf had delegated to Samuel Widmer the responsibility of the technical aspects of production. On the ground floor was l’atelier capital, the block printing area. It contained one

600 Mémorial, 168. 601 R. Haller, “The Chemistry and Technique of Turkey Red Dyeing,” Ciba Review 39 (1941): 1417. 602 Berthollet, (1824), 1: 81-82. 603 Brédif, 47.

158 hundred and thirty-two tables arranged in two rows where the light came in from eighty-eight windows. Each printer worked at his own table with a tireur, an assistant who would spread the colour (mordant) onto the woodblocks. There were a total of two hundred and sixty-four employees working in this room alone. Mounted on the floor or underneath the end of the table were a set of small rollers to hang the textiles to dry. These textiles were suspended in rows in the centre of the room, and according to the Mémorial this created a long gallery of multicoloured toiles. When observed from either end of the room the movement of the textiles in this large atelier was considered a wonder by many who frequently visited the factory.604 This last statement is difficult to understand since the printers affixed colourless mordants to the cloth, even if it had a fugitive colour substance added to it; unless Widmer referred to a much later date when the colours were directly applied. On the main floor there was also the special printing area for block printed shawls that occupied more than forty tables. The area for printing shawls took up much space because these tables had a larger dimension.605 Many of the printed shawls were square, which meant the tables had to be wider. The second floor contained the thirty-six to forty woodblock carvers. Here was also la fameuse chambre aux moules, the area where they kept all the printing blocks used for their designs. It acted as storage facility for the woodblocks for a number of years, in case they needed to reprint a design. The blocks were marked in both ends and lined up on shelves according to the design number so they were easy to retrieve. At the time the printing blocks were moved to this new storage area, the number of designs had passed ten thousand which suggests that twenty-five to thirty thousand woodblocks existed. Widmer also confirmed that the oldest of the used woodblocks were burnt.606 In the period between 1760 and 1843 over thirty thousand different

604 Mémorial, 106-108. 605 Mémorial, 108. 606 Mémorial, 154.

159 woodblock designs were produced by Oberkampf’s enterprise. They were the greater part of the production and many of them had geometric or floral designs.607 Mr. Schram’s office was also on this floor. He was the Grand-Maître des impremeries [sic] (the head of printing). Schram was considered the doyen (most respected and prominent) of this section of the establishment.608 To print the textiles the outline of the design was applied first. In Jouy- en-Josas the printer of the outline, as well as the outline block was called the moule and this meticulous operation demanded an extremely experienced worker. The rentreurs also worked on the second floor under the watchful eyes of the textile printers. They were the secondary (less significant) printers and did not work on the toile en blanche (the white untouched material) but applied the second, third or fourth colour (mordant) within the design’s outline. They were called rentreurs because they re-visited with different mordants the outlined shape. The Mémorial specifically indicated that Oberkampf’s workshop also had rentreuses (female secondary printers) who were particularly capable of this work.609 To describe the modus operandi of printing with woodblocks Josette Brédif quoted extensively from Rupied’s manuscript written in 1786, Essai sur le procédés relatifs au mordant et aux colleurs d’application sur les toiles.610 Depending on the size and style of the designs the printing surface of the woodblocks were made from boxwood or holly for small intricate designs. Generally, pear wood was used for standard designs, and walnut or lime for the large blocks. The areas to be mordanted were left in relief. To avoid warping, the blocks were built up from five layers of different woods glued together at 90° angles. Each colour of the design needed its own block and to make sure

607 Rieffe and Rouartl, 75. 608 Mémorial, 108. 609 Mémorial, 27. 610 Rupied, Essai sur le procèdes relatifs au mordant et aux colleurs d’application sur les toiles. (1786). Paris, Archives Nationales.

160 these sets of blocks joined perfectly, the block cutter carried out a test on paper.611 Large surfaces in one single colour were printed with blocks where the surface was hollowed out and replaced with felt pads, which allowed the mordant to spread evenly.612 When the blocks were finished, a varnish was applied to protect the wood and metal pins were also hammered into the corners to enable the printers to register or match up the design repeats over the whole cloth.613 According to Brédif, each table was six pieds long and two pieds wide (a pied is about an English foot, 33cm). It was covered with a wool felt that would protect the woodblocks and soften the impact of the mallet that the textile printer used to pound the mordant onto the textile he was printing.614 The Mémorial mentioned that this textile was especially made by a company in Mouy. It was often damaged by such use and had to be replaced regularly; replacing the cloth was a constant expense.615 Next to each table was the spring-sieve, which consisted of a tub filled with discarded colour and gum that Peter C. Floud wrote was “known in the trade as swimmings.” Inside the tub was the sieve resting on this elastic cushion. The bottom surface was covered with sheepskin and the top with a tightly woven wool cloth.616 The French used a slightly different construction with three tubs, one tub contained gum diluted in water, the second was floating on the gum-solution, but was lined with oilcloth to prevent the gum from penetrating (acting as the bottom surface of the sieve), and the third (which contained the mordant) was covered with a woollen cloth (acting as the top

611 Rieffel and Rouart, 31. 612 Rieffel,and Rouart, 31. 613 Mémorial, 154. 614 Brédif, 48. In the Mémorial Widmer wrote about printing colour, however they will print on the mordant before dyeing, but that is not pointed out clearly in the text. 615 Mémorial, 166. 616 Peter C. Floud, “The English Contribution to the Early History of Indigo printing,” Journal of the Society of Dyers and Colourists 76 (1960): 346.

161 surface of the sieve). From this third tub, the tireur would apply with a brush the colour (mordant) evenly onto the woodblock.617 Block printing was illustrated on Les Travaux de la manufacture where the block printer and his assistant are working at the printing table. (ROM 934.4.443) (Fig.5). In 1796, Oberkampf had seventy-three block printers (who print the outline) working in his workshop, without counting the rentreurs and rentreuses (workers printing the mordant for each colour within the outline). They printed no less than three hundred and seventy-five thousand aunes (an aune equals four feet) that year alone.618 Oberkampf estimated that one block printer could print one hundred aunes in one colour in one day. If the textile was in four colours he would use twenty-five aunes of white cloth per day and for fifty textile block printers that would amount to twelve-hundred and fifty aunes. If each block printer worked three-hundred days, he would produce three-hundred and seventy-five thousand aunes or twenty-three thousand four hundred and thirty-seven pieces each measuring sixteen aunes.619 According to the written information in Album Labouchère (a family album with mounted textile swatches), their sample of this design Roses et Lilacs was printed in 1770-1772, and the text on the facing page reads that the “curtains of Oberkampf’s decorative scheme were of this design”620. Gottlieb Widmer wrote that Les Lilas was the first design with natural looking leaves to decorate a furnishing fabric, and referred to it as “a considerable event in the

617 Brédif, 52. In the Mémorial Widmer wrote about “printing colours”. However they will print on the mordant before dyeing, but that is not pointed out clearly in the text – sort of like everybody knows this. The mordant will bind the dyestuff to the textile and it can change the shade of the coulour, but it can not work alone. Some astringents were used both as binders between the textile and the colouring and some of them could be used alone as colouring. 618 Mémorial, 133. 619 Mémorial, 133. 620 Album Labouchère, 2-3.

162 world of printed fabrics and a dazzling success”621. The design must have been very successful since a number of variations exist. Two are in the ROM’s collection; one has only lilac branches and is dated 1770-1779 (ROM 934.4.207), the other has lilac branches and rose sprays (but no butterflies as was part of the design in the Album Labouchère) and is dated to 1775-1785. (ROM 978.234.6). The woodblock printed textile decorated with only lilac braches (Figure 6) displays clearly how the block prints were built up. Beaulieu described how the outline was first completed on the textiles produced in Pondicherry (sample one). In India, the outline was predominantly painted, especially the palampores (hanging or bedcover) where there were hardly any repeats of design elements. (The palampores often had a large flowering tree in the center with no repeats and borders around the edges. They were a very important textile for the India trade.) The outline on the textile with lilac branches (ROM 934.4.207) was prepared in two colours; red (alum mordant) for the flowers and black (iron mordant) for everything else. All mordants would have been lightly coloured with a fugitive dye, often Brazil wood, so the printers could see what they were doing. All the other different colours (mordants) within the contours were printed with blocks identified as rentreures.622 These printed textiles are excellent examples of designs with a repeat pattern of fanciful flowers resembling those in the Indian painted and dyed cottons, the patterns the Europeans found so attractive. In the Mémorial, Gottlieb Widmer wrote about designs and stressed that when a new design became popular it was important to examine the rationale and produce other variations. One such alternative was to exchange the background; for example produce one with a white background, one with a stippled background or use coloured backgrounds for the same design.623 The ROM has two block printed textiles with the identical design, but with two different background colours.

621 Mémorial, 460. Quoted in Rieffel andRouart, 54. 622 Mémorial, 154. 623 Mémorial, 158.

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The design is a repeat of clusters of fanciful flowers and foliage similar to the Indian prints. According to Brett the design is “in one of Peter Lemeunnie’s styles”624. One has a white background (ROM 972.260) (Fig.7), the other a yellow background (ROM 974.33.15) (Fig. 8). The museum in Jouy-en-Josas also has a textile in this design, but it is on a beige background.625 This shows that the factory was willing to adapt its popular designs to attract an even larger consumer group. After 1768, new improvements to the designs followed each other uninterrupted. The concept of picotage (a picot ground) was tried successfully in the mignonettes and gave these designs new originality. The process of picotage consisted of filling areas of the printing block with spikes made from brass wire hammered into the wood and create a pattern similar to what could be achieved with a horsehair brush; and in this way print fond de sable, a gritty (sandy) looking background. The processes to produce these woodblocks, which according to Widmer demanded only skill and patience, were the expertise of several women. They worked at home and received a good salary. Picotage was considered an outstanding improvement for the production of printed textiles since this technique could be used on all types of white backgrounds and created dainty and delicate, designs as well as a speckled effect.626 This block printed cotton textile has a repeat pattern of fanciful flowers with radiating foliage on a red picot ground (ROM 973.116.9). (Fig. 9) In this textile the error in the alignment of the woodblock is easy to identify and consequently, the size of the woodblock. It is also easy to appreciate how effective this simple design element is. The design on this textile, made from linen warp and cotton weft, is woodblock printed with a repeat pattern of a meandering branch bearing fanciful flowers and foliage on black picot ground in a zigzag lozenge pattern

624 Brett, ROM accession records. 625 Confirmed by a letter from April 14th 2004 from Mélanie Rieffel at the museum in Jouy-en-Josas. 626 Mémorial, 32.

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(ROM 934.4.216). (Fig.10). Here the dots of the picot design were used to create the pattern in the background. There were countless variations in picot designs. The printed textile Le petit buveur was first introduced by Oberkampf in 1784 (ROM 934.4.89). The figure derives from an engraving by Pierre Aveline after Watteau. This woodblock print shows a repeat pattern of a man with his arms raised and holding a flask in the right hand and a wine glass in the left. He is framed by leafy garlands and the design is on a picot ground. According to Riffel, it was the earliest genre scene (depicting human figures in a pastoral setting) produced at Jouy and it is also the only monochrome gene design to have been block printed. In the foreground is a finely detailed medallion and the background is created by a design element produced by the picot ground. (Fig.11) Here, two typical and traditional design elements from Jouy were skillfully and artistically combined.627 This textile demonstrates a scheme to imitate the expensive copperplate print with the much cheaper woodblock print. However, this motif still gives an impression of shading by utilizing the stapling effect of the picot block. It also demonstrates the many variations Oberkampf’s designers developed for this particular technique.

VI. 2. F COPPERPLATE PRINTING

Ada Longfield, published a paper in 1937 where she demonstrated that copperplate printing was first introduced at Drumcondra in Ireland.628 An advertisement from George Gibbins in Dublin dated October 3rd 1752 and posted in Faulkner’s Journal reads: “Drumcondra printed Linens, done from

627 Riffe and Rouart, 94-95. 628Ada K Longfield,”Notes on the Linen and Cotton Printing Industries in Northern Ireland in the Eighteenth Century,” Proceedings of the Belfast History and Philosophical Society 4 (1950/51 – 1954/55): 53-68. Quoted in P. C. Floud, “The English contribution to the Development of Copper-plate Printing,” Journal of the Society of Dyers and Colourists, 76 (1960): 425.

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Metal Plates (a method never before practiced) with all the Advantages of Light and Shade, in the strongest and most Lasting colours”. This announcement was supported by a letter written two months later by Mrs Delany. “Burke made me go with her to Drumcondra, half a mile off, to see a new manufactory that is set up there of printed linens done by copper-plate, they are excessively pretty”. By 1756 this new technique had been transferred to London. Textiles had been printed with copperplates earlier, but they were all printed in “ordinary unwashable printer’s ink”629. In his manuscript Ryhiner pointed out that “the actual mechanical printing process was perfectly straightforward, but that the key to the English secret lay in the thickening of the mordants to make it possible to print them from engraved copper plates”. Floud noticed that the “appropriate thickeners” the printers added to the mordants had to be “sufficiently fluid to be sucked up from the engraved lines in the copper plate when the cloth was squeezed against it during the printing”630. In 1770 Frédéric Oberkampf visited factories in Switzerland where, according to Serge Chassagne, he “saw some copper plates offered for sale and was immediately enthusiastic”. He also “managed to recruit a young copper plate engraver”631. In Morat he observed a functioning machine that printed with copperplates and according to Brédif he was able to bring back the blue- print. On his return to Jouy, the firm’s Swiss carpenter Perrenoud built the machine and it was installed the following year. Brédif further commented that “This attentiveness to the progress of his colleagues and competitors extended to spying”632. However, Chassagne, who particularly studied the business side of Oberkampf’s enterprise, opposed this explanation and wrote that the transfer of this new technology was somewhat more complicated.

629 Floud, “Copper-plate Printing”, 425-429. 630 Floud, “Copper-plate Printing,” 429. 631 Chapman and Chassagne, 131. 632 Brédif, 30.

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“Oberkampf attached such importance to the new technique that he indentured three ‘safe and faithful’ wood block printers to serve him for six years to develop it. The workers promised ‘not to disclose any information on the proceedings either by word of mouth or in writing, nor to make drawings of machines or part of machines nor to pass on drawings or samples or let anyone come in.”633 At this time, the copperplate printing technique was only known by very few companies on the Continent, and Frédéric pointed out in a letter to his brother that the machine in Morat was built by an Englishman. That he would just hand over the blueprint seems very unlikely, but he could have brought home his own sketches of the machine that an experienced carpenter such as Perrenoud could work from. This new printing technology was a secret that Oberkampf did not want to share. Instead he wanted the advantage of the new style in high quality prints that would give him a product that could compete with English textile printers.634 The factory’s first design for plate printing was a great leafy motif (20 inches high and and 33 inches wide) created by their designer Rordorf. The plate was engraved with a chisel and aqua fortis by Levasseur, the first etcher appointed to the factory. This innovative design proved very successful, was printed in many different colours and sold well, according to the Mémorial.635 Oberkampf demanded high quality material for the copperplates, and until1796 he purchased rose-copper from London.636 The precise details required in the finished textiles depended on the quality of the design, skills of the engraver and the consistency of the mordant. While alum- or iron- mordants could be used in liquid form by the piece dyers, the textile printers had to use a

633 Chapman and Chassagne, 131-132. 634 Chapman and Chassagne, 131. 634 Chapman and Chassagne, 131. 635 Mémorial, 37. 636 Brédif, 70. According to Brédif, English rose-copper were of better quality and less costly than the French.

167 mordant with the appropriate viscosity.637 Suitable thickeners for mordants were starch, flour, and various types of gum, such as gum sénégal and gum Arabic,638 and the British had developed a dried starch known as “British gum”.639 In Oberkampf’s inventory from December 30th 1769, gum sénégal and gum arabic were both listed, in a ratio of three to one by volume. However, that was before plate printing was introduced at Jouy, so this ratio might have changed, since there was a big difference in the viscosity required for mordants printed on with relief-cut woodblocks and the consistency of the mordants administered for plate prints.640 To create a selection for their customers Oberkampf’s establishment produced a number of designs, and while engraving the copper plates a second machine was installed.641 The Mémorial pointed out that Oberkampf’s copperplate prints were vital for the factory’s success and that the majority of upholstery materials were printed with only three presses.642 The copperplate printing machines were installed on the main floor of le Grand Bâtiment.643 Until 1801 the plate printing machines were operated by means of a flywheel, which according to the Mémorial was turned laboriously by hand by men who constantly relieved each other.644 The illustration of copperplate printing on Les Travaux de la manufacture shows clearly this part of the operation. (Fig.12) In 1803 Samuel Widmer invented a machine to engrave the copperplates utilizing his experience from his invention of the machine to

637 P.C. Floud, “The Origins of English Calico Printing,” Journal of the Society of Dyers and Colourists, 76 (1960): 278. 638 Floud, “English Calico Printing”, 278. 639 Floud, “English Calico Printing”, 279. 640 Henri Clouzot. Histoire de la manufacture de Jouy et de la toile imprimée en France. (Paris,1928): 56. 641 Mémorial, 37. 642 Mémorial, 140. 643 Mémorial, 106. 644Mémorial, 223.

168 engrave copper cylinders. The machine to engrave the cylinders was developed in 1800, followed by the machine for the copperplates in 1803.645 The earliest design we know of made for copperplate printing in Jouy dates from the 1770s and had a plate size of 20 pouces high and 30 pouces wide (one pouce is an English inch). This size corresponds with the copperplate size used for the textile Le Marriage de Figaro produced much later between 1785 and 1794 (approximately 50 cm high and 92 cm wide) and demonstrates that different sizes of copperplates were used, probably the same time. This particular motif reflects a theatrical comedy written by Beaumarchais in 1781. The comedy was considered subversive and banned by the King, and it was only performed privately before the play was published in 1784.646 Jeux d’enfants. The motive on this textile is a large tree with children playing; on a see-saw, shooting arrows from a tree and riding in a dog cart

(ROM 934.4.441). (Fig. 13) The repeat is 94 cm high and 94 cm wide which is also the size of the copperplate. The textile can be dated to between 1770 and 1783, because the chef de pièce (the factory mark) is present. This particular style was only used during this period, after which it was withdrawn. The textile is marked: MANUFACTURE DE SDM OBERKAMPF ET CIE A JOUY EN JOSAS

BON TEINT, according to the French government’s requirements. (Fig.14) Jeux d’enfants is the earliest existing copperplate print from Oberkampf’s establishment and it reveals the particular problems this technique caused for the printers. Copperplate printing is not a continuous operation. The copperplate’s engraved design will be filled with mordant and the plate positioned in the machine. Together, the plate and the textile will pass through a set of rollers that by heavy pressure transmit the mordant from the plate to the cloth. However, at the end of the plate the textile will have to stop moving and the pressure of the rollers released while the plate is reversed and re-applied with mordant. Then it is returned, lined up and the plate and the textile continue together to produce an exact match in the design. The process of printing

645 Mémorial, 149. 646 Star Siegele, ROM’s accession records.

169 textiles, which involve lengths of cloth is entirely different from printing paper sheets where the exact match is not an issue. Looking at this textile we can easily observe errors in the design where the printers have tried to line up the plate with the design on the printed textile. Sometimes we can observe gaps and open spaces in the tree trunks. These gaps were later concealed by hand paining mordant in the open space to minimize the visual impact of the fault. (Fig.15) The plate had probably been placed at a slight angle since if there is an opening in one area on the opposite side of the plate the design was over printed. (Fig.16) Oberkampf’s establishment was famous for its copperplate prints and produced a great number of different designs. Errors (as we observe on this piece) are unique, which probably indicates that this is a rather early piece, carried out before the printers were experienced with this exceptionally complicated technique. The textile Les Travaux de la manufacture is also a copperplate print but shows no signs of misalignments. However, this textile was printed in 1783-1784 when the workers had become skilled and experienced in producing the superior plate prints that we today know as Toiles de Jouy.

VI. 2. G ROLLER PRINTING

In 1783-1784 when Les Travaux de la manufacture was designed, roller printing had not been introduced at Oberkampf’s establishment, so we have no illustration. The first known description of roller printing is from 1701 and referred to an establishment in Moravia printing with wooden rollers.647 Roller printing with cylindrical copperplates was invented by Thomas Bell in 1785 and first used at Livesey Hargreaves & Co in England.648 In the Mémorial, Widmer emphasized that the creation of the roller printer was a considerable accomplishment in the manufacture’s technical

647 Brédif, 58. 648 Chapman and Chassagne, 20.

170 history.649 According to Chassagne, the roller printer was independently developed by Samuel Widmer who worked with the Perier brothers in Chaillot to build a prototype in 1787-1788, but it did not work, “the greatest impediment was caused by the back which was making folds in the cloth”650. The Mémorial maintained that work on the roller printer was started in secret by Samuel Widmer in 1793, but that Oberhampf did not permit it to be installed during the Régime de Terreur. After many trials, the full size machine was installed in le Grand Bâtiment in 1797 and functioned successfully.651 The machine was constructed in Chaillot (probably by the Perier brothers who were located there).652 The unrefined cylinders were cast at the atelier in Chaillot and the asking price for each was nine hundred francs.653 Their weight varied between four hundred and four hundred and sixty livres since they had an iron axis. The length was usually forty pouces and the diameter between five and a half pouces and five and three-quarters pouces. Chaillot also engraved the cylinders since their work was extremely precise and this increased the cost of the cylinder (with all equipment) to six thousand francs (in 1802).654 After the rollers were engraved, they were wrapped in cloth to protect them from scratches before they were stored in the roller printing workshop. Here they were placed horizontally on benches according to their design number. With the help of a very simple mechanism, one man could lift one of these cylinders and place it directly in the machine. In 1810 there were over two hundred rollers at Oberkampf’s establishment655. The biggest advantage with the roller printer was that it printed continuously and quickly. However, it lost some of these benefits since there

649 Mémorial, 139. 650 Chapman and Chassagne, 140. 651 Mémorial, 150. 652Mémorial, 139. 653 Mémorial, 150. 654 Mémorial, 150. 655 Mémorial, 215.

171 was no way to simultaneously engrave new designs; a big disadvantage to the roller printer. This problem was only solved after a lot of research, when in 1803 Samuel Widmer developed the engraving machine, which increased production of the rollers. When it was running twenty-four hours a day it took between ten and twelve days to finish one cylinder.656 The installation of the roller printing machine was an enormous improvement, a revolution for the art of printing textiles, since one machine easily printed five thousand metres per day; the equivalent to forty-two individual block printers. Furthermore, the roller printer functioned exactly, an achievement that was impossible when block printing by hand.657 These machines worked continuously which significantly increased their production.658 On the other hand, it is not possible to determine just how much this machine contributed to the prosperity and reputation of the factory.659 At Oberkampf’s factory, all three processes: woodblock printing, copperplate printing and roller printing were used at the same time. Nevertheless, after 1803 roller printing was dominating the production reaching its peak volume in 1805.660 This pattern is typical for a roller print with four vertical repeats of a neoclassical motive designed around 1815-1818 (ROM 934.3.527). (Fig.17)

The textile includes the chef de pièce stamped at the end: MANUFACTURE DE

OBERKAMPF A JOUY PRES DE VERSAILLES, BON TEINT, and the design number 580

LES COLOMBES. The designs for the plate- and roller- prints were numbered and from the known surviving design numbers we acknowledge that at least 580 different designs were produced by this factory alone. The motif Les Monuments de Paris (Monuments of Paris) was designed by Hippolyte Le Bas (a student of the architects Percier and Fontaine) around

656 Mémorial, 150. 657 Mémorial, 139. 658 Brédif, 58 659 Mémorial, 139-140. 660 Brédif, 75

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1818 (ROM 934.4.540). Four monuments are shown within medallions: the statue of Henri IV on the Pont Neuf, the fountain of Les Innocents, the Pantheon and the east façade of the Louvre, known as the Perrault Colonnade. The signature of the engraver, Leisnier, is printed onto the textile inside the design of the Perrault colonnade. (Fig.18) However, the original drawing specifies that it was engraved by J. Mallet.661 Unfortunately, we do not know all the engravers working for Jouy and it is impossible to second guess why the engraver was replaced. However, the fact remains that Leisner signed the copper roller, which would not have happened if he did not do the work. There is also a signature on Les Colombes, but the name has not been recognized. The patterns of the roller print designs did not stagnate, instead they produced roller prints that combined two colours, one on top of the other. This was achieved by overprinting with woodblocks, rentrages (fill-in blocks), an already printed textile.662 This design from 1805 is an excellent example (ROM 934.4.617). (Fig.19) It is known as Le loup et l’agneau (The Wolf and the Sheep). The image was a cartoon by Jean-Baptiste Huet and it is dated 1805. It was inspired by Oudry’s illustrations to La Fontaine’s Fables, and the main motif shows the wolf and the lamb meeting beside a stream. Unfortunately, the Royal Ontario Museum’s samples do not include the main motive and the textile can therefore be difficult to identify. (Fig. 20 detail)

VI. 2. H THE LABORATORY

The first laboratory was installed next to the printing workshop in 1767.663 Oberkampf was extremely aware of the importance of pursuing scientific progress and following up on new developments.664

661 Rieffel and Rouart, 185. 662Mémorial, 147. 663 Mémorial, 27. 664 Brédif, 28.

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The factory made many innovations during the last years of the Ancien Régime and became involved quite early with laboratory research.665 In 1792, a vital annex was constructed in front of le Grand Bâtiment. It was a medium- sized building with only one floor and it was connected to the central door of the main building by a glass passageway. This small structure was designed as a laboratory for colour (and mordant) preparations. The glass passageway that connected the printing workshop and the laboratory had small stone channels with running water on each side where the printers could wash their woodblocks every evening.666 The building was divided into four sections. The first included rows of benches holding the pots that contained the colours (mordants) prepared for the printers. Every pot contained enough material for that day and they were picked up every morning. The second section was the large laboratory with equipment to prepare (hot or cold) all the different colours. Gottlieb Widmer reflected on how fascinating it was to observe the heater, the vats dug halfway into the ground, and all the necessary paraphernalia essential in such an important research centre. Pipes brought water into the building where the supply was kept in a large stone basin on one side of the room. The third section was created specifically to modify the drugs (colour substances and chemicals) and the thousands of other ingredients used in the preparation of colours. Together, these three sections formed what was known as le chambre des couleurs. The last section of the building was the laboratory that Samuel Widmer organized (following the example of laboratories in Paris). He had studied there as a young man with the masters of science and learned from their experiences. Nothing was missing from this laboratory; here was everything from a simple crucible, to a vat of mercury and miscellaneous paraphernalia to tackle the most complicated experiments. The special layout of this area and the multitude of specialized equipment was all very expensive. Oberkampf was always very

665 Chapman and Chassagne, 138. 666 Mémorial, 107-108.

174 generous regarding things that could improve the printing methods and develop the industry.667 Both Oberkampf and Widmer researched and investigated means to economize the use of costly dyestuffs, especially during politically turbulent periods when imported materials became scarce.668 Widmer had developed and maintained a close connection with Berthollet, Guy-Lussac and other members of Société d’Arcueil.669 Associates from this group, Monge, Joseph Louis Lagrange (1736-1813), Fourcroy and Chaptal conducted chemical experiments at the factory’s laboratory, and in 1802 and 1803 Guy-Lussac taught classes for the textile workers in both physics and chemistry at the establishment.670 Oberkampf’s factory was a model for others, confirming that Berthollet’s recommendation for a laboratory, as well as chemical knowledge for the workers, was an important feature for any progressive and successful factory: “But it is desirable for the advancement of the art, as well as that of the science itself, that a small place may be reserved, in which the apparatus necessary for the common experiments of chemistry and the trial of dyes may be collected”671. To commemorate the vital importance the colourist (colour maker) had for the success of the establishment, he was depicted on Les Travaux de la manufacture. (Fig. 21) In 1804, Oberkampf had six colourists or assistant colourists working in Jouy.672

667 Mémorial, 108- 109. 668 Chapman and Chassagne, 140. 669 Chapman and Chassagne, 143. 670 Brédif, 28. 671 Berthollet, (1824), 1: 265. 672 Mémorial,169.

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VI. 2. I THE MADDER DYE BATH

Berthollet was fully aware of how important madder was to the textile printer. “Madder is employed for dying linens and cottons red, and even for giving them several other colours by means of different mixtures”673. He realized that the maddering (the process of dyeing cloth in a madder bath) of printed textiles was different from cloth dyeing. A successful result depended not just on the madder bath, but on the many different stages of the process. Here the skills and experience of the workers were essential. When he wrote about the madder bath he no longer studied chemical reactions but carefully explained in detail the responsibilities of the workers. “For maddering, the madder is carefully mixed with the hot water of the boiler, immediately after kindling the fire, and the cloths being attached to each other at the ends are introduced.” “They are kept in motion during the whole time that the maddering lasts, so as to be evenly dyed.”674 The image from Les Travaux de la manufacture (Fig.22) clearly shows both the worker in charge of keeping the fire going, as well as the two workers who continuously move the textiles in the heated dye bath. Berthollet was attentive to the fact that the temperature of the dye bath had to be increased slowly to achieve maximum absorption of the dyestuff. The workers tending the furnace did not only have to keep the fire burning, but had to ensure that the temperature of the madder bath increased gradually. “The fire is to be gradually raised, so that the bath be brought into ebullition in three quarters of an hour, or an hour at farthest. At this period the operation should be stopped the instant that the colours on the cloth have assumed the suitable shade”675. Berthollet concluded his assessment of printing with madder dye not by emphasising the latest chemical advancements or technical novelties, but by recognising the

673 Berthollet (1824), 1:111. 674Berthollet, (1824), 2: 116. 675 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 116

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French craftsmen’s skill and experience, which he realised was so extremely important for the final product. “The maddering of printed goods requires pains and precautions, which long practice alone can teach. The causes which make their effects vary, are too numerous for us to point them all out here. The quantity of madder employed, the duration of the maddering, the manner of managing the fire, are, along with the dunging, the circumstances which have most influence; and they cannot be subjected to any rule, because they must differ more or less in almost every process.”676 Berthollet was aware that heating the madder bath was a huge expense for the textile printers and he also addressed this problem. “As fuel is one of the chief articles of expense in dyeing, it is of great consequence to diminish its consumption as much as possible, and to select the kind which may afford the desired effect with the least cost”677. For Oberkampf’s establishment the wood consumption for the workshops and the other buildings was considerable. For example on the 24th of March 1801 the company bought eleven hundred and fifty cords of four and a half foot long wood for an average price of forty-two francs.678 Unfortunately their records are not complete and do not indicate how long this would last. To reduce fuel costs, Berthollet referred to a study by Rumford who “has pointed out models of employing the vapour of water for the communication of heat, which are peculiarly advantageous in the art of dyeing”679.

VI. 2. J BLEACHING

Bleaching was an integral part of textile printing. Before both linen and cotton textiles could be dyed, they had to be bleached in order to remove the organic

676 Berthollet, (1824), 2:118. 677 Berthollet, (1824) 1:208. 678 Memorial, 165. 679 Berthollet, (1824), 1:276.

177 dyes, which occurred naturally in the fibres.680 Since the textiles selected for textile printing required a brilliant white colour so that the dyers could achieve their vibrantly coloured end product, the bleaching process was very important. For both the textile dyers and textile printers this preparation of the cloth before any colouring could take place was very time consuming. Part of the process was bleaching the cotton and linen materials to acquire absolute white. The textile printers were known to lighten up previously bleached materials to obtain the degree of white they found best suited for their particular colours. Nevertheless, the process of bleaching was more complicated. Not only did they bleach the textiles before they started the printing process, these textiles would also have to endure additional bleaching after they were dyed to remove excess madder dye. The textile printers would have to administer this bleaching in a manner which left the already coloured areas undamaged. Traditionally, bleaching consisted of repeated washing with different additives, followed by sun bleaching on the ground. These two steps were repeated until the desired white colour was accomplished; a process that was both labour intensive and extremely time consuming.681 Berthollet was keenly aware of the textile printers’ concerns. “The cloths intended for printing ought to be very carefully bleached. The more perfect the white is, the more lustre do the colours take, and the more easy is the unmaddering [sic]. The fine whites on sale, are not even sufficient”682. During the immersion in the madder solution, the textiles absorbed red dye on the mordanted areas and on the untreated white background of the design. The dye was only colourfast in the sections that were printed with mordants. The reddish surface colouring had to be removed from all other areas to restore the white background. The cloth would therefore be treated alternately with alkaline lye and exposed to the sun and the air in the fields, until all undesired colouring was removed. For efficient bleaching, the textiles

680 Beer, (1954):123. 681 See Chapter IX. 682 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 118.

178 would be periodically watered to keep them moist.683 “Immediately after the maddering, the goods are washed and passed into coppers (large copper containers used for boiling) in which bran is boiled in water; they are laid out on the grass; and these two operations are alternately repeated, till the unprinted parts of the cloth have recovered their whiteness”684. One of the new buildings that was constructed in 1793 traversed an arm of the Bièvre river. It included laundry facilities used when the textiles were bleached in the traditional manner. Built adjacent to it was the grand appareil, the equipment to produce muriatic acid (chlorine) used for bleaching according to Berthollet’s new method.685 Special pins (épingles drapières) were used in the workshops, but first and foremost they were employed in the field. Here the gamin épingleurs (child workers) pinned (by hand) the textiles onto wooden slats driven into the ground; exposing them to the sun for bleaching and drying. In 1804 fifty-four gamin épingleurs worked at the factory. They worked quickly and as a result lost numerous pins into the grass. The textile printing establishments were totally dependent on these pins. They consumed huge quantities and were absolutely reliant on regular deliveries from the supplier. According to Widmer’s Mémorial ten men also worked with them in the field.686 (Fig. 23) In Les Travaux de la manufacture, we can clearly see workers placing the textiles side by side on the ground. For security reasons two Swiss Guards walked the grounds all night to protect the workshops and the textiles that were always stretched out on the ground. They were incredibly tempting to steal.687

683 John Graham Smith, The Origin and Early Development of the Heavy Chemical Industry in France. (Oxford, 1979): 114. 684 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 117-118. 685 Mémorial, 109. 686 Mémorial, 166. 687 Mémorial, 28.

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VI. 2. K FINISHING

At last the textiles were ready for the finishing treatments, calendering and polishing, before they could be brought to the consumers. The polishing was done by hand to create the final shiny surface finish. Oberkampf wrote in a letter dated 1806, how time-consuming the whole textile printing process was. “To produce most of this merchandise takes three to four months during the summer; pieces of more than one colour take six months. When the arrival of winter stops production, we have to wait until the following year"688.

VI. 3. TURKEY RED DYEING

Turkey red dyeing was strictly a dye method where the threads or the whole cloth was dyed.689 This practice was different from textile printing, where the dyes were applied to only a very limited section of the textile. However, after the Europeans had mastered the very complicated dye practice to achieve this particularly bright red, the textile printers began to develop discharge printing. Here a bleaching solution was printed with woodblocks or by roller printer onto the completely dyed textile. Shaffer described it as “the local destruction of the dyeing on any given part of the fabric”690. This technique produced white designs on a bright red background. In 1746, Samuel Koechlin (1719-1776), Jean-Jacques Schmaltzer (1721-1797) and Jean-Henri Dollfus (1724 -1802) founded in Mulhouse (Alsace) a manufacture for printing textiles in the Indian manner, Koechlin, Schmaltzer & Cie. 691 His grandson, Daniel Koechlin-

688 Letter from Oberkampf to P. Desjardins of Lyons, July 3, 1806, Quoted in Brédif, 46 689 In French: Rouge de Turque, Rouge de Levant, or. Rouge d’Andrinople. 690 G. Schaefer, “The History of Turkey Red Dyeing,” Ciba Review 39 (1941): 1421. 691 According to Robert Fox this event “marks the beginning of the history of Mulhouse as a significant, industrial town.” Robert Fox, “Presidential address:

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Schouch (1785-1871) attended Antoine Fourcroy’s chemistry course in Paris, and in 1805 he joined the family business as their chemist where he established discharge printing on Turkey red dyed cotton textiles.692 He also pioneered the addition of different chemicals to the bleaching solution, which achieved pure white, as well as other colours that appeared on the dyed surface and created multi-coloured designs on a bright, red background.693 This style of textile design became extremely popular in the early nineteenth century, and Jean- Michel Haussmann incorporated printing with oxalic acid in his last article about Turkey red dyeing, which was published in Annales de chimie in 1810. “Ce procédé du rouge d’Andrinople … peut être parfaitement adapté à la fabrication de ce que l’on appelle cravates rouge à mouches ou outres objets blancs. … Après que la toile a passé par le mêmes opérations que les écheveaux, on la fera sécher et cylindrer pour pouvoir l’imprimer avec la plus forte réserve de l’acide oxalique.”694 Haussmann began to examine the process of Turkey red dyeing early on. He was trained as an apothecary before he joined the family’s textile printing business and it was clear that just as textile printing had not been his original goal, nor was the study of Turkey red dyeing. “Comme dès le moment que je me vouai à la fabrication d’indiennes, la teinture du rouge de Turquie ne pouvoit [sic] plus entrer dans mon plan, je n’ai pas eu occasion de teindre le fil

Science, Industry, and the Social Order in Mulhouse, 1798-1871.” In The Culture of Science in France, 1700-1890. (Aldershot, 1992): 133. 692Jacqueline Jacqué. “Le rôle déterminant de Mulhouse au XIXe siècle.” In Andrinople le rouge magnifique De la teinture à la l’impression, une cotonnade à la conquête du monde, ed. Jacqueline Jacqué. (Paris, Mulhouse, 1995):14-33. 693 Schaefer. “The History”, 1415. 694 Author’s italics; “Procèdé Simplifié: Pour la teinture du rouge, dit d’Andrinople, par la voie de l’animalisation, ou par d’autres enduits glutineux, séreux et caseux, par Jean- Michel Hausmann [Haussmann],” 19, Annales de chimie 76 (1810): 5-20.

181 de coton en grand”695. His dedicated attraction to this particularly complicated dye process led him to publish several articles on the topic in Annales de chimie, where he described many of the different experiments he had undertaken during his years of research. In his papers, he mentioned individuals who had cooperated with him, and referred to other scientists whose work he had taken into consideration. Consequently, his published research papers are today an important illustration of how contemporary scientists and academicians worked together with this theoretically educated textile printer. These scientists’ responses to his published papers are also a persuasive testimony demonstrating how their support motivated, as well as encouraged him. In this manner, Haussmann’s publications revealed how he, as a producer of printed textiles with a very different background from the traditional craft trained manufacturer, such as Oberkampf, applied his academic training combined with his scientific knowledge, and his experience as a textile printer to the benefit of textile dyeing and textile printing.696 The Turkey red dye process was developed empirically by oriental dyers and reached Europe through the Levant trade. Both yarn and woven textiles had a unique, rich, and deep red colour. During the seventeenth and the

695 J. M. Haussmann, “Observations de M. Haussmann sur le rouge d’Andrinople,” Annales de chimie 12 (1792): 198. 696 “Observations de M. Haussmann sur le rouge d’Andrinople,” Annales de chimie 12 (1792): 196-219; “Suite des observations de M. Haussmann sur le rouge d’Andrinople,” Annales de chimie 12 (1792): 250-272; “Observations: Sur le garançage suivies d’un procédé simple et constant pour obtenir de la plus grande beauté et solidité la couleur connu sous la dénomination de rouge du Levant ou d’Andrinople; par Jean Michel Haussmann,” Annales de chimie, 41 (Pluviôse an X, [1801]): 124-149 ; “Addition : A mon mémoire sur le garançage et la teinture du fil de coton et de lin en rouge d’Andrinople et autre couleurs ; par Jean-Michel Haussmann, ,” Annales de chimie, 48 (Frimaire an XII, [1803]): 233-248 ; “Procède Simplifié: Pour la teinture du rouge, dit d’Andrinople, par la voie de l’animalisation, ou par d’autres enduits glutineux, séreux et caseux, par Jean-Michel Haussmann [Haussmann] ,” Annales de chimie, 76 (1810): 5-20.

182 eighteenth century, Turkey red coloured yarns were used for sewing and embroidering, and sold in Europe for excessive prices. France is credited for introducing this dye technique to Europe, but despite the French Ambassador to Constantinople’s efforts in spying on local dyers, the mystery of Turkey red dyeing was not revealed until Greek Turkey-red-dyers settled in Marseilles. Madder dyeing and Turkey red dyeing both used alum mordants, but the Turkey red dye process proved to be much more complicated and the method included a multitude of additional treatments not necessary for conventional madder dyeing. The procedure was not only intricate, but also extremely time consuming and it required approximately one month of continuous processing before the textile was finally finished. Only the best quality cotton could endure the chemical and mechanical actions of such a treatment, and Turkey red fabrics acquired the reputation of being “absolutely indestructible”697. In his book Berthollet clearly distinguished between the characteristics of traditional madder dyeing and that of Turkey red dying, or Adrianople dyeing as he referred to it. “We should distinguish, in madder-dyed cotton, between the faculty of resisting, for a long time, the action of air, and that of resisting alkalies and soap. The last can be obtained only by means of oils and fats; but the first depends chiefly on the mordants that are used, and the other manipulations. Thus, the reds on printed textiles may be very permanent, without supporting the actions of leys, as the red of Adrianople does.”698 Early on, Rouen became the principal area in France for Turkey red dyeing. Augustí Nieto-Galan described that in 1747 some enterprising industrialists, Fesquet, Goudard and d’Haristoy, hired Greek dyers from Marseilles to work in Rouen.699 According to John J. Beer, by 1762 the dyers in

697 Schaefer: “The History of”, 1408-1412. 698 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 145. 699 Nieto-Galan, 20 note #161.

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Rouen produced a Turkey red dye that was equal to that of the Levant.700 Unfortunately, in 1789 before the outbreak of the French Revolution, the Greek dyers were expelled from Rouen and forced to work as itinerant dyers. They settled in Alsace and it was this move that prompted the Turkey red dye industry in this district. Despite the directions given by the Greek dyers, most of their French counterparts experienced great difficulties.701 Bethollet was aware of these production problems. “The Adrianople red, which for a long time came to us through our Levant trade only, stimulated the industry of our artisans; but the attempts were for a long time fruitless, or success was confined to a small number of dyehouses”702. The complexity of the method, the intricate processes, as well as the manufacturers’ desire to maintain their technical advantage, to stay ahead of the competition, might be the principal motives surrounding this branch of textile dyeing with “a peculiar air of mystery,”703 or as Berthollet wrote “A mystery is made in the different dyehouses of the changes introduced into the process, by means of which more or less success has been obtained”704. In Berthollet’s deliberation on the Turkey red dye processes, he presented his readers with a collection of descriptions exactly as they had been offered to him. Berthollet, who throughout his book on dyeing attached great importance to chemical explanations, as well as to the understanding and analysis of the different steps of the processes, changed his approach as he extensively quoted other authors. “Abbé Mazaes published experiments which threw much light on this dye; and the government promulgated in 1765, from information that it had procured an instruction, under the title of Memoire, containing the

700 Beer, Science, 133. 701 Schaefer: “The History”, 1412-1413. 702 Berthollet, (1824), 2, 120. 703 R. Haller,“The Chemistry and Technique of Turkey Red Dyeing,” Ciba Review 39 (1941): 1417. 704 Berthollet, (1824), 2, 121.

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process for the incarnate cotton red dye of Adrianople on cotton yarn.”705 In 1671, Colbert had introduced a policy to make public all French manufacturing secrets. He disclosed the best dye recipes in a calculated effort to improve French know-how and encourage the dyers, while firmly placing the French textile industry in the forefront of this lucrative, international trade.706 Later French governments wanted to repeat Colbert’s efforts and in 1765 they published Le Pileur d’Apligny’s comprehensive treatise on Turkey red dyeing, Mémoire contenant le procédé de la Teinture du coton rouge incarnant d’Andrinople sur le coton filé.707 Berthollet stated that this particular method had not been completely successful and in his description of the dye process he only referred to d’Apligny’s method in the introduction. “The same description is found in the treatise of Le Pileur d’Apligny; but this process has not completely succeeded. It appears that the fault consisted principally in the too great concentration of the alkaline solutions”708. Instead, Berthollet continued by describing the process, which M. Clerc had informed him of and which he claimed had been successfully used at a factory in Vaudreuil. “We shall now give the description which Clerc, who conducted with success a manufacture of this kind at Vaudreuil, communicated to the author of these Elements, (Berthollet, sen.) and which appears to differ very little from the most usual practice”709. In 1773, Pierre Joseph Macquer had presented a report to the Académie des sciences where he stressed the importance of finding a new and simplified method that would achieve an equally bright and colourfast red as they obtained

705 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 120. 706 Beer, Science, 29-30. 707 Chenciner, 188-189. Chernier’s book contains an evaluation of D’Apligny’s manuscript, as well as a comparison between that and J. C. Flachat’s book with the same title published in 1766. 708 Berthollet, (1824), 2:120-121. 709 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 121.

185 in the East, and at the same time could be used in France on an industrial scale.710 Jean Antoine Claude Chaptal was appointed the first professor in chemistry at Montpellier in 1781. He also established chemical factories in Montpellier; one which produced artificial alum for the French dye industry, and other factories that manufactured sulphuric-, nitric-, and chlorine-acids. Chaptal also owned factories in Rouen where he organized experiments with Turkey red dyeing. However, his treatise, L’Art de la Teinture du Coton en Rouge, was not published until 1807, after the second expanded edition of Berthollet’s dye book had been published in Paris three years earlier. While Chaptal’s book did study the characteristics of cotton as a vegetable fibre, a large section of it consisted only of dye recipes.711 Jean-Michel Haussmann’s work on Turkey red dying was much more than the trial and error approach so often used by dyers to determine the success of different dye recipes. Instead, his work was based on contemporary research in chemistry, published by prominent scientists. In his “Observations de M. Haussmann sur le rouge d’Andrinople,” which was published in Annales de chimie in February of 1792, he stated that he had investigated Turkey red dyeing for eighteen years. As an introduction to the topic, he studied Poerner’s Traité de teinture,712 but he found it unsatisfactory as a foundation for his own research. Instead he used his experience as a textile printer to obtain the recipe for a particular mordant used by the German textile printer M. Schüle from Augsburg, who according to Haussmann, had achieved a very bright and colourfast red for his indiennes. The many tests he performed led him to believe

710 Augustí. Nieto-Galan, Colouring Textiles A History of Natural Dyestuffs in Industrial Europe. (Dordrecht, 2001): 20 note 162. 711 Wescher: “Great Masters”, 640-641. 712 Jean-Michel Haussmann, “Observations de M. Hausmann [Haussmann] sur le rouge d’Andrinople,” Annales de chimie: ou recueil de mémoires Concernant la chimie et les Arts qui en dépendant 12 (1792): 196-219. Lawrie (1949) in her book p.74, refers to Chemische Versuche und Bemerkungen zum Nutzen der Färbekunst by M. Poerner published in 3 volumes in Leipzig, 1772-3.

186 that previous chemists had been mistaken and that Turkey red dyeing required a different and much more complicated dye process than earlier studies indicated. He did not feel that he had achieved any successful results until he added tin oxide to the surface of the linen- and cotton-threads, a concept he decided to try after attending the lecture, “Elémens de chimie,” presented by Antoine Baumé (1728-1804). The research methods that Haussmann developed for his many trials on Turkey red dyeing were clearly those of a scholar who theoretically researched his topic before he started with his carefully planned series of experiments. For his own examinations, he systematically changed the methods, the raw materials, their proportions and even his own work processes. Haussmann also developed a set of control tests so that he could objectively compare the quality of the different cotton samples. For this, he not only exposed the dyed materials to vinaigrette, lemon juice, and commercial nitric acid, he also boiled them in a potassium- or sulphur- solution and in a caustic alkali solution. In this manner he could evaluate brightness, clarity, and colourfastness; the essential characteristics for Turkey red dyed cotton. Haussmann divided his series of tests into three separate sections, each presented independently over a number of years in Annales de chimie, beginning in 1792 to his last article in 1810. The initial publication described his multiple studies adding tin oxide to the madder dyed cotton,713 and in the second he addressed the process of madder dyeing itself.714 This paper was followed in 1803 by a supplement, which introduced the treatments of different oils, as an essential part of the preparation of the textile fibre in advance for the

713 “Observations de M. Haussmann sur le rouge d’Andrinople,” Annales de chimie, 12 (1792): 196-219; and “Suite des observations de M. Haussmann sur le rouge d’Andrinople,” Annales de chimie, 12 (1792): 250-272. 714 “Observations: Sur le garançage suivies d’un procédé simple et constant pour obtenir de la plus grande beauté et solidité la couleur connu sous la dénomination de rouge du Levant ou d’Andrinople ; par Jean Michel Haussmann,” Annales de chimie, 41 (Pluviôse an X [1801]): 124-149.

187 dye process.715 In his final article from 1810, he continued with the publication of a simplified method, including investigations he had initiated to determine if the olive oil used for Turkey red dyeing could be replaced by the casein in milk and eggs.716 Haussmann’s first approach to Turkey red dyeing was a series of tests on cotton using a madder bath, as well as an additional treatment with tin oxide, that from the seventeenth century had been successfully used in the dye industry, particularly what was referred to as “the scarlet process”. This combined a tin solution with cochineal to achieve a brilliant, bright, scarlet colour.717 Somehow, he found it problematic to understand and accept the fact, that the unique, intense red colour, which was achieved as a result of the Turkey red dye process, was accomplished by an oil treatment. “Ne pouvant jusqu’à cette époque produire autrement le rouge de Turquie beau & solide qu’au moyen de l’oxide d’étain, j’étois tellement imbue de l’idée que M. Beaumé ne fabriquoit son muriate d’étain que pour l’usage des manufaćtures de coton rouge de Turquie, que j’avois de la peine à croire [que] ce fût au moyen des huiles qu’on obtenoit ce rouge.”718 Beer stated that Louis Avers and Dr. Saint Everon from Rouen had already in 1785 discovered the benefits of adding stannous oxide (tin oxide) to the soap solution, to give cotton a bright red colour.719 Nevertheless, after performing these initial tests, Haussmann quickly realized that this was not the

715 “Addition : A mon mémoire sur le garançage et la teinture du fil de coton et de lin en rouge d’Andrinople et autre couleurs ; par Jean-Michel Haussmann, ,” Annales de chimie, 48, (Frimaire an XII [1803]): 233-248. 716 “Procède Simplifié: Pour la teinture du rouge, dit d’Andrinople, par la voie de l’animalisation, ou par d’autres enduits glutineux, séreux et caséeux, par Jean-Michel Hausmann [Haussmann] ,” Annales de chimie, 76 (1810): 5-20. 717 Berthollet, (1824), 1: 24. 718 Hausmann 12 (1792): 206 719 Beer, Science,135.

188 proper Turkey red and discontinued these experiments. He persisted on testing different dye substances, both bon teint as well as petit teint with many different tin solutions; oxide d’étain, muriate d’étain, nitrate d’étain in addition to sulfate d’étain. Daniel Dullfuss-Ausset referred to an undated manuscript by Haussmann where these studies were presented, and he supposed that it was written sometime after 1792.720 Much later in 1799, Haussmann presented a modified version of this work in Journal de physique, de chimie, d’histoire naturelle des arts, with the title “Essais sur la teinture par les dissolutions d’étain et les oxides colorés de ce métal”721. In his continued quest for methods and processes to achieve the authentic Turkey red colour, he set up a new series of investigations focusing instead on the madder bath itself, as well as trials with numerous oils along with different oil-treatments; and as Haussmann expressed, there seemed to be an unlimited number of possible variations. “Les procédés des rouges d’Andrinople peuvent varier à l’infini, car de quelque manière et par tells dissolvans acides ou alcalins que l’on aura fixé l’alumine sur les échevaux, après y avoir porté une légère couche d’une huile quelconque, l’on ne manquera pas d’obtenir des rouges plus ou moins vifs en raison de la précaution que l’on aura employée dan le garançage et l’avivage.”722 Haller referred to an early, historical application of “rancid olive oil formerly used in emulsion with potash”723. However, Haussmann’s trials were

720 Jean Michele Haussmann. “Fabrication des indiennes.” In Matériaux pour la coloration des étoffes, by Daniel Dollfus-Ausset. (Paris, 1865) 2, 199-209. 721 Jean-Michel Haussmann. “ESSAIS: Sur la teinture par les dissolutions d’étain et les oxides colorés de ce métal,” Journal de physique, de chimie, d’histoire naturelle des arts, avec des planches en taille-douce dédiée a M. Le Comte D’Artois, (Pluviose an 7 [1799]): 114-126. 722 Hausmann 48 (1803): 245-246. 723 Haller, “Turkey Red Dyeing”, 1417-1422.

189 primarily carried out with linseed oil, in addition to some with olive oil.724 On the other hand, he found that these oil emulsions were very unstable and decomposed quickly; especially when he attempted to apply his method to larger cotton quantities. “j’ai éprouvé des difficultés dans l’application des huiles en opérant plus en grand; l’huile de lin qui m’avoit toujours procuré un mélange laiteux dans proportions limitées avec la dissolution alcaline d’alumine, se séparoit alors promptement quand je voulois faire une provision un peu forte, et l’imprégnation des écheveau devenoit impossible dans ces sortes de circonstances; il en étoit de même avec toutes les autres huiles grasses;”725 He tried to compensate for this separation by using oils bound with a metal oxide “Pour remédier à l’inconvénient de la séparation de l’huile dans la dissolution alcaline d’alumine, j’eus recours aux huiles siccatives, c’est-à-dire, cuites avec des oxides métalliques”726. Haussmann also tested the effects of treating the samples with the astringent present in the form of gallnuts, gallic acid, to fix the alumina to the cotton fibre before the madder-bath. In his article Haller described the chemical reactions in the dye operation itself as “If fatty acid as well as alumina and possibly lime are present on the fibre, the actual dyeing operation takes place, i.e. the combination of oxides and hydrates with alizarin to form the respective alizarates”727. According to him, it was only recently that scientists had come to understand the real purpose of the fatty acids, which would only “act as a dispersing agent for the aluminum-calcium alizarat”728. His statement suggested that Haussmann could not have had any knowledge of this at the time when he was working on his series of trials. Still Haussmann was fully aware that calcium was absolutely essential in order to

724 Hausmann 48 (1803): 234-247. 725 Hausmann 48 (1803): 233-234. 726 Hausmann 48 (1803): 234. 727 Haller, “Turkey Red Dyeing”, 1420. 728 Haller, “Turkey Red Dyeing”, 1420.

190 achieve the unique colourfastness of a true Turkey red dyed textile, and Haller reasoned that the combination of madder dyeing with the added calcium operated as two simultaneous reactions. “A second important development runs parallel with the one just described [the actual dyeing operation]; it consists of the union of the hitherto independent calcium and aluminum-calcium alizarate”729. Haussmann also tested fish oil since he believed that it was actually used in Turkey for the production of this particular colour, but found that it had a rather unpleasant smell. “Comme les véritables rouges d’Andrinople ont une fort odeur, il se peut que les Turcs se servent de l’huile de poisson …”730 “… l’huile de poisson se conserve cependant assez long-temps mêlée, mais son odeur est trop désagréable.”731 Berthollet was also aware of the use of fish oil for Turkey red dyeing. However, in this particular circumstance he did not refer to reports from his usual contributors or any other existing French textile establishments, which conducted trials with this most unusual oil. Instead, in his own dye book he referred only to an article by Professor Pallas published in a Russian periodical from 1776. “Pallas relates, in the Journal of Petersburg for 1776, that the Armenians, …, dye Turkey red by impregnating the cotton with fish oil; … [and] that they did not take indifferently the oil of every fish, but chose that of certain fish, which becomes milky whenever an alkaline solution is mixed with it.”732 In another article by Pallas regarding Turkey red dyeing in Astrakhan, published in The Philosophical Magazine in June of 1798, he stated that in 1764 Professor Oettinger from Tübingen in Germany had written a small

729 Haller, “Turkey Red Dyeing”, 1420. 730 Hausmann 48 (1803): 246 731 Hausmann 48 (1803): 234 732 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 144.

191 publication describing how the Armenians practiced a particular method that provided cotton yarns with a fixed red. He pointed to the essential dyestuffs for dyeing red; madder from Terek or Ghilan in Persia; sumac (rbus cotinus); as well as “gall-nuts, alum, an ingenious bad kind of soda, called kalakar…. and lastly fish-oil.” According to Oettinger, fish-oils were produced in the lower parts of the Volga and he asserted that “The proof of it being proper for dyeing is, that when mixt with a lixivium of soda it must immediately assume a milky appearance.” The oil treatment consisted of soaking the cotton in oil overnight to be hung up on poles during the day. The process was continued for a week so “that it may imbibe the oil and free itself from all air.” After this, the mordant was prepared from sumac, galls and alum, which according to professor Oettinger “must give the grounds of the red colour.”733. Haussmann was also keenly aware of the danger these oil-treated cotton samples represented. The textiles used in these trials were a huge fire hazard since they could bring about spontaneous combustion and subsequently could self-incinerate. At one time, his own office, where he stored these oil saturated cotton samples, caught fire,734 “ils devinèrent d’abord que ce prélude d’un incendie ne pouvoir que d’une inflammation spontanée du coton imprégné et renduit d’huile cuite”735. Berthollet concluded his description of Turkey red dyeing based on notes that Chaptal had given him. They referred to experiences from Chaptal’s dye house at Montpellier, and Berthollet also quoted from the second volume of Mémoires de l’Institut:736 “Chaptal, whose researches and enlightened zeal for the advancement of the arts have contributed so much to their progress, has had the kindness

733 Professor Pallas,“The genuine Oriental Process for giving to Cotton Yarn or Textile the fast or ingrained Colour, known by the Name of Turkey Red, as practiced in Astrakhan,” The Philosophical Magazine 1 (1798): 4-11. 734 Hausmann, 48 (1803): 236-240. 735 Hausmann, 48 (1803): 236 736 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 141.

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to communicate to us the notes which he had collected in his dye- houses, near Montpellier. We have extracted from them the following processes for dyeing Adrianople red, which he has long practised himself with much success.”737 Turkey red dyeing was the most complicated of all the madder dyeing processes. How complex and intricate the method was as well as the enormous work that went into this dye practice may be easier understood by looking at a summation of the different steps. Berthollet exposed each different phase of the process, but this particular overview was compiled from the first edition of his dye book, published in 1791, and later quoted by Beer.738 From step one to seven, the methods were based on explanations in Le Pileur d’Apligny’s publication, while in step eight and onwards, Berthollet based the course of action on descriptions from Chaptal. Both Berthollet in his dye book, and Chaptal in his article “Chemical Reflections on the Effect produced by Mordants in dyeing Cotton red,” which was published in The Philosophical Magazine in August 1798, commented on the process. Berthollet emphasized the quality of the raw materials, where they came from, as well as how the process was carried out within the dye houses. Chaptal, on the other hand, focused on the chemical characteristics and furthermore the importance it had for the end result.739 1. Boil cotton in lye (NaOH)

2. Treat with mixture of barilla [sodas] (Na2CO3 and Na2SO4), sheep dung, olive oil, and lye, then rinse, let stand twelve hours, and dry;

737 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 131. 738 Beer, Science and the French Dye Industry, 133-146. It is his sequence of the dye process that is quoted here. Berthollet’s and Chaptal’s comment on the materials as well as their reactions in the dye process are included for some of these phases. 739 J. A. Chaptal, “Chemical Reflections on the Effect produced by Mordants in dyeing Cotton red,” The Philosophical Magazine 1 (1798): 274-278.

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Berthollet: “The soda (barillas) of Spain, Alicant, or Carthagena are to be preferred. In the absence of these, that of Narbonne may be used”740. Chaptal: “In order that the soda may have the proper qualities, it must be caustic, and contain little muriate.” Berthollet: “The first precautions to be taken in this dye, consist in the good choice of materials. The fittest oil for this operation is what comes from the river of Genes, under the name of dyeing oil. Some is also brought from the south of France”741. Chaptal: “The oil, to be good, must remain in an absolute and permanent state of combination. The oil fitted for this dye is not fine oil, but that rather which contains a large portion of the extractive principle”742. 3. Dip into second oil bath containing also lye, remove from bath, let stand till next day, dry; 4. Repeat previous step adding more lye to the oil bath; 5. Give pure lye treatment; 6. Repeat at higher temperature; 7. Repeat once more, rinse in river, dry; 8. Wet, continuously dousing the cloth with fresh water to remove nearly all traces of oil; 9. Dip into gall nuts solution, dry; Chaptal: “The using of gall nuts is attended with several advantages: 1. The acid which they contain decomposes the saponaceous liquor with which the cotton is impregnated, and fixes the oil on the textile 2. The character of animalisation which the galls have, predisposes the cotton to receive the colouring matter. 3. The astringent principle unites with the oil and forms with it a compound which blacken as it dries; which is

740 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 135. 741 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 132. 742 Chaptal, 276.

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not very soluble in water, and which has the greatest affinity with the colouring principle of the madder”743. 10. Immerse in alum and lye bath; Berthollet: “As soon as the galling is dry, the cotton is alumed. With this view, 15 kilogrammes of reddish Levantine alum or 12 ½ of Roman alum are dissolved in 100 kilogrammes of water”744. Chaptal: “The third mordant employed in dyeing cotton red is the sulphate of alumina (alum). This substance not only has of itself the property of heightening the red of madder, but it contributes also by its decomposition and the fixation of the alumina to give solidity to the colour”745. Chaptal: “We have therefore a combination of three principles (oil, the astringent principle, and alumina) which serve as a red dye of madder. Each of them employed separately produces neither the same fixation nor the same lustre in the colour.”746 11. Rinse three times; 12. Dip into olive oil-lye bath as described in 3; 13. Heat with lye and dry; 14. Use lye bath again at higher temperature, dry; 15. Repeat lye bath at still higher temperature and repeat galling, alumning, and rinsing as in 9, 10 and 11; 16. Boil in madder bath with a pailful of bullock’s blood for one hour; Berthollet: “In order to have a very uniform colour two kilogrammes of madder must be employed for every kilogramme of cotton. With this madder half a kilogramme of sheep’s blood is mixed for every kilogramme of cotton.”747

743 Chaptal, 276- 277. 744 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 135. 745 Chaptal, 277. 746 Chaptal, 278. 747 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 136.

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Berthollet: “If the blood has not been intermingled, the colour is not so lively, nor so rich, although it be durable; and by substituting for it glue or other animal products, no such agreeable colour is obtained.”748 17. Simmer for five hours in dilute lye. This whole process took about one month. Of the seventeen stages Berthollet contemplated, later research has determined that only six operations, administered in this exact order, were essential to obtain a satisfactory red colour: oiling, mordanting, fixing, dyeing, steaming, and clearing.749 These steps vaguely correspond to the following phases of Berthollet’s process. Steps two to four were treatments with a mixture of barilla, sheep dung, olive oil, and lye. Step ten was an immersion in an alum and oil bath. Step sixteen was the actual dye immersion where textiles were boiled in the madder bath with a pailful (old English pægel gill) of bullock blood for one hour. Step seventeen was a finishing process, clearing, and required the samples to simmer for five hours in diluted lye. Chaptal had stressed that the triple combination oil/tanning/alum treatment, in that specific order, was what reacted with the madder to give the cotton an intense red colour, and Berthollet observed that: “Chaptal has expounded the principles on which are founded the multiplied operations of the Adrianople red dye, one of great importance in itself, and whose processes may have to a certain extent several useful applications.”750 “He shows, that all these operations have for their object a triple combination; the first that of the oil with the textile; the second, that of the tanning with the former; the third, that of the alumina with the preceding two. To this there is lastly added, that of the colouring substance of the madder.”751

748 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 136. 749 Haller, “Turkey Red Dyeing”, 1418. 750 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 14: “ Mémoires de l’Institut v. ii n.” 751 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 141.

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Subsequent research has also demonstrated that fatty acids, aluminium salts and calcium in addition to the actual colouring substance madder, were the essential elements in Turkey red dyeing. To obtain the excellent colourfastness, which characterised this red dye, the addition of calcium was essential. This indispensable calcium could either be added separately to the dye bath, or if the water already contained a large content of lime no further additions of calcium salts were necessary. Consequently, Turkey red dyeing flourished particularly in districts with hard water.752 Beer explained some of the fundamental reactions between the different substances that were absolutely essential to the Turkey red dye process. “It is not known precisely how calcium enters the alum lake and what role it plays in the process. It has been found that the oil and lye treatment produces the sodium salt of fatty acids which polymerize under high heat and combine fibre in a very stable form. The polymer seems to act as a dispersing agent for the aluminum-calcium alizarate.”753 On the other hand, the addition of calcium was not mentioned separately as one of the ingredients listed among the seventeen production steps for Turkey red dyeing. Berthollet cautioned his readers that a careful selection of materials were fundamental for the result. He stressed that the best olive oils came from Provence, and that Roman alum was overrated since the impurities were comparable with alum from other districts. He explained that the madder used should be a combination of lizari from Provence and Cyprus, and that without the oxblood the final colour would not be as rich.754 Berthollet also recorded the use of numerous supplementary substances, which previous authors had indicated as necessary for the success of the dye process. Nevertheless, later studies have pointed out that the chemical effect of many of these substances

752 Haller, “Turkey Red Dyeing”, 1417-1419. 753 Beer, Science,137. 754 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 1.

197 appears to be highly questionable, and their value for the quality of the dye was considered doubtful.755 Only once did Berthollet acknowledge Jean-Michel Haussmann’s publications in Annales de chimie. Referring to Haussmann’s “Supplement” published in 1801, he pointed out that he also had successfully applied a solution of alumina in alkali together with linseed oil.756 He further stated that for this particular combination “Two impregnations are sufficient for obtaining a fine red, but by means of a third and a fourth, very brilliant colours may be produced”757. Threads and textiles dyed by the Turkey red process were an attractive, fashionable and very expensive import from the Orient. Therefore, many textile dyers, as well a number of French scientists tried over a long period of time to uncover the secrets of this dye process, which for so many years had eluded the Europeans. The textile dyers experimented with and tested new recipes hoping to achieve this brilliant red colouring. At the same time, Jean-Michele Haussmann planned a series of scientific experiments based on his knowledge of chemistry and physics, in anticipation of discovering the process for dyeing cotton and linen this bright, extremely colourfast, and brilliant madder red. The many articles he published on the subject not only demonstrated his systematic scientific approach to his work, but also revealed the many French scientists and academicians that he contacted and worked with. Haussmann was clearly familiar with the scientific publications of his time and the available manuscripts on textile dyeing. He often attended scientific lectures and based his own research on his compiled knowledge. Many letters from his correspondence with Berthollet were published, principally in Annales de chimie, and they signify that there actually existed a working relationship between this scholarly trained textile printer and the chemist and academician Berthollet. These letters never implied a personal connection, similar to what

755 Haller, “Turkey Red Dyeing”, 1417. 756 Berthollet (1824), 2: 142-143. 757 Berthollet (1824), 2: 143.

198 existed between Berthollet and Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf. Still they indicate a working association between two chemists who were exploring their common concerns for an extremely complicated dye process that fascinated them both. Consequently, Haussmann’s published articles evince the respect, as well as the close and reciprocal commitment that existed between this textile printer and members of the French scientific community.

VII. MOODY BLUE: THE DIFFICULTY OF WORKING

WITH NON WATER-SOLUBLE MATERIALS

Painting and printing in blue was just as important as the work with madder. Together, these two very different processes (the oxidation process for indigo and mordant dyeing for madder) created fashionable, bright and multicoloured cotton textiles, whether they were produced in India or Europe. For painting and printing with madder the dye bath remained the same, while the mordants and additives varied to achieve different colours and shades. For printing and painting in blue (a non water soluble dye) the process itself had to be changed to make sure the dyestuff oxidized after it had been applied to the textile. The methods used to create white designs on a blue background, blue designs on a white background, and adding blue to multicoloured designs were all entirely different.

VII. 1. A ONE DYE SUBSTANCE BUT TWO DIFFERENT SOURCES:

WOAD AND INDIGO

From Beaulieu’s report, we know that the Indian craftsmen used indigo for their blue shades. He explained that they covered every section of the design that was not supposed to be blue, green or purple with wax before submersing the textile into the indigo vat (sample four). In 1951 W. A. Vetterlie wrote that the Indian subcontinent was “not only the home of the indigo plant proper (indigofera tinctoria) but also the oldest centre of indigo dyeing”758. This resonates with what Marco Polo (1254-1324) recorded in his book of travels published in 1477, approximately one-hundred-and- fifty years after his death. Marco Polo wrote about the preparation of indigo, as well as the most important Indian production centers. He made special mention of Gujarat and Chambay on the north-west coast as important centers for the indigo trade. Early in the 12th century, indigo along with spices were some of the most important cargoes

758 W. A. Vetterli, “The History of Indigo,” Ciba Review 85 (1951): 1066.

199 200 to reached Europe. This import is documented by commercial records and customs tariffs. Later, merchants from Venice and Genoa took over this trade and records show that the first shipment of indigo arrived in Genoa in 1140, in Bologna in 1194, in Marseilles in 1228 and in London in 1276. From Como, Italy, where indigo first appeared in the tariff from 1381, it passed through the Alps into Switzerland and Germany.759 The origin of Indian indigo, also known as Common indigo or by its Latin name indigofera tinctoria, is not known. However, the dye historian Dominique Cardon proposed that this subtropical plant probably originated in India. R. Haller described how the dyestuff was extracted from the leaves. “In India indigo is produced from indigofera tinctoria in what is known as indigo factories, where indican, a glucose substance yielding the dyestuff, is extracted and then reduced by fermentation to indigotin and grape-sugar or indiglucin. At the same time the indigotin is converted into water- soluble indigo white, which by oxidation is precipitated in flakes constituting the dyestuff.”760 He pointed out that in Pondicherry (one of the major ports for the export of Indian painted and printed textiles) on India’s Coromandel Coast, the indigo plant was grown from seeds. It blossomed for the first time after three months and it was at that time the leaves yielded the maximum amount of indigo. Hence the leaves should be harvested as soon as they turn yellow. Further crops could be harvested in September and January but the yield would be reduced. The amount of indigo contained in the leaves was also dependent on soil conditions and the weather. Haller ascertained that the major producers of indigo for export to Europe were India (Bengal), Java and Guatemala and he defined the various qualities. “ (in descending order of quality): fine blue, ordinary blue, fine purple, purple and violet, dull blue inferior purple and violet, strong copper, and ordinary copper. Special designations for poorer qualities were: dust

759 Vetterli, 1068. 760 R. Haller, “The Production of Indigo,” Ciba Review 85 (1951): 3072.

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indigo (indigo sablé), spotted indigo (indigo piqueté), salted indigo, i.e. covered with a salt exudation (indigo éventé), burned indigo, i.e. overdried (indigo brûlé), ribbon indigo, showing multi-coloured layers when broken up (indigo rubané), and so on.”761 He emphasized that the dyestuff was often contaminated with ashes, sand or slate dust by deceitful manufacturers and that dishonest European traders added starch, Prussian blue, blue cotton or woolen waste. To further defraud the consumer, indigo would be deliberately stored under humid conditions where it would absorb moisture and gain weight. Buyers needed to be wary and pay extreme attention to detail. In addition it was beneficial for the customer to have the ability to determine the indigo content of the dyestuff.762 In The Art of Dyeing (1789), Macquer wrote about the different qualities of indigo available to dyers: “The indigo commonly used by the silk dyers is called copper indigo..; nevertheless several several other kinds may be used with equal profit superior to this, such as blue indigo, which is lighter, finer and more pure than the copper indigo, also Cadiz indigo, or the indigo of Guatemala, the finest and best of all. But the price of those, particularly the last, prevents them from being used.”763 The cost of indigo was a significant factor in determining the dyers and textile printers’ choice of dyestuff. If Macquer considered indigo from Guatemala too costly for the silk industry, the cotton dyers and printers, who produced less expensive textiles, almost certainly used other more reasonably priced qualities. Unfortunately, the 1769 inventory of natural dyes and additives from Oberkampf’s factory did not specify either origin or quality of the indigo holdings in his warehouse, nor did the records indicate his supplier of indigo.764

761 Haller, “Production”, 3072-3074. 762 Haller, “Production”, 3074. 763 H. Hellot, M. Macquer, and M. Le Pileur d’Apligny., The Art of Dyeing Wool, Silk and Cotton. (London, 1789): 261. 764 Clouzot, Histoire de la Manufacture, 56.

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In the Mémorial Widmer wrote that in 1791 Oberkampf’s supplier of indigo was Dechapeauroug from Hamburg, but he did not indicate the quality or the price.765 Indigo is cultivated in regions with an average annual temperature of 23° C and can therefore not be grown in Europe. However, long before this dye was first brought back by spice traders, woad (isatis tinctoria) was grown locally in England, France, Germany and Italy to produce blue dyestuff. It was one of the major economic crops from the thirteenth century and was cultivated on a very large scale.766 Germany was a major production centre for woad in Europe (known as waid in German). The Thüringian woad district had already been written about in 1250, and Jamieson C. Hurry assumed that the economic prosperity of this area “was due partly to natural advantages and partly to agricultural efficiency”767. The second centre was the Jülich woad district (west of Cologne). The Germans traded both unfermented and fermented woad balls. The unfermented woad could be sold by the farmers, while trade in fermented woad was governed by regulations for the licensed woad merchants who not only sold to dyers but also had the right to export.768 To remove the dye substance from the woad plant the fresh leaves were ground up and couched (composted). Later this material was shaped into balls and dried. In this form the woad balls could be kept for a long time and they were easy to transport. Before they could be used, the woad balls had to go through a second processing stage which often took place in the dyeing centers. Here the balls were broken up into a course powder and sprinkled with water to activate fermentation. Finally the indigo could be extracted in the form of a paste.769

765Mémorial, 91. 766 Jamieson B. Hurry, The Woad Plant and its Dye. (London, 1930). 767 Hurry, 121. 768 Hurry, 124-134. 769 Cardon, 342.

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In France woad was known as pastel or guède. Langedoc was the most important of the French production areas for woad. The economic importance for towns like Toulouse can best be understood by realizing that yearly they sent no less than one hundred thousand balls of woad to Bourdeaux; a consignment worth at least one and a half million pounds (before being converted to present day values). Hurry declared, “No wonder that the Languedoc regarded its woad fields as a gold-mine”770. Somme was the second largest district in France. Here the woad industry was highly organized with by- laws for the regulation of the commerce. Lower Normandy was the third largest centre for this trade, but it was never as productive as Languedoc or Somme. Hurry acknowledged that Normandy had an extensive trade in woad, but pointed out that it diminished rapidly when indigo was introduced into Europe.771 In France the production and trade in woad created considerable fortunes. The historian Michael Pastereau (a specialist in the history of colours, symbols and heraldry) illustrated this by referring to: “Pierre de Berny a merchant from Toulouse, [who] became so rich thanks to this trade that in 1525 [he] was the guarantor of the enormous ransom demanded by Charles V for the liberation of Francois I (King of France, 1515-47), who had been taken prisoner at the battle of Pavia.”772 Pastereau wrote about the conflict that the introduction of indigo to the European market created, and the strong opposition it faced from the traditional woad producers and traders. He characterized it as “Blue against Blue: the War between Woad and Indigo”773. Towards the end of the sixteenth century, European dyers discovered that indigo was a much more economical dye than woad since it contained a higher, more concentrated dyestuff and provided a

770 Hurry, 97-98. 771 Hurry, 99-104. 772 Michel Pastoureau, Blue the History of a Color, trans. Markus I. Cruse. (Princeton and Oxford, 2002): 125. 773 Pastoureau, Blue, 124.

204 much richer colour. Woad in comparison with indigo is not very productive and the same quantity will only yield one third as much of the dyestuff.774 Pastereau was not alone in acknowledging the gravity of this conflict. Jamieson Hurry described “the bitter struggle for supremacy waged between the respective champions of the home-grown woad and of the exotic indigo”775. After dealing with the cultivation and trade of woad in England, France, Germany and Italy, Hurry addressed trade, taxation and woad as a source of considerable wealth, before he focused on how European countries under pressure from the woad producers legislated protection to support this vital economic commodity. “As indigo was beginning to invade the European dye market, and to affect important financial interests, a vigorous campaign was undertaken to check the progress of the new and dangerous intruder”. In England, the topical indigoferra was prohibited by Parliament during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, and furthermore “denounced as a dangerous drug and described as ‘food for the devil’ ”. In 1609 the French King Henry IV issued an edict “sentencing to death any person who should be discovered using the deceitful and injurious dye called inde (indigo)”. The wealthy woad merchants in Germany designated indigo as the “devil’s dye” and Emperor Rudolf banished it as “an injurious, deceptive, corrosive and diabolical article.” Germany even exploited religion in their arguments against the imported indigo and contributed the death of the woad industry to a “well-merited Divine retribution”. In 1752 D. G. Schreber wrote in Beschreibung des Waistes (Historical Description of the use of Woad). “God in His great mercy and love for mankind has decreed the temporary loss of woad, so as to bring man back to himself and a state of true happiness”776. Berthollet was also well aware of this controversy, but his comments were aimed directly at the unfounded logic behind these severe restrictions. “This is a grand example of the abuses into which an unenlightened

774 Vetterli, 1067. 775 Hurry, preface b. 776 Hurry, 258-292.

205 administration, easily mislead by the suggestions of personal interests, may fall.”777 Berthollet evaluated pastel (the concentrated paste extracted from woad) and compared woad’s colouring properties with that of indigo. “Pastel affords, without indigo, a blue colour which has no brilliancy, but is very durable. As it yields much less colouring matter than indigo, and its colour is inferior in beauty, the discovery of indigo has considerably diminished the culture and use of pastel.”778 This was in direct contradiction to Colbert who about one hundred and twenty years earlier had been hostile towards indigo and regarded it as inferior to woad.779 From the mid 17th century, French and English colonies in the West Indies started to grow, sugar, coffee, cotton and indigo, using slave labour. The indigo plantations required less capital than the other crops. Consequently, in 1672 there were sixty indigo growing agricultural estates in Jamaica alone. This escalated further and in 1786, San Domingo, the most important of the French possessions in the West Indies, registered three thousand one hundred and fifty.780 This was followed by an increased interest in indigo production and in 1770 Beauvais-Raseau’s book L’Art de l’indigotier was published in Paris.

VII. 1. B DYEING WITH THE NON WATER SOLUBLE INDIGO

Indigo is not water soluble and consequently in its existing form could not adhere to textiles. To convert this colour substance into a variety that has affinity towards vegetable- and animal-fibres it becomes necessary to reduce it into its water soluble form, indigo white. In this state it can be easily absorbed by the textile fibres submerged into the indigo vat and when the cloth is

777 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 36. 778 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 36. 779 Hurry, 105. 780 Vetterli, 3069.

206 removed, the white indigo oxidizes immediately as it contacts the air. Schwartz suggested that this was achieved ad hoc by trying many different methods and chemical additives.781 Berthollet stated that when he wrote his dye book the details of these processes were very well known by the dyers.782 He also suggested the proportions of the different components in one such indigo vat as “one part of indigo, two of sulphate of iron, and two of lime,” but firmly stressed that “the good constitution of [this] is confirmed by experience”783. According to Berthollet, dyeing with indigo consisted of different steps, each with its own objective: In the first operation: “a fermentation is excited, in which the action of the atmospheric air does not intervene, since an inflammable gas is evolved. There probably results from in some change in the composition of the colour-particles themselves.” In the second operation: “the action of the air is put into play, which, by combining with the colouring particles, deprives them of their solubility, and gives them the blue colour.”784 The third part of the process: “has for its objects – [the] deposition of the colouring parts, [which] become insoluble by combination with oxygen.”785 Berthollet confirmed that by this time indigo was in extensive use and pointed out that it displayed remarkable chemical properties and referred to Analyse et

781 Paul- Raymond Schwartz. “Contribution a l’histoire de l’application du bleu d’indigo (bleu anglaise) dans l’indiennage Européen,” Bulletin de la Société Industrielle de Mulhouse, 2 (1953): 63-79. 782 Berthollet, (1824), 2:61. 783 Berthollet, (1824), 2:76. 784 Berthollet, (1824), 2:37. 785 Berthollet, (1824), 2:38.

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Examen Chimique de l’Indigo, tel qu’il est dans le Commerce, pour l’usage de la teinture, studies which the Swedish chemist Bergman had published.786

VII. 1. C PAINTING AND PRINTING IN BLUE

The particular properties of indigo made it well suited for piece dyeing, but textiles featuring blue designs were exceptionally difficult to produce. The technique used to add blue elements to the multicoloured designs as seen in the indiennes was different from what was needed to achieve a white design on a blue background or a blue design on a white background. Each of these different styles of design required different handling of the dye substance. Since indigo did not require a mordant to create the bond between dye and textile fibre, the textile printers had first to focus on how to protect areas that should not be dyed blue and only leave access for the indigo dye for blue areas (or where blue was needed in combination to achieve green or purple). Furthermore, the artisans had to make sure that the dye remained in its water soluble form until it firmly adhered to the textile fibres where the oxidation would take place, creating a permanent, colourfast bond. How the European textile printers produced a white design on a blue background was in principle comparable to the method the Indian craftsmen used to apply blue colour to their already mordanted and madder dyed textiles; as it was described by Beaulieu. The Indian artisan would paint wax to cover all areas that should not be coloured blue (green or purple) (resist printing), before launching the textile into the indigo vat, known as a tepid fermentation vat with a temperature no more than 115° F. The Indian indigo vat was particularly temperature sensitive since too high temperatures would melt the wax during the dye process and ruin not only the design but also the dye vat. The Indian dyers added an alkaline solution of trisulphide of arsenic (auripigmentum, orpiment) which was poisonous and had a corroding effect. With these additives, the temperature of the Indian indigo vat could be maintained at

786 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 39.

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115°F. 787 In 1760, when Monsieur Q. (later identified as Monsieur Querelle) published Traité sur les toiles peintes, he includes in the first chapter the description of two different indigo vats.788 Schwartz in his article “Contribution a l’histoire de l’application du bleu d’indigo (bleu Anglais) dans l’indiennage Européen,” describes the difference between these two. Schwartz defined the one used in Mazulipatam as reduction-dissolving, which operates by fermentation and lime; and the indigo vat prepared in Pondicherry where they use couperose verte (iron sulphate) and lime.789 When indigo was brought to Europe this tepid fermentation vat was introduced at the same time. The poisonous and harmful consequences of the orpiment (a sulphide of arsenic) did much to give indigo such a bad name.790 Berthollet stated that “Three processes are employed for giving blue in the art of calico printing... The first of these processes is used for dyeing cloth whose ground is to be blue or green”791. The straightforward method to produce patterns in blue was to generate white figures on a blue background. The European textile printers would first block print the white design with pure starch or a starch mixture before the whole textile was submerged in the indigo vat. The English textile historian P. C. Floud maintained that the early European blue dyers never managed this technique of resist patterns adequately. Before indigo was introduced, the Europeans extracted the blue dyestuff from woad. Since it contained less concentrated dyestuff than indigo this traditional

787 P. C. Floud. “The English Contribution to the Early History of Indigo printing,” Journal of the Society of Dyers and Colourists, 76 (1960): 345. 788 Monsieur Q. Traité sur les toiles peintes dans lequel on voit la manière dont on les fabrique aux des Indes, & en Europe. (Amsterdam, 1760): 34-39. 789 P. R. Schwartz. “Contribution a l’histoire de l’application du bleu d’indigo (bleu Anglaise) dans l’indiennage Européen,” Bulletin société industrielle de Mulhouse 2 (1953): 63-79. 790 Floud, “Indigo printing”, 345. 791 Berthollet (1824), 2: 80.

209 dye vat had to be used at a higher temperature, about 170° F.792 The temperature was not so critical for the Europeans where the resist paste traditionally was made from starch. Later gum was often added to the recipes (often gum Senegal) to give the paste some flexibility during the dye operation. With the addition of the gum, the paste became more flexible and would not crack so easily leaving blue hairlines in the final design. The Indian painters would have to cover as much as 90% of the textile to achieve an extremely small area of blue as the European designs called for since they used the colour predominantly for flowers and leaves.793 To cover this much of the textile with wax required a great deal of labour and was much too costly to produce in Europe; or as Berthollet described it “the process of the Indians are so complicated, tedious, and imperfect, that they would be impractical elsewhere, from the different in the cost of labour”794. For the indiennes produced in Europe, the waxing and submersing in the blue vat was replaced with pencilling the blue dye directly onto the already madder dyed textile. This was referred to as pencil blue or in French as le bleu de pinceau. According to Floud, the Indian textile painters and printers as well as the Indonesian batik producers were never able to produce a blue pattern directly on a white cloth.795 The European textile printers also developed the indigo dye vat further and replaced the tepid vat with a cold vat. Here the reduction and dissolution of the indigo was achieved by adding copperas (ferrous sulphate) lime and potash. Floud explained the chemical reaction that took place in this way “The lime combines with the ferrous sulphate to form calcium sulphate, and ferrous hydroxide which reduces the insoluble indigo to the soluble indigo white”796.

792 Floud, “Indigo printing”, 345. 793 Floud, “Indigo printing”, 345. 794 Berthollet (1824), 1:10. 795 Floud, “Indigo printing”, 345. 796 Floud, “Indigo printing”, 345.

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It is not known who actually developed this technology, but Floud wrote that the cold vat was first mentioned in the literature by Bancroft, and he further stated that: “some earlier papers which he [Bancroft] had studied showed that the use of this ferrous sulphate vat, at least for linen printing was already known though not properly understood in England in 1734.”797 Wax resist was also used for a limited time in Europe. While the Indian craftsmen would paint the wax resist onto the textile before submersing it into the indigo vat, Floud recognized that in Europe mechanical improvements were made to the traditional wood printing block. This would make it possible for the European textile printers to print hot wax directly onto the textiles; a much quicker method than painting the wax on as was done in India. A traditional woodblock such as used for mordants was damaged by the hot wax and had to be replaced by metal blocks made from a mixture of tin, lead and pewter. The regular printing table was also replaced by a table strewn with sand in order to absorb the molten wax. It has not been determined, when this was first introduced in Europe but a German book published in 1686 includes a section titled: “How to make lead blocks for printing cotton.”798 According to Floud wax resist was used in Europe and “the tangible evidence of many surviving textiles shows that by the mid-eighteenth century at the latest the block printing of wax resist designs on cotton (or more frequently on linen) followed by a cold indigo dyeing, was a standard practice.”799 However, he specifically stressed that wax-resist printing disappeared early in England since they discovered satisfactory methods to print indigo directly onto the textiles.800

797 Floud, “Indigo printing”, 345. 798 Floud, “Indigo printing”, 345-346. 799 Floud, “Indigo printing”, 346. 800 Floud, “Indigo printing”, 346-347.

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The most important change to block printing in blue was not achieved by adding chemicals to change the indigo vat, but instead it was a simple, practical device that made it possible to apply soluble indigo to the surface of the woodblocks without having the oxidation occur at the same time. This was achieved by making minor changes to the the traditional spring sieve and closed tub. When mordant was applied by woodblocks, the tub was filled with a viscous substance creating an elastic cushion for the sieve containing the thickened mordant. The sieve’s top surface was covered with a tightly stretched woolen cloth and the tireur (block printers assistant) would keep the top surface constantly and evenly supplied with the mordant. 801 In the tub used for the application of the water soluble indigo the viscous substances were replaced by the thickened indigo itself and the sieve was “merely a single stretched surface floating directly on the indigo and protecting it from contact with the air”. The indigo was supplied from an air tight container which by gravity feed would keep the indigo level constant in the tub. This process also eliminated the need for an assistant since the printer now applied the soluble indigo to the woodblock and printed the textile in one operation and the surface of the sieve would not need to be refilled by hand.802 From the Album Labouchère we know that Oberkampf produced textiles with a white design on a blue background. This example showing a blue textiles with resist printed design from the Royal Ontario Museum’s collection (ROM 934.4.642), was printed with woodblocks in the same style but the producer has not yet been identified since textiles of that type were produced by many European companies. (Fig.24) In the Mémorial the text for events taking place in 1768 stressed that the most important innovation Oberkampf’s company had achieved to date was Camaïeux en bleu de faïence, bon teint, a method for block printing in blue that (according to the Gottlieb Widmer) was not known earlier. The factory gave the name camaïeux to all toiles printed in one colour. Rordorf who was in

801 Floud, “Indigo printing”, 346-347. 802 Floud, “Indigo printing”, 347.

212 charge of design used this newly developed technique and created a rich and varied assortment of patterns that the buyers had never seen before.803

VII. 1. D PENCIL BLUE OR LE BLEU DE PINCEAU

Pencil blue or le bleu de pinceau as it was called in France was the first blue colour that could be applied (penciled) directly onto the cotton textiles. In 1960 Floud published an article about the English contribution to indigo printing where he emphasized that this method was undoubtedly discovered in England. He pointed out that the two methods for printing indigo directly (pencilling and block printing) were labeled bleu d’Angleterre in French and Englischblau in German.804 Floud explained that the chemical adjustments to the indigo vat that made it possible to slow down the oxidation process long enough to allow the water soluble indigo to be absorbed into the textile fibres before the oxidation took place “was achieved by adding orpiment (arsenic trisulphide) to the ferrous sulphate vat (together with gum Senegal as a suitable thickener)”805. Berthollet pointed out that “The vat does not differ from the preparation applied to cotton cloths, which is called pencilling blue (bleu d’application), except in the proportions of orpiment and especially of indigo, which are much larger than the latter”806. He continued by quoting recipes used by the textile printers Haussmann and Oberkampf, as well as formulas tested by the Swedish chemists Bergman and Scheffer. However, his conclusion was rather vague. “It would seem, that these preparations may succeed within a scale very extensive as to the preparations; nor would it be easy to determine what are the most advantageous for the object proposed”807.

803 Memorial, 46. 804 Floud, “Indigo printing”, 344-349. 805 Floud, “Indigo printing”, 346. 806 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 79-80. 807 Berthollet, (1824), 2:80.

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This method can not have changed very much since Parkes in 1815 described how pencilling was practiced in England. “Here the indigo is deoxidized by means of orpiment, which is a sulphuret of arsenic; and formerly whatever objects were done with it was done with it were put in by means of a pencil: hence its name PENCIL-BLUE” 808. He also gave a detailed description of how the textile printers produced it. “Pencil-blue is composed of the following ingredients, viz. Ten ounces of indigo finely ground in water; twenty ounces quicklime in lumps; the same quantity of potash of commerce, or impure sub-carbonate of this alkali; and ten ounces of orpiment. These proportions require one gallon of water, and the whole is to be thickened with gum Senegal.”809

VII 1. E OBERKAMPF AND LE BLEU DE PINCEAU

Christophe Philippe’s father, Philipp-Jakob Oberkampf, was engaged in developing a method for printing blue designs on a white background and was supposed to have discovered this method, known as le bleu de pinceau (pencil blue), in 1747. However, Serge Chassagne writes that Schwartz and established that this technique (reduction of indigo by arsenic trisulphide or orpiment) was applied at Ryhiner’s textile printing establishment as early as in 1745, two years prior to Philipp-Jackob’s arrival at the factory. Schwartz referred to the correspondence between Antony Brünning, a colourant producer from Bremen, and Ryhiner. In 1745 Brünning wrote to Ryhiner whome he had already contacted regarding Englischblau. Brünning offered him the description to create bleu anglaise and it was sent to Ryhiner with a sample print upon payment. The formula was dated 1746 and called for water (18 litres), potash (3.5 kg), quicklime (1.5 kg), indigo (1.25 kg) and orpiment (1.25 kg) as well as gum (6 kg) as the thickener. After printing the textile should be washed in the river to infuse it with oxygen, to restore the white indigo now firmly attached to

808 Parkes, 2: 151. 809 Parkes, 2: 151 Footnote # 86.

214 the textile fibre, back into its insoluble form, black indigo. This recipe exists in Ryhiners handwritten manuscript and confirms that Samuel Ryhiner’s establishment worked with pencilled indigo in 1746. Although different sources indicate different dates for Philipp-Jakob Oberkampf’s arrival in Basel, they are all after 1746. Schwartz suggested that he arrived five years later, and Dordu Todericiu, in his thesis dated Oberkampf’s stay in Basel from 1751 to 1752.810 Schwartz concluded that the bleu anglaise that Philippe-Jaques Oberkampf allegedly discovered was “ni l’origine de sa fortune et de celle de son fils, ni le motif de son engagement au Petit-Bâle, et le texte reproduit par Labouchère, s’il est authentique, résulte d’une défaillance de mémoire”811. Philipp-Jakob’s son, Christophe-Philippe, the founder of textile printing in Jouy-en-Josas, also apprenticed with Ryhiner’s for three years. Here he learned blue-printing, printing on flannel (wool) and was trained in engraving and design.812

VII. 1. F PINCEAUTEUSES (PENCILLERS)

The women who painted the blue and yellow colours with a pencil to the already finished madder dyed textiles were known as pinceauteuses (pencillers). This detail from Les Travaux de la manufacture shows an artistic interpretation of pinceauteuses at work (ROM 934.4.443). (Fig.25) The Memorial stated that in 1767 the pinceauteuses were working on the floor above the textile printers. Ten or twelve of them were sitting on chairs around tables that were placed in parallel and worked under the direction of a maîtresse de table. The pinceauteuses’ work was to colour (by hand) certain sections of

810 Dordu Todericiu . La constitution de la chimie des colorants en France: La rôle exemplaire de la Société Industrielle de Mulhouse. 2Vol. Thèse d’état, Université de Paris Sorbonne, Paris, 1984. 811 Schwartz, “Bleu Anglaise”, 66-67. 812 Chassagne, Oberkampf, 28.

215 the indiennes’s design with colours that could not be applied by woodblocks, particularly indigo blue. For this they used brushes made from their own hair.813 By 1793 they were moved to a spacious open area on the second floor of le Grand Batiment. The room was approximately the whole width of the building and almost double the length, it was known as the atelier de pinceauteuses and was used by three hundred female workers under the direction of Madame Petinaeau, who according to the Mémorial had “established an exemplary discipline, working in complete silence”814. Oberkampf’s factory is famous for its multicoloured block prints, like this block printed cotton border decorated with irises and bulrushes in a shell (ROM 943.4.711). According to the museum’s records it was produced at Oberkampf’s factory and a gouache drawing of a wider version with a different shell form exists, as well as two paper impressions in volume sixteen of Oberkampf’s designs in the Musée des arts décoratif’s library in Paris. This particular design was said to be chosen by Marie-Antoinette for her bathroom in Versailles. Although any such claim is difficult to verify, the fact remains that the architect Mique designed a water themed bathroom for her private apartment in bluish grey with white stucco decorations, which also included shells and bulrushes. The bathroom was finished at the end of 1788 or beginning of 1789, which dates the textile border.815 Many colours and variations of irises were planted in Marie-Antoinette’s French Garden at the Petit Trianon. The symbolic value of this flower was well known since it was the flower of the Kings of France and the heraldic fleur-de-lys was a stylized German iris.816

813 Mémorial, 27. 814 Mémorial, 108. 815 Mari-France Boyer and Françoise Halard, The Private Realm of Marie-Antoinette. (London, 2000): 38-47. 816 Élisabeth de Feydeau, From Marie-Antoinette’s Garden: An Eighteenth-Century Horticultural Album. , trans. Louise Rogers Lalaurie. (Paris, 2013): 36-39.

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On the magnified images of blue irises decorating the border we can easily observe that the blue colour was hand painted onto the textile. (Fig.26) Here the difficulty with pencilling blue over larger areas becomes clearly visible on the enlarged image since the colour surface becomes irregular and the individual brush strokes can easily be identified. Errors in alignment where the blue pencilled areas did not exactly follow within the outline of the design were also distinguishing characteristics for pencilling.

VII. 1. G PLATE PRINTING AND ROLLER PRINTING IN BLUE:

CHINA BLUE OR BLEU DE FAIENCE

It was necessary to develop an entirely new modus operandi before the Europeans could print blue directly using copperplates or roller printers. The method had to prevent the indigo from oxidizing while the textile printers applied the dyestuff to the engraved copperplate or roller; a much larger surface area than they had to cover for pencilling or block printing. This dye process was called China blue or porcelain blue in England (where according to Floud it probably was developed) and bleu de faience in France. Here the dyestuff was not in a state of solution in the indigo vat but instead they were “printing the indigo in an undissolved state and then arranging its simultaneous reduction and solution on the cloth after printing”817. This required a totally different chemical procedure from creating an indigo vat or the dye solution for pencil blue. Although the process was complicated in its chemistry, it was physically simple. However, the benefit was that it could be used for the very popular linear monochrome designs. The technique was precise and produced motives with a sharp definition, essential for the Toile de Jouy. Floud regarded this as a definite advantage over what he referred to as “the smudgy unevenness of “pencil blue”818. He also gave an explanation of the process.

817 Floud, “Indigo printing”, 347. 818 Floud, “Indigo printing”, 348.

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“In practice this meant printing the indigo mixed with ferrous sulfate and thickened as a finely-ground paste, and then alternately immersing the printed cloth in a bath of lime (to dissolve the indigo) and a bath of ferrous sulfate (to reduce it) as many times as necessary to achieve the desired strength of blue.”819 The Oberkampf pattern Les délices de quatre saisons, designed by Jean- Baptiste Huet between1789-1792 (identified as Factory design no: D122 or 22), is an excellent example of a copperplate print in blue (ROM 934.4.477 c). Here the fine lines of the graphic design can easily be observed. (Fig. 27) To tell what the paste made with finely ground indigo consisted of, and what the very important consistency of the paste was, is difficult since Berthollet did not include this information in his dye book. This is also the kind of craft information that the textile printers learn on the shop floor. However, Persoz suggested that the pastes used for plate printing and roller printing were slightly different. He specifically listed starch as the thickener for plate printing, since the application on the copperplate was easier to control. This heavier paste could be pressed into the grooves of the plate when the plate was removed. On the other hand, the indigo paste for the roller printer contained gum Arabic or gum Senegal, which makes it more flexible and well suited for roller application where the printing and application of the indigo paste happen simultaneously. Persoz’ book was published about sixty years after the technique was first introduced and adjustments to the recipes might have been included. 820 The biggest disadvantage of this method was that the successive immersions in chemicals after the textile was printed with the indigo paste would damage an already mordant printed and madder dyed textile. This made it impossible to combine these two techniques to create the fashionable multicoloured printed cottons. Consequently the textile printers continued to use pencil blue to produce what Floud referred to as a “full chintz”. For this

819 Floud, “Indigo printing”, 347. 820 Persoz, 3: 60-63.

218 reason the two methods were used simultaneously; pencil blue for the multicoloured printed textiles and china blue for the monochrome plate or roller printed designs. Floud stated that only a handful of graphic designs were printed in blue and mentioned specifically that Oberkampf’s factory produced only two or three. Persoz referred to Hommassel’s evaluation when he stated that this style of blueprinting was very successful at the factories in Jouy and Bercy.821

VII. 3. THE PATRONAGE OF LA SOCIETE D’ENCOURAGEMENT

POUR L’INDUSTRIE NATIONAL

Applying blue directly onto the cotton textiles as carried out when pencilling blue and block printing in blue were methods struggling with technical problems, particularly the streaked and uneven blue surfaces. The results were not satisfactory and the textile printers made great efforts to improve the methods. In March of 1807 a prize was announced “pour la découverte d’un bleu de application” and a separate prize for “la découverte d’une moyen d’imprimer sur étoffe, d’un façon solide, toute espèce de gravure en taille- douce”822. La Société d’encouragement pour l’industrie nationale was founded in 180 to continue the legacy of the Encyclopédie: pursuing ideals introduced during the Enlightenment. Focused on supporting the progress of the national economy, the Société encouraged technological industrial innovations and promoted the useful arts (applied arts). In his inaugural speech Joseph-Marie de Gérando, the association’s secretary, defined their mission as: "[to] assist the industry in its development ... through encouragement wisely designed and implemented"823.

821 Persoz, 3: 60-61. 822 Bulletin de la société d’encouragement, 33 (1807): 237-238. 823 http://www.industrienationale.fr/

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The November issue of the 1807 Bulletin announced the prize winners of the subdivision National Industries: Chemical Arts. The Gold Medal for Bleaching according to Berthollet’s method using oxygenated muriatic acid combined with crofting (grass bleaching or field bleaching) was awarded to M. Descroizilles from Rouen. The Silver Medal of First Class for Dyeing was awarded to M. Gonfreville also from Rouen for his very successful imitation of ‘Indian red’. The shades were exceptionally beautiful, rich and bright. The jury also found the dyed samples colourfast after repeated testing. A Silver Medal of Second Class was awarded to M. Lefay from Rouen. Printed Textiles (Toiles Peintes) were a separate category. The jury stressed that textiles produced in France combined different textile materials with a rich variation of designs in good taste and the beauty of fast colours. They also emphasized that the textile printing business founded by M. Oberkampf in Jouy had developed into a manufacturing establishment that satisfied an enormous demand and focused on the immense consumption that had become a very important part of the economy. The report stated that “their finished textiles are perfect and deserve their superior reputation.” The jury awarded M. Oberkampf a Gold Medal and The Haussmann Brothers from Logelbach the Silver Medal of the First Class for their chemical research which contributed to the progress of the art of textile printing. M. M. Dolfus, Mieg and Associates from Mulhouse were mentioned for the great richness of their colours.824 At the General Meeting of the Société on August 24th 1808 they announced the prizes that would be presented in 1809 and 1810. Twelve hundred francs would be awarded for the discovery of a bleu d’application (applied blue - a directly painted or printed blue) in a method suitable for plate printing.825 This prize was to be handed out at the AGM in July of 1809. The funding for this prize was donated by M. Oberkampf. However, no prize was

824 Bulletin de la société d’encouragement, 41(1807): 109-111. 825 Bulletin de la société d’encouragement, 50(1808 : 101-114.

220 awarded in 1809 since none of the printed samples the jury had received were acceptable.826

VII. 3. SAXON BLUE

The dye Saxon Blue was created from a solution of indigo in sulphuric acid. It was discovered around 1740 by Counsellor Barthe in Grossenhayn in Saxony; hence the name. Berthollet explained that “At first this solution was not made with indigo alone, but alumina and antimony were, added, and other mineral substances besides, which were previously digested with the sulphuric acid. Indigo was afterwards added, and when the solution was complete, it was used for dyeing.”827 In his chapter on Saxon blue, Berthollet referred to a number of experiments undertaken by Bergman where he stressed its properties and “the general cause of the fixation of the colouring particles on textiles”828. Berthollet included Bergmann’s conclusion: “1. That one part of indigo by this process can produce a black-blue on 260 parts of stuff, which seems to be then saturated, for it could take no more indigo in a permanent manner. 2. That the cold bath acts as well as the hot. 3. That the operation may be made without waste of indigo, for the bath can be entirely blanched; and if it has been too much charged, unsaturated stuff might be added, which absorbs all the remaining colour. 4. That the bath saturated with salt of soda (crystallized carbonate) yields only a very pale colour; and with the sulphate of soda it gives a

826 Bulletin de la société d’encouragement, 55(1800): 273. 827 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 82. 828 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 82-83.

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bright blue, but much less feeble, so that these salts unite more or less with this dye.”829 Referring to experiments done on silk, Berthollet stated “Threads and cotton took but very pale shades with this dye”830. After a number of theoretical studies Haussmann’s observation was directly related to textile dyeing and he concluded that “soap and alkalies [sic] render textiles dyed in Saxon blue yellow and water alone is sufficient to separate the colouring particles fixed on cotton”831. What is important is that Berthollet regarded English blue to be a modification of Saxon blue but unfortunately, he did not elaborate on this at all.

VII. 4. PRUSSIAN BLUE

Prussian blue was not based on indigo, but created from iron sulphite. According to Phillip Ball, it was discovered by accident between 1704 and 1705. He pointed out in his book Bright Earth Art and the Invention of Color that “It was the kind of happy accident that characterizes so much of the history of artists’ colors and indeed so much of technological innovation in general”832. The French colour historian Michel Pastoureau (who dated the discovery to sometime between 1704 and 1707) tells this astonishing story: “A certain Diesback, a druggist and pigment maker, sold a lovely red that he obtained by making a precipitate from potassium and a cochineal decoction mixed with iron sulfate. One day having run out of potassium, he went to buy some from a rascal pharmacist named Johan Konrad Dippel. Dippel sold him adulterated potassium carbonate. When Diesback used it, it produced a magnificent blue instead of his usual red.”833

829Berthollet, (1824), 2: 82-83. 830 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 84. 831 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 86. 832 Philip Ball, Bright Earth Art and the Invention of Color. (New York, 2001): 242. 833 Pastoureau, Blue, 132.

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Diesback reported what had happened and Dippel, realizing the potential for this discovery, did further experiments with the chemical process. He prepared his blue substance in large quantities for the use of artisans. The new colour was sold under the name Berlin Blue, from its place of origin, and Dippel made enormous profits.834 In retrospect, Ball gave the scientific explanation to this blue surprise. He explained that Diesback’s intended cochineal red lake required iron sulphate and potash. However, in this particular case the potash had been contaminated by animal blood. The reaction between the iron sulphate and the contaminated alkali (that had already reacted with the oil prepared from blood) would create iron ferrocyanide (known by its pigments name, Prussian blue). In the memoires for 1710, the Berlin Academy published an account of this substance and promoted it as “a color equal to or excelling Ultramarine” but gave no suggestion of how to produce it. It remained a trade secret until 1724 when the English chemist M. D. Woodward acquired a description of the method for preparing it from Germany and published it in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. In 1731, the German chemist Stahl described an actual account of Diesback’s discovery from 1704, and by 1750 this pigment was widely known in Europe. It was mostly used by painters as an attractive alternative for ultramarine since the cost was only about one-tenth.835 Stahl confirmed that he had carried out his work with Prussian blue to support his phlogiston theory. He had already presented studies which demonstrated that phlogiston had an affinity to alkalis. Accordingly, his explanation for Prussian blue was that “alkali calcined with animal matter extracted phlogiston from it. When a solution of vitriol of iron was added, the phlogiston combined with the precipitated iron and formed the colouring matter”836.

834 Pastoureau, Blue, 132. 835 Ball, 242-243. 836 L. J. M.. Coleby. “A History of Prussian Blue,” Annals of Science, 4 (1939): 206- 211.

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In 1939 L. J. M. Coleby pointed out that “A notable advance was then made by Macquer …. who held an official appointment in connection with the government supervision of dyeing industries in France”837. Pastel (made from woad) and indigo were the only known colourfast dyes for blue at this time, but they both had the disadvantage of being what was referred to as surface dyes; where the colouring pigment would only attach to the outside of the textile fibre and could easily be rubbed off. Hence, Maqcuer was looking for other alternatives and “turned his attention to Prussian blue which he showed dyed uniformly throughout the thread and was fast for silk and wool”838. By 1749 Macquer had already demonstrated the value of Prussian blue as a dyestuff, which he followed up with studies of the nature and composition of this colour. His results appeared in Mémoires de l’académie royale des sciences on the 11th of November 1752.839 Through his experiments he was able to explain the reason for the addition of alum and acid as it was used in the common method to prepare the colour.840 Maquer’s first attempts involved soaking cotton yarn, wool and silk in “a solution of alum and sulphate of iron, followed by an alkaline solution saturated by prussic acid, then in water with sulphuric acid”841. Berthollet stated that by repeating this process Maquer “obtained a fine blue, but very unequalable [sic.]”842. His second attempt was “to boil his patterns in a solution of alum and tartar, … afterwards through a bath in which he had mechanically diffused Prussian blue”843. Berthollet observed that despite being dyed evenly, the shade was faint. He continued by referring to the description given by Roland de la Platiere in his book L’Art du fabricant de Velours de

837 Coleby, “Prussian Blue,” 207. 838 Coleby, “Prussian Blue,” 207. 839 Coleby. Chemical Studies of J. P. Maquer. ( London, 1938): 53. 840 Coleby, Chemical Studies, 56. 841 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 89-90. 842 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 89-90. 843 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 90.

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Cotton. However, Berthollet’s observation was not an unqualified endorsement “This dye requires the most expert of workmen”844. Jean-Michell Haussmann also addressed the properties of Prussian blue. His studies “Quelques réflexions sur des prussiates,” were published in Journal de physique in 1799.845 It was translated into English and published in The Philosophical Magazine in February of 1801.846 His studies were not focused directly on the substance’s effectiveness for textile dyeing and how it reacted with different fibres. Instead, this was a chemical approach looking at how this material reacted to other chemical substances. He began by examining the reaction of different metallic solutions when they were mixed with potash or lime. Red oxide of mercury did not produce blue when subjected to potash or lime, which had been treated with sulphuric acid, but by adding muriatic acid the following day he obtained a brilliant blue. When red oxide of mercury was treated directly with muriatic acid the red oxide was dissolved making the liquid transparent in a bad blue colour. Oxide of silver diluted in a nitric solution with the right proportions of prussiate of potash and sulphuric and muriatic acid obtained the most beautiful blue within twenty-four hours. He observed that a solution of cobalt would yield greyish violet; mercury of ammonia, a beautiful violet blue; and copper was precipitated in a brown state. He continued his series of experiments by impregnating samples of cotton cloth with different minerals. The first textiles were saturated with native platina and dipped in a solution of caustic potash. The potash of platina continued to adhere to the material and after being washed it took on a yellow colour which Haussmann concluded was “much more beautiful than that obtained from iron”. The second group was impregnated with a solution of gold

844 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 93. 845 Jean-Michell Haussmann, “Ouelques réflections sur des prussiates,” Journal de physique, de chimie, d’histoire naturelle, avec des planches en taille-douce, (Fructidor an 7 [1799]): 222-228. 846 Jean-Michell Haussmann,“Reflections on Prussiates,” The Philosophical Magazine, 6 (1801): 4-9.

225 and he stated that “As alkaline liquors, and particularly that of the carbonate of pot-ash or of soda, have a great tendency to dissolve the oxyd [sic] if gold it cannot be used for it preparation on cloth”. Haussmann’s conclusion was not at all helpful for the textile printers when he stated “in all probability might be employed for painting porcelain”847. His third series of cotton samples were soaked in a nitric solution of caustic potash. This oxide presented variations of colours and exhibited different shades of violet, lilac, grey and yellow. Haussmann recognized that exposure to the air had a great influence on the tones of these shades. If he left these samples for fifteen days in a solution of prussiate of potash to which he had added nitric, muriatic or sulphuric acid, he achieved a pretty equal blue colour. All these experiments led him to the conclusion that “the greater part of the blues are only prussiate of iron. ... As for the precipitates, which are formed in mixtures of metallic solutions with solutions of prussiates of of alkali or of lime, acidulated, though not blue are still prussiates under different colours.”848 While Haussmann’s studies were an appropriate chemical study, nowhere was this directly transferable to the textile industry and particularly not the printing industry where the cloth was not soaked in the solution. Instead the blue colouring was transferred by hand and limited to very specific areas.

847 Haussmann, “Reflections on Prussiates,” The Philosophical Magazine 6: 5- 6. 848 Haussmann, “Reflections on Prussiates,” The Philosophical Magazine 6: 9.

VIII. MYSTERIOUS GREEN:

THE SEARCH FOR A ONE-STEP PROCESS

VIII. 1. INTRODUCTION

“Many different plants are capable of affording green colours such as field broom grass (bromus secalinus); the green berries of the berry- bearing alder (rhammus frangula); wild chervil (chœrophyllum silvestre); purple clover (trifolium pratense) and common reed (arundo phragmites); but these colours have no permanence.”849 This was a serious problem facing both Indian and European textile painters, printers and dyers. Berthollet’s dye book, Section VI, chapter I “Of the Mixture of Blue and Yellow, or Green” included not only his own research on green dyes, but also studies done by Bancroft and by Chaptal. Their conclusions were identical to his own: that no vegetable substance would yield a permanent green colour.850 Instead of focusing on different plants, Berthollet intended to turn his enquiry towards the chemistry of these compound colours. “It is not the colour peculiar to the colouring matter which is to be considered as the constituent part of compound colours, but that which they must assume with a certain mordant, and in a certain dye bath. Hence, our attention ought to be principally fixed on the effects of the chemical agents employed.”851 Berthollet endeavoured to give chemical explanations of the effects and reactions of different mordants, colouring substances and processes crucial for textile dyeing. However, when he wrote about green he reverted to the old- fashioned way of simply describing the dye-processes, and merely recorded the practical aspect without giving any scientific explanation.

849 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 267. 850 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 267-282. 851 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 266.

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“By mixture of blue and yellow, dyers form green, which is distinguished by a great number of shades.” “The blue ground which is given by the vat, should be proportioned to the kind of green that is wanted. Thus, for verd canard, the green like that of the drake’s neck, a deep blue is required; for parrot-green, a sky- blue ground; for verd naissant, nascent green, one of white-blue (bleu blanchi).”852 From the dyers or textile printers’ point of view this was nothing new; nor did it give them any substantial information about innovative methods or exciting new raw materials that could be applied to the cumbersome process of dyeing textiles green. Instead he summarized the traditional method of over- 853 dyeing textiles treated in the indigo vat with weld (Reseda luteola) or other reputable yellow dyes. “The welding is conducted as for yellow; but a greater quantity of weld is employed, unless light colours alone are to be dyed, for which the proportion ought on the contrary to be less.”854 “It is easy to see that a great variety of greens may be produced, not only according to the proportions of the indigo and the yellow dyes employed, but according to the nature of the yellow substance.”855 Berthollet gave a clear and detailed explanation of how to obtain textiles with a yellow or white design on a green background: “When a green ground is wished for upon cloth, acetate of alumina is printed on, and a reserve is applied to the parts that are to remain white, or to those already covered with alumina, which are to take only yellow

852Berthollet, (1824), 2: 268-269. 853. Cardon, 168-177. Latin: Reseda luteola, in French: Gaude; used with alum mordant for dyeing cotton or linen. Yellow dye of of major economic importance 854 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 269. 855Berthollet, (1824), 2: 273.

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colour. The piece is dyed blue, washed with great care to remove all the reserve, and then dyed in weld.”856 He also mentioned Le Pileur d’Apligny’s description of a process for dyeing cotton velvet or cotton hanks (yarn) water-green or apple-green by a single bath. He suggested that verdigris and vinegar should be mixed together and given time to amalgamate. Just before use, a solution of crude pearl ash should be added. The yarn or velvet had to be prepared with a hot alum solution before dipping the textile material into a dye-bath (made by mixing these two solutions) in order to achieve green. Berthollet quoted Chaptal’s method as the process that would achieve what he referred to as “a beautiful green on cotton”. “He passes the cotton dyed sky-blue, through a strong decoction of sumach, leaving it in it till the decoction be well cooled. He dries it, passes it though the mordant of acetate of alumina, dries again, washes, and works the cotton for two hours in a tepid bath, in which about 12 kilograms of quercitron857 have been infused for 50 kilograms of cotton.” 858 Although this knowledgeable chemist and experienced researcher had successfully utilized his scientific expertise to study and apply his results to the textile industry (as demonstrated through his research on textile bleaching), he simply did not provide any explanation for the complicated process of dyeing the compound colour green. Berthollet’s only attempt at explaining the process was in his reference to Chaptal’s work, but unfortunately this still left out any clarification for why “a too large portion of sulphate of iron” would be a

856 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 279. I believe that this method could also be used to achieve green and white stripes with printed designs, but so far I have only seen this design in a painted/printed textile produced in India for the European market. 857 Latin:Quercus velutina (Quercus tinctoria) Black or Quercitron oak, found in Eastern North America. From 1775 Quercitron bark was imported to Europe by Edward Bancroft. When mordanted with alum quercitron gives good colourfastness on cotton. 858 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 278.

229 problem in obtaining a “fine green”. “He [Chaptal] prefers, however, to dye cotton intended for green in a blue vat, mounted with sulphuret of arsenic (orpiment), because it is difficult to obtain a fine green if there be in the vat too large a proportion of sulphate of iron”859. Ten years later, Samuel Parkes wrote his chemical essays on British industries. In the section “On calico-printing” he included an elaborate explanation of how the substances used for dyeing green reacted with each other: “By similar management, calicoes dyed of light blue in the indigo vat, then run through sumach and copperas, and finished in a bath of quercitron bark and alum, may have figures of bright green imparted to them. Here the green is originally formed by means of the indigo-vat and the bark, though it is enveloped by the iron of the copperas, which overcomes the other colours, till the solution of tin is applied, which removes the iron from those particular parts, and gives a brilliancy to the remaining colours which they would not otherwise have possessed; the tin being a powerful mordant for the bark, by which the yellow of the green is produced.”860 Parkes clearly explained the effect the iron of the added copperas had on the coloured textile and stressed the importance of the tin solution in order to achieve a bright green.

VIII. 2. TRADITIONAL METHOD FOR PRINTING GREEN

Printing green in multicoloured textiles was a two step process of applying yellow dye on a textile in the sections that were already coloured blue. In India, the blue colour for painted and printed textiles was vat dyed early in the process, while the yellow colouring was applied by hand as one of the last

859 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 279. 860 Parkes, 2:158-159.

230 steps.861 This two step procedure was time consuming and costly. The craftsmen who produced textiles with green designs required specialized skills to be able to superimpose these two colours perfectly. This double treatment took time and demanded experienced workers; consequently green textiles became too costly to produce. As a result, textiles produced in India, as well as their European counterparts, generally contained very limited areas in green such as branches and foliage. In his dye books, Berthollet did not focus on the specific problems of printing in green that challenged European textile printers. However, in one instance he pointed to a recommended sequence of dye applications of compound colours for the indiennes and mentioned the progression of the dye-process as it was implement in Europe.“If with yellow, green, and blue colours, others produced by madder are to be mixed, these should be finished before giving the blue dye”. Berthollet also suggested how to apply the blue colour to the already mordanted and madder dyed textiles. “When the objects to be dyed green are small, or of an irregular form, like leaves or flowers, the blue is put on with the pencil, after finishing all the colours”862. The only technique that could produce a green design was block printing when blue dye was printed or painted on, followed by applying a yellow dye (combined with a mordant) exactly over it. The whole design was almost never green. Any such textile would have been very exclusive, not to mention tremendously expensive; a veritable luxury item. To determine how the European craftsmen achieved green in printed textiles, we must look at the textiles themselves. The gossamer quality of the fine cotton sample from the Royal Ontario Museum’s collection (ROM 934.4.206) reveals that not only was the design (with green as the main colour) outstanding, the material itself was exceptionally luxurious. (Fig.28) Fortunately, the transparent cotton material combined with a high quality traditional printing technology make it possible to

861 See Chapter VI. 862 Berthollet, (1824), 2: 280.

231 examine the production method of the European textile printers. This particular textile is identified in the museum’s records as a skirt panel or apron, probably from Oberkampf’s factory and dated to the 1780s. The design is a repeat of a vertical curving flowering branch with green leaves and flower heads. First, the outlines as well as the branches were block-printed in black/brown with a substance containing iron. Over the years the extremely thin cotton material has been damaged by the iron and a close-up of the textile shows areas where the black/brown portion of the design is totally destroyed and has disappeared; leaving only an open space. The straightforward approach to establishing that the blue dye was applied next is accomplished simply by looking at the reverse of the textile. (Fig.29 reverse) Since the cotton material in this particular textile is extremely thin, the blue dye that was block printed onto the front has seeped through to the reverse. Looking at it from the back, the design appears black/brown and blue. After the yellow dye was pencilled onto the front over the blue areas, the textile appears green, except for some small areas where the yellow dye did not perfectly cover the blue design. (Fig.30 front) Superimposed onto the blue, the yellow colour could not be seen from the back. Through the years the yellow dye, which was not as colourfast as the other colours, faded to some extent, giving the textile a green/blue-green hue.863

VIII. 3. PRINTING GREEN IN ONE PROCESS

Copperplate prints became fashionable in England in the 1750s864 and in France in the 1770s.865 They were available in colours such as red, blue, grey, and puce

863 I have only seen one other textile of this fine cotton quality. Musée de la Toile de Jouy, Inv. 000.4.2.a-b: Caraco jacket block-printed on péking au coton with an iris design, dated c.1793. In the museum’s records it is listed as a luxury item. 864 Longfield,: “History of the Irish Linen and Cotton Printing Industry in the 18th Century,” The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Volume 67 (June 1937) reprinted in Proceedings of the Belfast History and Philosophical Society, 4 (1950/51 – 1954/55): 53-68.

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(a violet shade), and were produced in an extremely wide range of designs; but none of them existed in green. The fine lines and meticulous details of a copperplate and later in roller printed textiles could simply not be produced in the traditional method. For a long time, English chemists had attempted to develop a colourfast green dye that could be applied in one single process. The Royal Society in London even offered an award of two thousand pounds sterling (fifty thousand francs) for the discovery of a method for dyeing permanent green in just one operation. Finally, in the Journal du Commerce of the 18th of July, 1810, this exciting breakthrough was announced: “une innovation importante en assurant que plusieurs pièces ont été imprimées en vert solide d’une seule application. Cette découverte est une des plus précieuses conquêtes de la chimie appliquée aux manufactures. On sait qu’une nation voisine et rivale a proposé un prix considérable pour celui qui parviendrait à découvrir cette couleur. Ainsi la découverte est faite en France et le prix n’est pas gagné en Angleterre.”866 From a French point of view this was much more than the simple chemical discovery of a colourfast green produced in one single process; it became a symbol of nationalistic French pride. By 1797, Jean-Baptist Huet produced a design on a theme from Greek Mythology titled Le lion amoureux. However, Oberkampf did not accept it, and in a letter dated January 27th 1797 he asked the designer to make some changes. An example of this improved design exists in the Royal Ontario Museum’s collection (ROM 934.4.5280) and depicts repeats of neoclassical motifs in squares, rectangles, ovals and hexagons on a hatched background. (Fig.31) These cartouches of various shapes contain animals, classical figures and mythological images. Three scenes can be identified as “Leda and the Swan”,

865Riffel and Rouart, 33. 866 Mémorial, 293-297.

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“Androcles and the Lion” and “The Sacrifice to Venus”.867 Such diverse designs with hatched details and backgrounds are typical for copperplate or roller prints. The dimension of the repeat classifies it as a roller print, where the length of the repeat is equal to the circumference of the copper roller. When looking closely at this textile we cannot detect a dark outline or any signs of unsuccessfully aligned printing blocks. Furthermore, the close-up images verify that it cannot have been produced by superimposing one colour on top of another; the fine lines and hatchings are all uniformly coloured in a genuine solid green. (Fig.32) Moreover, we can not locate the beginning or the end of the designs since they are perfectly integrated; a typical characteristic of a roller print. Scrutinizing textiles painted or block printed with green sections there will always be areas where the yellow and blue dyes do not perfectly overlap. However, when you look at this textile, there are no such areas even when we examine a close up of the design showing the fine lines depicting the hairs on the goat’s underbelly. (Fig.33) When Oberkampf decided to present this novelty, a roller print in green, he introduced it with a new design in the neoclassical style, the latest fashion at the time. To continue to appeal to all his established customers, the design was also printed in violet (example in Musée de la Toile de Jouy) and in red (example in Musée de l’Impression sur Etoffes, Mulhouse). Apart from the example at the Royal Ontario Museum, the only other green exemplar can be found in the collection of Bibliothèque Forney in Paris.868 The process was developed by Samuel Widmer and printed for the first time at Oberkampf’s factory between 1806 and 1809. Widmer named the method vert faiencé [sic], because the colour was obtained by “ introduisant dans le bleu faiencé une certaine quantité d’oxide stanneux, qui restait en combinaison intime avec l’étoffe durant toutes les opérations de la fixation de

867 Riffel and Rouart, 137. 868 Riffel and Rouart, 209.

234 bleu, et qu’on teignait ensuite dans une matière colorante jaune pour produire du vert”869. Another way of producing green in one process was discovered in 1810 by the textile printing establishment Dollfus Mieg in Mulhouse. It was known as de vert à l’alumine and Persoz described this technique in 1846. “On l’obtient en ajoutant du bleu de pinceau, une portion convenable d’aluminate potassique qui se fixant à l’étoffe en même temps que l’indigo réduit, n’a plus besoin que de passer dans un bain de matière colorante jaune pour être transformée en vert.”870 Samuel Parkes wrote in 1815 that a very valuable green had been invented by Mr. Islet of London. “This colour, which was secured to him by His Majesty’s Letters patent, was produced by printing ground indigo, mixed with a peculiar kind of a solution of tin, and in then fastening the indigo within the fiber of the calico by means of that process which is well known to printers by the technical designation of china-blue dipping. After this the goods are to be dyed in a copper of bark or weld, which converts the blue to a green and the whites are to be cleansed by croft-bleaching, & c.”871 This method was also based on adding a tin solution to ground indigo before applying it to the textile. It was followed by a bath in a yellow dye-solution where the blue would turn to green. This was exactly the same technique that had originally been developed by Widmer. Parkes assured his readers that he had interviewed Mr. Islet, who informed him of the whole process, which he had repeated and could consequently verify the results. His conclusion was that

“…I am satisfied that it is one of the most beautiful and PERMANENT of colours that have ever been fixed upon cotton”872.

869 Persoz, 3: 388. 870 Persoz, 3: 388. 871 Parkes, 2: 162-163. 872 Parkes, 2: 164-165, Parkes’ capitalization.

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VIII. 4. THE AWARD FOR INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT

Napoleon established Prix décennaux by issuing two decrees, dated 11 September 1804 and 28 November 1809. His intention was to accelerate progress, to honour talents, to promote constructive work and to support competition among all industries. The objective was for France to keep the superiority it already had achieved in science and arts, which contributed to and illustrated the glory of the nation. The prize was to be awarded every ten years and the winners of the Grand Prize of First Class would also be rewarded with ten thousand francs. The winners of the other classes would receive five thousand francs. After a major report was submitted by the jury (one for each category) and accepted by the permanent secretary of Institut de France, this prestigious award would be presented. The Prix décennaux were supposed to be awarded for the first time in 1809 and subsequently every ten years thereafter.873 However, the decree of 1809 modified the conditions for granting the prize and the panel of judges had to consider two hundred and seventy-four proposals, making their work difficult and tedious. It was not until October of 1810 that the work was finished. The reports from the different juries were submitted between 13 August 1810 and 1 October 1810. The prize was awarded for the first time in 1810. The Grand Prize of the First Class was awarded in seven different categories: 1) For major work in geometry or pure mathematics, 2) For major work within applied mathematics such as astronomy, mechanics etc. 3) For major work in physics including chemistry, mineralogy etc. (awarded to Berthollet in 1810), 4) For major work in medicine, anatomy etc. 5) For the invention of a machine extremely essential for arts and manufacturing (awarded to Montgolfier in 1810),

873 La pochette Berthollet (le Comte Claude Louis) dossier manuscrits: Prix décennaux fondés par Napoléon, Archives de l’Académie des sciences, Paris.

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6) To the founder of an enterprise of significance to agriculture, 7) To the founder of an establishment of importance to industry (awarded to Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf in 1810), One Prize of the Second Class was awarded for work in topography. Three other prizes were not awarded.874 The jury to select the winner of the grand prix de première classe destiné au fondateur de l’établissement le plus utile à la industrie consisted of Prony, Périer, Chaptal and Berthollet. Guy-Lussac was not on the original list of jurors, but he also signed the final report. The report recommending Oberkampf and summarizing his greatest achievements was sent to the Minister of the Interior. A second and more comprehensive report was probably a draft since it has corrected words and blacked-out sections. It gave an account of the jury’s view concerning the achievements of the four prospective candidates. Three of the contenders were working directly in different sectors of the textile industry, while the fourth produced artificial soda. 875 Only this report mentioned any of the other competitors and included an evaluation of their achievements. Ternaux frères received admirable consideration from the jury for their service to French national industry and particularly for the development of their specialty, imitation Kashmir shawls, for which they had also received an award in 1806. Since then, Ternaux had greatly improved this beautiful merchandise and made further progress by producing their shawls with vicuña and Spanish wool (probably merino). The brothers had proudly re-established their father’s production of fine wool materials in Sedan. The jury claimed that the beauty of this material alone deserved a gold medal. Their factories in Rheims had produced petit drap for many years. Here they introduced a new variety of woolen cloth called duvet de cygne or swansdown.876 This material was used for

874 Prix décennaux fondés par Napoléon, 71-76, La pochette Berthollet. 875 La pochette Berthollet: Prix décennaux fondés par Napoléon. 876 Swansdown, a heavy cotton fabric woven in crow twill with soft spun filling. The fabric is napped on the face. Uses: underwear and workmen’s clothes in Great Britain.

237 vests and had previously been imported from England. In Sedan they also produced satidrap or drap with a cotton warp, while in Louviers they produced “the most beautiful wool materials” in vicuña, wool and marino on a cotton warp. The jury finished their deliberation with an apology: “We are sorry that it has not been possible to give the Prix décennaux to Ternaux frères.” The Ternaux brothers came from Sedan in the Ardennes where their father had owned a cloth mill, which they took over after he ran into financial difficulties. They controlled every stage of production and marketing to reduce financial risks. The brothers went as far as raising their own sheep and washing and treating the wool in their own facilities. Napoleon visited the cloth mill in Sedan in 1803 where they operated one hundred and fifty looms. In 1808 they opened a spinning mill in Rubécourt-et-Lamécourt in the Ardennes. Ternaux owned four factories in Champagne, three in Rheims, and a spinning mill in Bazancour. The three plants in Rheims contained six hundred and fifty looms. One specialized in the manufacture of petites draperies (worsted goods) and had three hundred and fifty looms. The second produced woven flannel goods and had one hundred looms. The third, the Mon-Dieu cloth mill, had two hundred looms and was where the famous Ternaux shawls were made. These shawls were very popular and in 1805 the manufactories in Rheims produced three thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight of them. In 1807, the production increased to more than eight thousand shawls. They also had factories in Louviers employing approximately twelve hundred workers. Ternaux frères, Manufacturières à Louviers, Sedan, Rheims et Ensival, demeurant à Paris was awarded the first prize at the French industrial exhibition in 1801 and 1802, where they had “finally succeeded in manufacturing superlatively fine shawls that mimic the effect of cashmere using merino wool”877. Guillaume’s brother, Nicolas, was an associate until 1814 and managed the foreign trade. In addition, Guillaume Ternaux was his own banker funding his various business ventures. During his most successful period his business had three hundred manufactories

877 Monique Lévi-Straus, Cashmere a French Passion 1800-1880. (New York, 2013):119.

238 and eleven hundred looms, and employed seventeen thousand workers. However, by the time he died in 1833 his business was in ruins.878 The third textile establishment that the jury evaluated spun cotton by machine. This business was important to French industry and its commercial relations. Some years earlier, cotton spinning had been established in France and according to the jury, it was the English who had “claimed the birth of cotton production” and made many improvements to spinning machines. The distinguished Mr. Richard established a significant number of enterprises. He was very active and developed an industry that employed twelve thousand workers. The jury pointed out that he had replaced Spanish and Italian cotton with cotton from Naples, where he had created a grand cotton plantation that produced strong cotton in abundance.879 Serge Chassagne expands our knowledge of François Richard (1765- 1839).880 From 1795, Richard and his countryman Jean Daniel Lenoir-Dufrisine were speculating in French banknotes and smuggling English basin (twilled white cotton fabric)881 into France. However, in 1799 Richard denounced the importation of illegal English cotton materials and he instead became a producer. He created an enterprise run by two very experienced Englishmen; Mr. Bamwells was the head of the spinning operation and Mr. Brooke was in

878 Lévi-Straus: 114-127. Guillaume Ternaux became involved with the Revolution of July 1830, neglecting his business and pouring his fortune into his political commitments. 879 In early 1806 Napoleon conquered the Kingdom of Naples. He first named his brother Joseph Bernadotte as King followed by Marshal Joachim Murat in 1808. King Ferdinand regained his kingdom in 1815. 880 Chassagne, Le coton et ses patrons: France, 1760-184, 230, 233, 265, 271, 326, 361-362 . 881 Basin is a twilled white cotton fabric with or without narrow stripes and sometimes napped on one side. French basin is a fabric made of linen, or cotton and linen, or sometimes with hemp and cotton filling, in a twill weave. First made during the 16th century.

239 charge of weaving. After only six months he employed forty weavers who produced piqués (double cloth)882 and basin comparable with the English materials and at a low cost. Consistent with Chaptal’s instruction the Bureau Consultative des arts et manufactures visited his establishment and reported that “les machines sont construites sur les dernières modèles et que cet établissement présente dans la plus-part de ses détail tous les perfectionnements qui promettent le succès”883. By 1811 he employed 12,000 workers. Richard, also known as Richard-Lenoir, was the first to establish this industry in Picardie and Normandy, as well as mechanical spinning in Paris. In addition, the jury drew attention to this new era of industrial progress where new methods were made available through the influence of science. Old franchises utilized traditional techniques but applied new research. However, the jury emphasized that it was difficult to evaluate the balance between the old ways and the degree of progress that had been introduced. In spite of this, they would like to try. They chose as the last candidate a company manufacturing artificial soda which was operated by M. Daret, M. Gauthier, M. Anfrue and M. Jarrera. The jury did not elaborate nearly as much on the achievements of this factory. They mentioned that in 1791 Le Blanc had received a letter of patent for this soda process and had established production in St. Denis. Although it was later abandoned, the production method survived. It was still utilized and had been further developed. The jury commented that this product was regarded as very useful and stressed that artificial soda was used by many different industries. Oberkampf’s establishment was the first in the textile industry that the jury evaluated. The Rapport opened by declaring Oberkampf their favorite candidate and unanimously proposed that he received the Grand Prix. The jury stated that he had started his company about 50 years earlier when he established in France the art of printing textiles; a product that had for years been imported into Europe. These textiles provided people with pleasing

882 Woven piqué is a double cloth. Generally piqué is a cotton fabric. 883 Chassagne, Le coton et ses patrons: France, 1760-1847, 231.

240 clothing that was suitable and inexpensive. Oberkampf’s rise to prosperity was achieved by a meticulous course of action, permanent colours and beautiful designs. He distinguished himself from his competitors by designing printed textiles of the finest quality, meeting the criteria of Toiles de Jouy. The industry progressed rapidly when science initiated new developments and growth in the years before the award of this prize. These new processes for creating shades, applying mordants, printing textiles with coloured backgrounds, bleaching white while still maintaining the other colours etc. made his operation effective and economic. Perhaps of most importance were the engraved copper rollers, which according to the jury sustained a new art form and elevated Oberkampf’s production to another Gold Level. In his factory he utilized all the methods the industry already had achieved. He applied chemistry to his processes and safeguarded his advantages, all while serving as a model for others. His most unique achievement was printing green in one single operation. The engraving of copperplates and copper rollers had been executed perfectly by a machine comparable in quality and operation with instruments destined for astronomy or physics. With all the progress at Oberkampf’s factory, we must pause to give an honorable mention to M. Widmer. The establishment in Essonne spun and wove with perfection all the materials they used at Jouy-en-Josas. When it came to the final report the jury changed its emphasis. Here they called attention to the machine that could engrave the copper cylinders. This invention was delayed by different circumstances, but when it was in use it reduced the vast import of textiles with mignonette (miniature) designs produced in England. For many years, this roller-printing machine was the only one of its kind in France. It operated continuously from 1804 to 1809, printing about four thousand to six thousand meters per. day. Later, a great number of similar machines were installed in other factories in France. The process of engraving the rollers with swiftness and perfection had in principle been further improved. These presses printed two to three colours at a time. An important improvement was printing green in one single operation. This was a very important application of chemistry to industrial production. We add only that a

241 foreign neighbor and rival offered a considerable prize for the discovery of this colour. To the great satisfaction of the French, the discovery was made in France and the prize was not won in England. Oberkampf’s factory in Essonne was mentioned but not evaluated separately, although the spinning mill produced 500 kg. per. day and wove just as much. Both reports were clearly in agreement that Oberkampf should be awarded the Prix décennal. In 1810 Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf was honoured with the Institut de France’s Grand Prix. This award crowned the factory’s success and Oberkampf wrote: “Now my letters of Nobility have been well replaced”884. In October of 1810 Samuel Widmer and his brother travelled to England with letters of introductions from Chaptal and Berthollet written to Sir Joseph Banks, President of the Royal Society. They discussed with him the progress of applied chemistry in France and the opportunities this had created for their industry. Samuel presented the results of his own work, the application of solid green in one single operation and gave him a beautiful sample. On October the 23rd they left for Scotland and visited the important manufacture of printed textiles in Paisley. Here they were allowed to examine the textiles and make notes on their production and they were also presented with samples. For an industry that traditionally kept visitors away this was an exceptional situation. Annotations in the Widmer archive tell the story that while visiting Paisley they were shown an album of samples marked Manufacture de toile peintes d’Oberkampf à Jouy près de Versailles. Samuel Widmer was extremely impressed and donated a large sample of a roller print in solid green to add to their remarkable collection.885 This gesture suggests that by the end of 1810 Widmer knew that his method for printing green could no longer be kept a secret and would soon be common knowledge.

884 Rouxel, 211. 885 Gottlieb Widmer, Archives de famille, 59-60

IX. MALIGNANT BLEACHING:

OLD TRADITION VERSUS BERTHOLLET’S NEW SCIENTIFIC METHOD

IX. 1. INTRODUCTION

Bleaching was an important and time-consuming part of textile production. Both yarn and woven goods were bleached before dyeing to achieve a clear bright white without any taint of yellow; the fibre’s natural colour. The bleaching of printed textiles was particularly significant. Initially, the entire textile had to be bleached before the printing process began. However, bleaching was also an essential part of the printing process itself. Following the application of mordants, the textile was submersed into the madder dye bath. In the mordanted areas, the colour substances would not be removed during the bleaching process, but the dye would disappear from all other sections. This bleaching process was important to the correct preparation of printed textiles with multicoloured patterns on a bright white background.886 The changes to textile bleaching that took place during the eighteenth century were not merely improvements to, or developments of, an existing craft tradition, but a totally new approach. This new method was based on advanced chemical research performed by Claude-Louis Berthollet and applied in the textile industry after being tested by various experts. The trials for printed textiles were carried out at Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf’s and Jean-Michel Haussmann’s establishments.

886 For general information on historical bleaching see S. H. Higgins, A History of Bleaching. (London, 1924).

242 243

IX. 2. TRADITIONAL TEXTILE BLEACHING

Early textile bleaching was accomplished by alternately subjecting textiles to a scouring887 process and exposing them to sunrays until they achieved the desired whiteness. In 300 B.C. fruit juices for acid and lime for alkaline treatments were used for textile bleaching. Most of the time alkalis were employed for scouring, but alternatively one could stretch the moist cloth out on alkaline soil, where the effect of the ground’s alkali content would achieve a similar bleaching. Until the eighteenth century, the bleaching process of alternating scouring and exposure to the sun remained essentially the same; only the sources of materials changed.888 In Antiquity the processes of washing, dyeing, and bleaching textiles were well known and commonly practised. The Roman historian Pliny observed in Egypt “that white linen was more highly esteemed than coloured cloths, and since the Egyptians and the Phoenicians were famous for their dyed goods, it is manifest that they were good bleachers”889. Today’s researchers are familiar with much of the equipment used in Ancient Italy.890 Although Pliny wrote about washing and dyeing, it is difficult to distinguish ordinary cleansing from the practice of bleaching to produce white goods, and the processes of bleaching before dyeing.891 The method remained essentially the same well into the eighteenth century. The illustrations in the section describing bleaching in the Encyclopédie confirm that the layout of the workshop used for washing and bleaching had changed very little from that of Ancient Italy.892

887 Scour means to treat with detergent and to remove sizing and tint used on warp yarn in weaving. 888 Higgins, 6. 889 Higgins, 6. 890 Sir William Gell, Pompeiana. (London, 1832), referred to by Higgins, 1. 891 Higgins, 3-4. 892 Diderot and D’Alembert, Illustrated as Plate I and Plate II in “Blanchissage des toiles,” in Encyclopédie, 19: 370-374.

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By the beginning of the eighteenth century, Dutch bleachers were considered superior to any other Europeans. Large quantities of textiles were regularly shipped to the Netherlands in early spring for the bleaching treatment and returned in the fall. The city of Haarlem can document linen bleaching in the area as far back as 1494,893 and Dutch author Samuel Ampzing vividly described this extraordinarily lucrative and successful local industry in 1628: “On this side of the dunes are beautiful green meadows, where the dunes lead their pure rain that gushes out of her veins like a fountain does; and with a sweet rustling, flows out of their breasts. This is where one makes the linen white. Here one bleaches the gray thread, and makes the weaving as if they were snow white, and! see how again so many youths and maidens, busy in their work in many forms: Here one bleaches the linen-goods; there it has been pressed, covered with milk to soak away the grayness; they wash in the tub before treating its blue skin, and rub such residue out with the fist; they rinse it out again and lay it out in the fields, and fasten it with pins and sprinkle it with silver rains of dew, until it becomes white and soft; then taken from the bleachery and carried back to the city.”894 The natural and scientific benefits that the sand dunes surrounding Haarlem gave the Dutch bleachers were emphasised by Greup-Roldanus in 1936.895 Here the author noted that because the rainwater was filtered through the dunes it contained a unique iron and manganese content. He also pointed out that the firm grass which grows on the dunes provided good drainage for the textiles and with the wind blowing across them, they are naturally suited for

893 Linda A. Stone-Ferrier, Images of Textiles The Weave of Seventeenth-Century Dutch Art and Society. (Ann Arbor Michigan, 1985):131. 894 Samuel Ampzing, Beschrijivinge ende lof der stad Haerlem. (1628); quoted in G. T. Van Ysselsteyn, Van Linnen an Linnenkasten. (Amsterdam , 1946): 74.; trans. in Stone-Ferrier, 133. 895 Sijbrecht Clasina Regtdoorzee Greup-Roldanus, Geschiedenis der Haarlemmer Bleekerijen. (Den Hague, 1936). Quoted in Stone-Ferrier, 131.

245 drying.896 Much of the land around the city of Haarlem was used for dairy farming. In the milk production process (used at this time) buttermilk and whey were discarded. They would however become an essential part of the Haarlem bleaching process. Van Ysselsteyn revealed the secret of the superior Dutch bleaching process. It was the full-milk bleaching, carried out once the cloth had been treated with lye, that set the Dutch apart from other European bleachers.897 It was estimated that one million gallons of buttermilk were used in one bleaching season, which would last from mid-March to early November.898 In 1815, Samuel Parkes published his Chemical Essays. Here he quoted “a scarce book, printed in 1754”, to explain the unique situation of bleaching in Holland. The foundation for the Dutch dominance had not changed much since Samuel Ampzing described it in 1628: “The cause of the wonderful whiteness in the Dutch cloths is ascribed to the lye-ashes of Muscovy, and to the water of their downs; - which is nothing else than sea-water, which filtrating through downs and mountains of sand, bursts out perfectly sweet and clear”899. In March, Scottish linen manufacturers would send their entire production from the previous year to Holland where it would be bleached. The finished goods would be returned in the fall and were immediately sold under the trade name Scotch Hollands. Even as late as 1752, Scottish producers continued to send all their textile goods that needed bleaching to Haarlem.900 This was of economic concern and Scotsmen tried to improve their own industry by hiring Dutch bleachers. In addition, the Honourable Board of Trustees for the Improvement of Fisheries and Manufacturers in North Britain arranged for Dr. Francis Home of Edinburgh to give a series of lectures about bleaching to workers in the

896 Greup-Roldanus, 13; Stone-Ferrier, 131. 897 Van Ysselsteyn, 27; Stone-Ferrier, 131. 898 Greup-Roldanus, 324; Stone-Ferrier, 131. 899 Parkes, 4:18. 900 Parkes, 4: 25-26.

246 industry.901 These published lectures constitute the first book to provide a foundation for the scientific study of bleaching.902 The traditional method for bleaching both cotton and linen consisted of alternating exposure to air and sunshine with immersion in dilute alkali followed by immersion in an acid solution.903 Dr. Home described the different processes, the lye and its preparation, as well as the auxiliary treatments as they were applied in the Netherlands. “Fine linen in Belgium and Holland was placed in separate pieces and then laid in a large wooden vat and covered with hot water mixed with lye, already used for white cloth or with rye meal and bran mixed in. The cover of the vat being closed, the fermentation began, and when in thirty-six to forty-eight hours it abated, the cloth was taken out, washed, and spread in the field to dry.”904 He also listed the trade names for the different ashes that the Dutch used in their lye preparation, but not the plant species they came from. He mentioned that the bleachers also learned to evaluate the different lye-solutions to determine their bleaching effect.905 “A stock lye was made of a mixture of ashes it would be difficult to identify now - a small portion of white pearl ashes along with a much greater weight of Marcroft ashes or cashub, and two thirds more than this of Muscovy or white ashes”906. The alkali treatment was called bucking 907 and

901 Higgins, 9. 902 Francis Home, Experiments on Bleaching. (Edinburgh, 1756). 903 L. Gittins, “Innovations in Textile Bleaching in Britain in the Eighteenth Century,” Business History Review 53 (1973): 194-204; states in a footnote (Gittins, 194) that sour milk yielded lactic acid and sour bran yielded acetic acid. They were both used in very weak solutions to neutralise and dissolve the lime and other alkaline substances in the fabric. 904 Higgins, 9. 905 Smith, 122. 906 Higgins, 9-10.

247 it could continue for six to seven hours when “blood-warm” lye was poured over the linen textiles. During this process the lye temperature was gradually increased until it reached the boiling point.908 Samuel Parkes also mentioned a preparatory stage of steeping that was used for linen. Here the yarn was immersed in hot water or “in cold waste alkaline lyes” prior to bucking.909 Berthollet also wrote about soaking the textiles in water, which may “last for eight to nine days, at mean temperatures”910. The process of ungumming (also known as de-gumming) referred not only to the separation of the colouring matter from the fibres, but also to the removal of the paste that the weavers applied to the threads to make them withstand any deterioration during the weaving process.911 Berthollet considered two to three days of soaking in water to be sufficient for yarns. Before 1823, the alkalis most commonly used in England were kelp (the ash of seaweed), barilla (the ash of a Mediterranean shrub), and soda.912 The lye treatment was followed by crofting;913 in which the yarn or textiles were spread on the grass and kept moist while exposed to air and sunlight. Dr. Home specified in his lectures that “clear sunshine with a very little wind is the best weather for bleaching”914. He also brought to the bleachers’ attention, the many problems windy conditions would create.

907 Buck is a washing tub, a vat in which to steep cloths in lye; or lye in which linen yarn or cloth is steeped or boiled as a first step in the process of buckwashing or bleaching. 908 Higgins, 10. 909 Parkes, 4: 30-31. 910 Berthollet (1824), 1:277. 911 Weavers often use a paste to strengthen the warp yarns, which are attached to the loom during the weaving process. 912 L. Gittins, “Innovations in Textile Bleaching in Britain in the Eighteenth Century,” Business History Review 53 (1979): 198. 913 Crofting was the exposure of cloth on the grass to sun and air, as part of the process of bleaching. 914 Parkes, 4: 32.

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In the first edition of his dye book Berthollet included a chapter that focused on traditional bleaching: “Of the action of different Substances, particularly of Air and Light, on Colours”.915 Here he noted the chemical effect of sunlight on colour substances: “light promotes the absorption of oxygen by the colouring matter, and … thence arises a combustion, the common effect of which is, the predominance of carbonic particles”. Berthollet also included one short article “Of the Muriatic or Marine Acid” and another “Of Oxygenated Muriatic Acid”, two substances he would later examine extensively regarding their ability for bleaching.916 He observed that “Muriatic acid may be employed for various metallic solutions, which may be used as mordants; ... Mr. Baumé relates that he has prepared large quantities of this salt for printing linens. I do not believe that it is at present employed for that purpose”917. In 1804 Berthollet published an expanded version of his dye book. Here he included his chemical research into a new bleaching method using oxygenated muriatic acid. In addition he also expanded the chapters referring to traditional bleaching methods by adding a summary of the process, and a section on the “Number and Order of the Operations” where he described the traditional method for bleaching linen and cotton. Another change to the second edition was a section which addressed the practical aspects of bleaching. Here he explained how the process was administered in Flanders, Holland and Ireland, three countries well known for their successful bleaching methods.918 In this expanded edition of his dye book, Berthollet quoted and refuted the American Edward Bancroft’s criticisms of Berthollet’s chemical explanations for the effect air has on colour-substances.919 In 1794 Bancroft argued against the chemical explanations from the first edition of Berthollet’s book that “light promoted the absorption of oxygen by the colouring matter and

915 Berthollet, (London, 1791), 1: 45-65. 916 Berthollet, (London, 1791), 1: 58, 222-227, 227-231. 917 Berthollet, (London, 1791), 1: 225. 918 Berthollet, (London, 1824), 1: 141-149, 233-235, 227-232. 919 Berthollet, (London, 1824), 1: 128-133.

249 that thence arises a combustion”. A new edition of Bancroft’s book was published in 1813. Although he made slight changes, he still maintained his disagreement with Berthollet.920 Berthollet also addressed the effect of crofting, when the textiles were left uncovered, stretched out on the ground and exposed to air and light. He included a theoretical explanation describing the air and light’s effect on colours. “The change which the colouring particles thereby suffer, is [similar] to that occasioned by the air, which injures all colours more or less.” “Of the two principles which compose the air of the atmosphere, it is only the vital air or oxygenous gas, which acts upon the colouring particles: it combines with them, weakening their colour, and rendering it paler.” “Light favours the combustion of the colouring particles, which frequently cannot take place without its aid, and it is thus that it contributes to the destruction of colours.”921 According to Higgins, this process of alternating bucking and crofting could be repeated ten to sixteen times.922 However, Parkes’ chapter on bleaching revealed that by 1815 this process had been reduced, and it was “generally repeated four or five times, each time lessening the strength of the alkaline lixivium in which the bucking was performed”923. The washing and bleaching process was accompanied by a mild acid immersion to dissolve the buildup of salts that accumulated as a result of repeated alkali and soap boiling, known as the sour. In Northern Europe the most widely used sour was lactic

920 Bancroft, Edward. Experimental Researches concerning the Philosophy of Permanent Colours. Colours; and the Best means of producing them, by Dyeing, Calico Printing, Etc. 2 vols. (London, 2nd. ed. 1813): 1: 42-54. 921 Berthollet (London, 1791), 1: 114-115. 922 Higgins, 10. 923 Parkes, 4: 33.

250 acid in the form of sour milk or whey.924 A sour made from milk, as well as a sour made with bran or rye meal and water could also be used. Dr. Home suggested that this operation took five to six days. “The cloth was then soaped and the whole cycle of operations – bucking, grassing, souring, and soaping – was repeated until the cloth was quite white”925. Contradicting Dr. Home’s statement, Parkes claimed that the “first sour” would be employed after “the fourth or fifth repetition of the bucking or the boiling operation” and that the textiles would be submersed in this liquid for two to three weeks.926 By the 1750s Dr. Home introduced the use of vitriol, sulphuric acid, as a sour, in place of buttermilk.927 In twelve to twenty-four hours, the vitriol would accomplish the same result as a treatment with buttermilk that took two to six weeks.928 He proved that dilute acid solutions did not damage the fabrics and despite the strong initial opposition, particularly in England, this chemical gradually came into use.929 After Dr. Roebuck had developed a manufacturing process that reduced the cost of sulphuric acid to one fourth of its original price, this acid became an economically possible alternative for bleachers.930 Berthollet defined the acid solution as “water acidulated with sulphuric acid”931. Parkes also referred to Berthollet’s experiments with different sours and published his studies comparing the effects of sour milk and sulphuric acid in

924 Klaus H. Wolff, “Textile Bleaching and the Birth of the Chemical Industry,” Business History Review 48 (1974): 146. 925 Higgins, 11. 926 Parkes, 4: 33. 927 Higgins, 62. The bleaching effect of sulphur was recognised early, and in Pompeii sulphur was burnt under the cloth to achieve bleaching; Higgins, 2. 928 Higgins, 63. The time to complete the bleaching process varied depending on the raw materials, the alkali- and acid-solutions and especially the weather. Therefore, the estimated time varies from author to author. 929 Higgins, 62, 11. 930 Parkes, 4: 38. 931 Berthollet (1824), 1: 228.

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Annales de Chimie.932 Here he concluded the effect of the sulphuric acid was “not only to be more efficacious, but to produce a better white”933. Field bleaching was a slow process, which in Dr. Home’s account required six to eight weeks to complete.934 The washing required alkali, detergents, and large quantities of clean, soft water. Bleaching was traditionally achieved by the oxidizing action of natural sunlight and required the textiles to be stretched out on the ground. Traditional bleaching must therefore also be considered a land intensive industry, since crofting required a large section of undeveloped acreage for long periods of time. 935 The concept of good bleachers is relative and our understanding might be very different from Pliny’s statement where he tied the bleachers’ skills directly to the quality of their textiles. However, both bleachers and dyers needed similar practical knowledge. They were familiar with the actions of water, alkalis, acids and soaps associated with both textile bleaching and dyeing, and they most certainly knew the importance of the quality and availability of water.936 Experience had taught them to use alkaline salts or ashes (as they called them) in different proportions,937 and that a small portion of acid or alkali would unite with the substances that form the colour in textile dyeing.938 However, Home had also recognized the bleachers’ lack of chemical knowledge and perceived that as an obstacle to the development of their craft. “I find the most skilful bleachers understand the general theory of their art tolerably well, but being ignorant of the principles of chymistry, cannot make proper use of this theory or apply their knowledge to the

932 Parkes, 4: 33. See note # 4, refers to Annales de Chimie, 2:159. 933 Parkes, 4:33. 934 Home, 23-31.; as quoted in Gittins, 194. 935 Wolff, 145. 936 Encyclopédie, (Paris, 1751) 2: 275. 937 Higgins, 24. 938 Berthollet, (1841): 71.

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advancement of their art. They know that alkaline salts dissolve oils, and that a fermentation is carried out by steeping, bucking and souring; but chymistry can alone teach them that by certain methods fermentations may either be quickened, and a great deal of time saved, or be checked and much time lost; nay, perhaps not the effect produced.”939 Unfortunately, the situation cannot have improved much into the mid 1750s since Roland940 complained that the French bleachers were slow to appropriate new and improved methods. “How few French bleachers apply reason to their art!”941 Despite the fact that Home, Berthollet and Parkes all published studies on traditional bleaching after the reports on methods to produce painted and printed textiles in the Indian manner reached Europe, there was no reference to bleaching practices used in India. While European craftsmen strove to discover the Indian dye process so that they too could create these charming multicoloured printed textiles, they were not interested in changing their traditional bleaching methods. Through the years, bleachers studied and learnt from each other, making steady improvements to the preparation of the various alkaline or acid solutions. Their traditional bleaching method apparently worked to their satisfaction and we can presume that they did not need or did not look for the Indian process. In 1756 Home published his report on bleaching as it was implemented in Holland; Berthollet followed with his dye book in 1791, where he examined the situation in France; the conditions in England were documented twenty five years later by Samuel Parkes. These three individual reports investigated the different materials used to produce both alkalis and sours as well as the time

939 Quoted in Higgins, 24. 940 M. Roland, “Blanchissage.” In Encyclopédie, méthodique. Manufactures, arts et métiers. (Paris, 1785) 1: 59-82. 941 Quoted in Smith, 117.

253 needed for each step of the process. It is difficult, if not impossible, to determine if the variations between the three could be associated with these countries’ geographical location. France, except for its northern parts, had very different weather conditions from England and the Netherlands with regard to humidity and hours of sunshine, two factors essential for bleaching. In addition, each country’s craft traditions depended on the cost of the raw materials and how easy it was to get what was needed to prepare alkaline and acid solutions. Since sixty-nine years had passed from the publication of the first report in 1759 to the last in 1815, the variations in processing time may be attributed to the bleachers improved skills and their experience with new raw materials that had become available to them.

IX. 3. TEXTILE BLEACHING IN THE ENCYCLOPÉDIE

Home’s book on bleaching was not only used in Britain but was internationally recognized, and in 1762 a French translation was published.942 The publisher probably considered it “far beyond the intelligence of bleachers,” and reduced this four hundred page scientific work into a small pamphlet, which he issued in 1780.943 In 1785, the Encyclopédie méthodique included an article on bleaching written by Roland, based on his experience as Inspecteur des manufactures.944 Bleaching had already been addressed in the Encyclopédie where it appeared in different sections: in the main section by the articles Blanchir and Blanchisserie 945 946 de toiles, in the section with plates as Blanchissage des toiles, which

942 Smith, 116. 943 Smith, 117. 944 Roland, (Paris, 1785) 1:59-82. Referred to in Smith, 122. Roland de La Platiere was the inspector of manufacture at Amiens according to Gillispie, Science and Polity: 390. Later he became minister of the interior and a victim of the French Revolution. 945 Encyclopédie, (Paris, 1751), 2: 275-278. 946 Encyclopédie : Recueil de planches …, (Paris, 1763), 19: 370-374.

254 included two illustrations with descriptions; and in the supplement volumes as Blanchir and Blanchissage du linge.947 Textile bleaching cannot be defined as just one single process, nor was it approached as such in the Encyclopédie. Protein fibres, such as silk and wool, are chemically different from the cellulose fibre of cotton and linen, and consequently they demand different treatments.948 There was a clear distinction between the two bleaching processes used for cotton and linen. The primary bleaching operation stripped the yellow tone from the natural fibres as a preparation for dyeing or simply to leave the textile white. The secondary bleaching removed the surface colour from the white areas in an already printed multicoloured textile. This was a particularly difficult problem facing the textile printers, since this process had to be completed without damaging the textiles’ bright colouring. Dr. Home’s book focused specifically on Dutch linen bleaching, while the manufacturers of the fashionable printed textiles in the eighteenth century worked with pure cotton and linen/cotton combinations. The Encyclopédie provided an analysis of the treatment of these fibres. The bleaching process was represented as a series of practices and included a step-by-step description with instructions for carrying out different stages of the method, in order to achieve the desired whiteness. By the second half of the eighteenth century, commercial bleaching was well established in France, particularly in Lille, Valenciennes, Beauvais, Rouen, Louviers, Laval, Troyes, Reims, Senlis and Saint-Quentin.949 The author of the article Blanchisserie de toiles in the main section of the

947 Encyclopédie, (Amsterdam, 1776), 24: 906-908.

948 “Blanchir,” Encyclopédie, (Paris, 1751), 2: 275-278, states specifically: BLANCHIR la soie, les étoffes de laine. Voyez SOIE, BONNETERIE, DRAPIER, LAINE.For information about the different fibres, their structure and chemical composition and how this relates to bleaching see: J. T. March, An Introduction to Textile Bleaching, (New York, 1948). 948 Éncyclopedie, (Paris, 1751), 2: 275. 949 Encyclopédie, (Paris, 1751), 2: 275.

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Encyclopédie must at least have been familiar with the establishment at Senlis, and particularly with the layout of the bleaching area and how the process was implemented. “Les trois blanchisseries de Senlis sont situées sur la rivière de Nonnette, entre Senlis & Chantilly, vis-à-vis Courteuil” Many of the illustrations in the Encyclopédie presented prominent French factories, such as the images of silk dyeing showing the dye-works at Gobelins. The images seen in Recueil des planches, and referred to as the Première atelier, Deuxième atelier and Troisième atelier au-dessous du pré, show how the different workshops and pieces of equipment were arranged at Senlis.950 (Fig. 32) The Senlis bleaching establishment was situated on the Nonnette River, between Senlis and Chantilly. This location was selected because of the water quality as well as its easy access to bleaching fields. “Les eaux de cette rivière, qui sont bordées de près, sont au dire des gens du pays, les plus propres que l’on connoisse pour servir à blanchir les toiles”951. In his dye book Berthollet also stressed the importance of the quality and quantity of water, since it was crucial in order to achieve excellent results, “but above all, he must have pure water at command; for without this condition, he will not succeed in obtaining a fine white. … These observations are particularly applicable to the bleaching of cotton, the white of which should have the greatest lustre”952. Many years later Samuel Parkes also drew attention to the significance of water; an aspect which was vital for both textile dyers and bleachers. “In some processes of calico-printing, the perfection of the water is of great moment, and to the dyer of fine colours pure water is indispensable: but the case which has just been related refers chiefly to the bleaching of linen and calicoes, which can never take a perfect white if the water employed be contaminated with saline substances or with minerals of a metallic nature.”953

950 Encyclopédie, (Paris, 1763), 19: 370-374. 951 Encyclopédie, (Paris, 1751), 2: 275. 952 Berthollet, (1824), 1: 224. 953 Parkes, quote from the article: “Water,” 4: 219-220.

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The text section of the Encyclopédie included a layout of the establishment and provided the names of the various workshops and equipment. “La blanchisserie doit être située sur le bord d’une rivière environnée de prés; elle est composée de cinq bâtiments ou ateliers séparés, qui sont le moulin, la buerie, proprement dite le frottoir, la laiterie, & la ployerie ou le magasin”954. The essay about bleaching in volume II referred directly to the letter codes used in the plates in volume XIX, although not all the different work areas mentioned in the text were illustrated. This implies that the plates describing bleaching must have been ready before the main text went to press. The illustration in the top section of the first plate, Planche 1, depicted the Premier atelier, displaying the storage containers for different ashes (D,E,F), a water heater (A) that supplied hot water to the tub (B) for the preliminary preparation of the ashes. This image also exposed the furnaces (X) and the boilers used to prepare the lye solutions (P,Q,R,S) as well as the tubs constructed from lime and cement (K, L, M, N) vis-a-vis the boilers. Here they carried out the lye treatment. In the text section this workshop was also referred to as buerie and the author specifically pointed out that these vessels were organized to facilitate an easy flow of water and that plumbing was installed. “Le lieu où on coule les lessives s’appelle particulièrement buerie ou blanchisserie, parce que ce n’est que par des lessives réitérées que l’on parvient à rendre les toiles blanches. Ce lieu, dis-je, est une salle plus ou moins grande selon le nombre des cuviers & des bacs que l’on y veut placer; c’est dans le même lieu que l’on prépare & que l’on coule les lessives. L’eau y est conduite par des rigoles placées à une hauteur convenable au-dessus des chaudieres; cette eau est élevée par des pompes ou une roue à pots ou par tout autre moyen que l’hydraulique enseigne.”955 The lower part of that same page exposed a different section of the workshop, the Troisième atelier au-dessous du pré, also refered to as the

954 Encyclopédie, (Paris, 1751), 2: 275. 955 Encyclopédie, (Paris, 1751), 2: 275.

257 frottoir. The accompanying text specified that this image explicitly illustrated the wooden tubs (A,B,C) used for washing the textiles in cold water and soap. The smaller buckets (X) placed inside the wooden tubs contained hot water to dissolve the soap that was placed in individual soap containers (F). This less sophisticated installation did not have a furnace to heat the water or a plumbing system for the water supply. The removal of a section of the wall in the illustration of the Troisième atelier was dictated by artistic licence so that the reader could examine the close surroundings. This included the bleaching fields, where the textiles would be stretched out on the ground and exposed to the sun. Within this landscape, we detect the Deuxième atelier (a-p) which incorporated the canal system, supplying water from the river to the bleaching fields where we notice textiles widely spread out. The cloth alternated between being stretched out on the ground (exposed to air and sunlight) and treated with lye, which according to the Encyclopédie could be repeated up to nine times. The text portion also described the laiterie. “La laiterie est une salle plus ou moins grande, dans laquelle sont plusieurs grandes cuves de bois enterrées de toute leur hauteur dans le sol de la salle. La grandeur de ces cuves est à peu près égale à celle des cuviers”. Presumably the tubs were placed in the ground to maintain an even temperature, but the Encyclopédie did not provide an image of this workshop. The section Blanchisserie de toiles described a process of treating the cloths with milk which probably took place in this area.956 These images of bleaching and the bleachers’ workshops were different from most of the other craft illustrations in the Encyclopédie. For other trades, Diderot had used sketches of workers to suggest the different operations that were necessary for production. These drawings provided an indication of the sequence that had to be followed. In the illustrations of bleaching, both the workers and any indication of the progression were missing. Therefore, they did not give a realistic, detailed view of the many elements that the bleaching process consisted of. Working conditions for the labourers in the bleachers’

956 Encyclopédie, (Paris, 1751), 2: 276.

258 workshop were entirely ignored. What was illustrated was an old-fashioned bleaching technology as it had been practiced for centuries. There was no illustration of the sequence: washing, submersion in alkali and acids, and crofting. However, in Blanchisserie des toiles, the order of operations was defined, though any identification or specifications for the raw materials that were used, such as cendres (ashes) and savonne (soap), were limited. The text described the ashes in the three storage containers (D, E, F) as “les cendres cassoudes, les cendres vecdasses, les cendres communes de bois neuf”. The tacit knowledge, which the artisans themselves considered essential for their craft, was not mentioned. The author seemed unaware that this unique knowledge was a very important component and essential to the final result. While social conditions together with the dignity of the artisans had been a significant objective for Diderot’s Encyclopédie, in the section about bleaching the workers simply did not exist. Traditionally, artisans used a factual style to describe both their work and their methods. The descriptions in the Encyclopédie were comparable to the conventional descriptions of techniques used in the dye processes, and indeed in many of the dye manuals of the time. In the Encyclopédie we find this straightforward description of how to carry out the initial process for textile bleaching (to remove the paste the weavers applied to strengthen the warp threads), but there is no information about how and why the process functioned. “La premiere préparation que l’on donne aux toiles, lorsqu’elles sont arrivées à la blanchisserie, consiste à en ôter le parou, qui est l’apprêt

que le Tisserand leur donne. Voyez PAROU & l’article TISSERAND; ce qui se fait en les laissant tremper dans l’eau pure: on les y laisse en Flandre pendant 8 à 10 jours, même dans les chaleurs. Au bout de ce tems, on les repame, on les étend, & on les seche. Ici, on les fait fouler dans le moulin; ce moulin est en tout semblable à celui des foulons.” After repamer, a process of extensive beating and washing in running water, the textiles were ready for the alkali treatment, which occurred in the

259 buerie or blanchisserie. The Encyclopédie gave a very inadequate description of how to prepare the distinct lye solutions made from three different ashes.957 While detailed descriptions of some of the individual workshops were included, the importance of the soda content in the different ashes was not addressed. The specific article on ashes, Cendres,958 included no further reference to their important commercial use, nor did it clearly identify the species appropriate for the lye production associated with textile bleaching. The specific benefits of using three different lyes for the bleaching process were not explained. Nor was the strength of the lye solution that was so important to assure that no damage came to the textiles. Instead, the speed of the bleaching process was calculated according to the size and number of the textile pieces.959 To remove the buildup of metal salts after repeated soap and lye immersions, the textiles were traditionally exposed to a sour treatment. In the Encyclopédie this was described as a twenty-four hour immersion in skimmed milk, lactic acid.

“Lorsque les toiles sont blanches, il faut les retirer du pré, les repamer pour les mettre au lait, après qu’elles sont égouttées. … On jette les toiles encore moites dans ces cuves, & par-dessus une quantité suffisante de lait écrémé, pour qu’elles soient entièrement plongées: on les laisse en cet état pendant vingt-quatre heurs; on les retire du lait pour les porter au repamoir, ou elles sont repamées.”960 The tacit knowledge and the experiences of the artisans were unfortunately omitted from the descriptions in the Encyclopédie. Likewise, any scientific explanations that Home had introduced in his book on bleaching were absent. The sections on bleaching in the Encyclopédie described and examined the processes without any attempt to give a scientific explanation, and made no

957 Encyclopédie, (Paris, 1751), 2: 275. 958 Encyclopédie, (Paris, 1751), 2: 813-814. 959 Encyclopédie, (Paris, 1751), 2: 276. 960 Encyclopédie, (Paris, 1751), 2: 276.

260 reference to any chemical reactions which were taking place. Factual information about bleaching was limited and the bleaching of printed textiles was ignored completely. Although the authors certainly were familiar with the bleaching workshops at Senlis, detailed information about many of the important factors for bleaching were absent. Nowhere in the Encyclopédie’s description was there even an attempt to inform readers about the important ingredients used, the different ashes and the characteristics of each, their cost or where they originated. Furthermore, factual information such as local or imported ash production, which would influence the cost, was also not included. The importance of the strength of the lye solutions, plus any suggestions to maintain constant effectiveness, factors which could effect both the time spent on bleaching as well as the risk of damaging the textiles, were also unfortunately not discussed. If Diderot’s philosophy “that savants should respect artisans, and that artisans in turn should seek the counsel of savants”961 was the guiding light for the different authors’ approaches to the descriptions of the craft processes, then this text for bleaching certainly did not live up to his objective. However, if the articles in the Encyclopédie were intended for a general readership to give them an understanding of bleaching as it was commonly practiced, that was definitely achieved. The co-editors of the Encyclopédie did not give the savants a chance to advise the artisans about bleaching, since no scientific explanations regarding the bleaching processes were ever incorporated into the texts. The industry would have benefited from an open forum to re-examine and debate the applied sciences. This would have given the savants an opportunity to introduce new scientific ideas aimed at improving traditional crafts and present new developments for the benefit of trade and industry.

961 Quoted in Barbara Whitney Keyser, “Between Science and Craft: The Case of Berthollet and Dyeing,” Annals of Science 47 (1990): 213-260. 226.

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IX. 4. CLAUDE-LOUIS BERTHOLLET’S NEW METHOD

FOR BLEACHING WITH OXYMURIATIC ACID

“CHEMISTRY has made such progress in our times, as to render an acquaintance with it indispensable to the practice of several arts; but the one which has for its object the bleaching of yarn and cloth by the oxygenated muriatic acid, requires, in particular, an operator to whom the science is not unknown.”962 The most dramatic change in textile bleaching stemmed from the chemical discovery of the gas dephlogisticated muriatic acid (also known as oxymuriatic acid) 963 and its discolouring effect on plant materials. In 1774, the Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele (1742-1786) published a paper on manganese and its properties in Kungliga Vetenskaps Academiens Handlingar (Transactions of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences).964 Here he described his tests with dephlogisticated marine (muriatic) acid and observed that “All vegetable flowers – red, blue, and yellow- became white in a short time; the same thing also occurred with green plants.” “The former colours of these flowers, as well as those of the green plants, could not be restored either by alkalies or by acids.”965 This discovery was not the result of a resolute effort to improve the bleaching process by one of the leading contemporary chemists, but truly a significant chemical discovery, or as Klaus H. Wolff described it, “there was the discovery of the bleaching agent chlorine, an enigma to contemporary chemical

962 Berthollet, (1824), 2:190. 963 Dephlogisticated muriatic acid became oxygenated muriatic acid after the discovery of oxygen and acceptance of the oxygen theory of acids and combustion. 964 Carl Wilhelm Scheele, “Om Brunsten, eller Magnesia, och dess Egenskaper,” Kungliga Vetenskaps Academiens Handlingar 35 (1774): 89, 93, 94, 105-110. 965 Carl Wilhelm Scheele. “On Manganese And its Properties,” in The Early History of Chlorine by The Alembic Club, 5-10. (Edinburgh, 1944).

262 knowledge, not sought for, not anticipated, and entirely undreamed of until it appeared as a ‘by product,’ on the scene by accident”966. Claude-Louis Berthollet’s leading motivation for repeating Scheele’s experiments and studying the properties of this gas, which demonstrated such a unique effect on vegetable colouring particles, was to analyze the merits of Antoine Lavoisier’s new oxygen theory against the phlogistic chemists’ hypothesis.967 As early as 1781, groups of French chemists voiced their doubts about the phlogiston theory and proposed that practical tests be conducted to evaluate Lavoisier’s new explanation.968 Berthollet, who was close to Lavoisier, was anxious to evaluate the validity of the oxygen theory to determine if the phlogistic concept had to be abandoned. He endeavoured to use Scheele’s newly discovered substance to study these rival theories. “… que Berthollet est encore éloigné de l’abandon du phlogistique comme base de ses explications théoriques. … sans doute sous l’influence des discussions avec Lavoisier.”969 “Dans la théorie de Lavoisier, l’acide chlorhydrique était avec tous les acides considéré comme une composé oxygéné. Par son oxydation, on devait donc obtenir logiquement un ou plusieurs composés oxygénés, acides eux aussi. Les premières observations de Berthollet sur les combinaisons du chlore confirmèrent cette opinion. En dissolvant le gaz dans des solutions alcalines, il obtint successivement l’hypochlorite puis le chlorate. D’autre part, en étudiant les solutions aqueuses de chlore, il

966 Wolff, 154. When Berthollet did his studies on the bleaching effect of oxymuriatic acid the element chlorine had not been discovered. In 1810, Humphry Davy showed that oxymuriatic acid did not contain oxygen. He renamed it chlorine, which he believed “… was an undecompounded elementary body”. 967 Smith, 118. 968 Sadoun-Goupil (1977): 124, 277 n.58. 969 Sadoun-Goupil (1977): 124.

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s’aperçut que, laissées à la lumière, elles libèrent de l’oxygène et se transforment en acide chlorhydrique.”970 Berthollet conducted extensive tests on dephlogisticated muriatic acid971 and presented his first results to the Académie des sciences on April 6th 1785.972 Here he announced his support for Lavoisier’s oxygen theory against the phlogiston school, the first distinguished chemist to do so.973 By rejecting the phlogiston theory, Berthollet re-interpreted the losses and gains in weight that took place during bleaching as losses and gains of oxygen.974 He therefore referred to dephlogisticated muriatic acid as oxygenated muriatic acid. The studies he administered regarding this compound were comprehensive and occupied him for several years. “L’un des thèmes de recherches les plus riches de toute l’ouvre de Berthollet concerne le chlore et ses composés. Le premier mémoire qu’il lui consacra est celui du 6 avril 1785, dans lequel il annonçait son adhésion au système de Lavoisier. Le 20 avril suivant, il en lisait un autre, sur l’eau régale, qui’il considérait comme une véritable combinasion de l‘acide chlorhydrique et de l’acide nitrique. Le 21 décembre de la même année, il présentait à ses confrères une nouvelle étude sur l’acide marin déphlogistiqué qui complétait celle du mois

970 Sadoun-Goupil, 1977, 134. 971 The gas was produced from marine or muriatic acid (hydrochloric acid) on black calx of manganese (manganese dioxide) to produce the gas that was then called dephlogisticated marine or muriatic acid (the present chlorine), but later by vitriol or sulphuric acid on common salt and manganese dioxide. For the chemical reactions see A. E. Musson & Eric Robinson, Science and Technology in the Industrial Revolution. (Toronto, 1969): 254, note 1. 972 Sadoun-Goupil, 1977, x chronologie. 973 Smith, 118. 974 Keyser, 242.

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d’avril, suivie en juillet 1786 et mai 1787 par l’exposé de ses expériences sur les combinasions du fameux ‘acide.”975 Berthollet’s presentation was published in the same year.976 He continued his studies into the subject and in July he discovered the gas’ bleaching potential when it was in an aqueous solution. Berthollet was the first to suggest that this material could be used for textile bleaching.977 However, his primary concern was still the examination of the two conflicting chemical theories. He continued with a series of experiments to further study the chemical properties of this newly discovered material: “Cette série d’études l’avait conduit à reconnaitre les propriétés décolorantes de la solution de chlore, à soupçonner l’existence de l’hypochlorite et découvrir celle du chlorate avec ses remarquables propriétés explosives jointes à la possibilité du produire de l’oxygène978. True to the spirit of the Enlightenment, Berthollet believed that scientific progress should be shared freely among scientists, artisans and industry. He advanced his scientific research on oxymuriatic acid into a new concept that could be used for textile bleaching. This would revolutionize the industry. His new bleaching solution reduced the time of the bleaching process and eliminated the practice of stretching textiles on the ground for exposure to air and sunshine.979 When the Scottish engineer James Watt visited Paris before Christmas in 1786, Berthollet demonstrated his bleaching experiments and presented his

975 Sadoun-Goupil, (1977): 134. 976 Claude-Louis Bethollet, “Mémoire sur l’acide marin déphlogistique,” Journal de physique, de chimie, d’histoire naturelle et des arts 26 (1785): 321-330. 977 Higgins, 75. 978 Sadoun-Goupil, (1977): 134. 979 The literature on chlorine bleaching is extensive, for an introduction see: Arhibald Clow and Nancy L. Clow, The Chemical Revolution, John Graham Smith, The Origins and Early Development of the Heavy Chemical Industry in France; or S. H Higgins, A History of Bleaching.

265 findings to him.980 Watt immediately saw the profit-making potential of this discovery, but when he wrote Berthollet and suggested a joint commercial application for textile bleaching with oxymuriatic acid, the latter declined. As he wrote in his answer to Watt, he preferred a life devoted to science. “J’ai entièrement renoncé aux enterprises d’interêt. Quand on aime les sciences on a peu besoin de fortune, et il est si facile d’exposer son bonheur en compromettant sa tranquillité et en se donnant des embarras”.981 Berthollet became interested in Watt’s bleaching trials and continued to correspond with him. He informed him of his own progress and answered Watt’s questions as his trials for producing the bleaching liquid and his textile experiments progressed.982 In 1789 Berthollet wrote in his Description du blanchiment des toiles & des fils par l’acide muriatic oxigéné, & de quelques autres propriétés de cette liqueur relative aux arts (Description) that at the beginning of his trials with oxymuriatic acid he travelled to the Manufacture Javelle and demonstrated his method for producing this new bleaching liquid.983 Since Berthollet wanted to promote his process he visited Manufacture Javelle twice, created the liquid using Javelle’s own equipment, and bleached several textile samples. Berthollet had clearly explained to Watt that it was not his intention to benefit economically from his invention. All he wanted was to be recognized in France and internationally as the inventor of this chemical process and the developer of this new textile bleaching system using his bleaching liquid. This is why Berthollet especially pointed out:

980 Richard L. Hills, “James Watt and bleaching.” In Natural Dyestuffs and Industrial Culture in Europe, 1750-1880, eds. Robert Fox and Augustí Nieto-Galan, 262. 981 Hills, 266. 982 For further information on the contact between Berthollet and Watt see A. E. Musson & Eric Robinson, Chapter VIII: “The Introduction of Chlorine Bleaching.”In Science and Technology in the Industrial Revolution. (Toronto, 1969): 251-337. 983 In 1784 Manufacture Javelle was established outside of Paris close to Moulin de Javelle. It produced chemical substances under the direction of M. Léonard Alban.

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“Quelque tems après, les manufacturiers de Javelle publièrent dans différens journaux qu’ils avaient découvert une liqueur particulière qu’ils appelèrent lessive de Javelle, & qui avoit la propriété de blanchir les toiles par une immersion de quelques heures.” “et cependant l’un des anciens entrepreneurs de Javelle a demandé en Angleterre un privilège exclusif pour ce nouveau procédé de son invention.”984 M. Javelle declared in several publications that the bleaching liquid he advertised as lessive de Javelle was his own discovery; he even tried to secure exclusive rights to this new production process in England. Samuel Parkes wrote that Javelle settled in Liverpool to manufacture the solution (still denominated Liquor de Javelle) and sell it bottled to English bleachers. In anticipation of substantial sales they put in an application to the British government for twenty-eight years of exclusive production rights. However, the House of Commons turned them down when they found out that this was not a new process, but one that had been used in England previously.985 In order to preserve his intellectual property, Berthollet was eager to correct any misconceptions within the scientific community regarding his own claim as the creator of both the production method of oxymuriatic acid and the way of using this new bleaching liquid. In 1789, Berthollet published his studies on the production of oxymuriatic acid gas, which he produced by distillation of sulphuric acid, salt, and manganese dioxide.986 “je cherchai à diminuer le prix de la liqueur en décomposant le sel marine dans l’opération même qui servoit à la former; mais soit que j’employasse de l’acide sulfurique trop concentré, soit que les proportiones des ingrédiens fussent mal choisies, je n’eus qu’une quantité de liqueur, qui me fit juger qu’il étoit préférable de se servir de

984 Berthollet, Annales de chimie (1789): 178-180. 985 Parkes, 4: 61-62. 986 Smith, 160.

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l’acide muriatique, & je l’employois dans les doses que j’ai indiquées dans mes premiers mémoires, c’est-à-dire, que je distillois trois parties d’acide muriatique concentré, avec une partie d’oxide manganèse”987. Problems appeared when scientists attempted to dissolve the gas in plain water, where its solubility is low.988 In 1769, Peter Woulfe published the description of an important new piece of equipment. It consisted of a series of water-filled glass bottles arranged after each other to collect the gas, later known as Woulfe’s apparatus.989 Berthollet adapted this laboratory equipment for his own investigation of the oxymuriatc acid solution, but considered it unsatisfactory for large-scale operations.990 His assistant J. J. Welter designed an alternative apparatus for large-scale trials, and it was a drawing of Welter’s equipment with some improvements by M. Molar, that illustrated Berthollet’s paper in the Annales de chimie 991. (Fig.33) Welter installed a bottle between the distillation apparatus (A, B, C, D) and the receiver (N, O, P) and replaced Woulfe’s apparatus with a small vessel (K) illustrated in Planche 1 as Fig.1 and Fig.3. The wooden receiver would increase the contact between water and gas since the gas was directed down under the lowest inverted trough. After the first trough was filled, the gas would bubble up to fill the next etc.... (each marked X, Z). “Avant de commencer l’opération, il faut remplir d’eau le tonneau pneumatique. Le mélange étant fait, le gaz qui commence bientôt à se dégager chasse d’abord l’air atmosphérique qui est dans l’appareil; lorsqu’on juge que l’air atmosphérique est passe sous les cuvettes, on l’evacue par moyen du tube recourbé qu’on introduit alternativement sou chaque cuvette & pour chauffer l’eau qui est entrée dans ce tube, on

987 Berthollet, Annales de chimie (1789):162. 988 Smith, 61-62. 989 Illustrated in Smith, 163, fig. 3.3. 990 Berthollet, Annales de chimie (1789):163. 991 Smith, 163.

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y souffle avec force; on laisser ensuite l’opération se continuer sans feu jusqu’à ce qu’on apperçoive que les bulles se rallentissent.”992 The agitator (marked E) turned by hand, (handle at the top marked O) would permit the water to be stirred by three rotating paddles (P) and increase the contact between water and gas. “Il faut pendant l’opération mouvoir de tems en tems l’agitateur pour favoriser l’absorbtion du gaz dans l’eau; lorsqu’elle est achevée, la liqueur a la force convenable pour servir au blanchiment. On peut mettre une moindre proportions d’eau dans le tonneau, & en étendre ensuite la liquer dans les propotions indiquées.”993. By 1790, Berthollet had determined that the agitator was dispensable and in the illustration from the expanded edition of his dye book this feature was removed.994 The illustrations in Elements of the Art of Dyeing (Fig34) were in principle the same as the ones published in Annales de chimie in 1789. They depicted the equipment for producing the bleaching solution (Figs.1-4) but did not illustrate the bleaching process. In the diagram, the furnace used for distillation was changed (see Figs.3 and 4). The wooden receiver (B), the most important element for the preparation of the solution, was illustrated in Figs.1 and 2, with the inverted troughs catching the gas and increasing its solubility. For the convenience of the bleachers, the receiver was now connected directly to the bleaching vat (A). Since the illustration was intended for a dye book the vat was included. There is a clearly visible difference between the picturesque images of the craftsmen’s workshop that we observe in the Encyclopédie, and the restrained images of technical equipment that accompanied Berthollet’s scientific papers. The illustrations in his paper in Annales de chimie and in his dye book were similar in kind. These images represented the laboratory

992Berthollet, Annales de chimie (1789): 167-168. 993 Berthollet, Annales de chimie (1789):169. 994 Smith, 165.

269 equipment Berthollet developed and found indispensable for producing the bleaching liquid. His depictions were no longer the Encyclopédie’s glorified portrayals of artisans’ workshops located in a picturesque landscape. The images that accompanied Berthollet’s texts revealed the most advanced laboratory equipment used at the time and were intended simply to clarify and enhance his scientific paper. While it had been Diderot’s aspiration to have his readers appreciate the dignity and artistry of the craftsman, Berthollet had no such ulterior, social motives. His sole objective was to present his scientific studies to fellow scientists and potential industrial users. His work began as a result of a study of a chemical substance that he later applied to bleaching and as a result, this discovery benefited the textile industry. While he was fully aware of the oxymuriatic acid’s bleaching ability, as well as its important application for the textile industry, his illustrations did not explain the new and different practical steps of the bleaching process. The intent that separated the images in the Encyclopédie from those attached to Berthollet’s publications was not just a choice between two artistic models for illustrating a scientific study. It was a fundamental difference in conception, seeing bleaching as an artisan’s craft tradition, or as a part of a new and progressive science. Lavoisier had stressed in his argument for preserving science’s independence from the useful arts, which he presented to the Académie des sciences, that there was a distinct difference between artisan and scientist in their interpretation and handling of new research, as well as their application of science to their craft processes. “However useful to industry science may be, wrote Lavoisier – and he thought it very useful indeed – the spirit which moves the scientist is fundamentally unlike that which animates the artisan. The scientist works for the love of science and to increase his own reputation. When he makes a discovery, he is eager to publish it, and his object is only to secure his intellectual property in his achievement. The artisan on the other hand, whether on his own research or in using the research of

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others, is always thinking of his economic advantage. He publicizes only what he can not keep secret and tells only what he can not hide.”995 When Berthollet wrote the introduction to the first edition of Eléments he identified his purpose for writing this unique and much improved dye book, and distanced himself from the artisans, categorically placing himself with the research scientists. Berthollet portrayed himself as a professional and considered it his mission to educate. He was not merely an author of methods and recipes, but a scientist who saw the importance of educating artisans in the theoretical subject of chemistry, as well as giving them a scientific explanation of the dye process. By fully understanding the chemistry of the different components of the dye process, artisans could improve and correct their methods, not just copy them. “J’ai présenté aux artistes les principes de chymie qui doivent servir à expliquer les phénomènes de la teinture, ou plutôt j’ai cherché à leur faire sentir combien la connoissance de principes de la chymie leur étoit nécessaire: j’ai fixé leur attention sur les objets qui avoient des rapports immédiats avec leur art; je leur ai tracé une esquisse des opérations qui servent à la préparation des substances dont ils font usage, pour les engager à se mettre en état de faire eux-mêmes celles dont ils ont besoin.”996 He was not the first to realize the importance of “getting bleachers interested in the chemistry of the bleaching processes”997. Home had already identified the bleachers’ lack of chemical knowledge as an obstacle for the development of their craft. Berthollet’s dye book included a substantial section on bleaching, an especially important part of the dye process for the textile printers, and included references to methods used in many different workshops. Berthollet wanted his

995 Gillispie, Isis (1957): 404, referring to Lavoisier to Lakanal, Oeuvres de Lavoisier, 6 vols. (Paris: 1864-1893) 4:623. 996 Berthollet, (1791), 1: xliv. 997 Higgins, 23.

271 science to illuminate the art of dyeing and to enlighten the artisans working in this particular field. His statements in the introduction of the book acknowledged that he had accepted a similar distinction between scientist and artisan as expressed by Lavoisier. His ambition was to describe the profession, study the processes and clarify the underlying principles. Berthollet the scientist considered himself comme un collaborateur. “Les uns & les autres trouveront en moi des dispositions franches à profiter de leurs lumières & à rectifier les erreurs qui ont dû m’échapper. Qu’ils me regardent comme un collaborateur qui voudroit resserrer les liens qui doivent les unir; comme un ami de la raison, qui dans la retraite, jouit des progrès des lumieres, quel que soit le foyer d’ou leur rayons se répandent. En accordant de l’indulgence à mes foibles effais, qu’il considèrent en moi le civisme des siences & des arts.”998 Berthollet decided to expand the analysis of the unique properties of oxymuriatic acid (which made it extremely well suited for textile bleaching under controlled conditions) and initiated more comprehensive studies.999 “Je réfléchis sur les circonstances du blanchiment ordinaire, & je tâchai d’en imiter les procédés, parce que je pensai que l’acide muriatique oxigéné devoit agir comme l’exposition des toiles sur le prés, qui seule ne suffit pas, mais qui paroit seulement disposer les parties colorante de la toile à être dissoutes par l’alkali des lessives.”1000 At the same time, he also realized the immense inconvenience that working with this suffocating gas created for the bleachers, who had to ensure that the textiles themselves were not damaged in the process. “par-là j’évitai deux inconvéniens qui auroient rendu ce procédé impossible à pratiquer en grand. Le premier est l’odeur suffoquante de la liqueur, qu’il seroit très-incommode & même très-dangereux de

998 Berthollet, (Paris,1791), 1: xlv. 999 Sadoun-Goupil, (1977), x.chronologie, x. 1000 Berthollet, Annales de chimie (1789):158.

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respirer long-temps, odeur qui a découragé plusieur personnes qui ont tenté de s’en servir. Le second est le danger d’affoiblir les toiles.”1001 Early on, Berthollet realized oxymuriatic acid’s exceptional bleaching ability, as well as the possibility of economic benefits it could bring to the textile industry. Nevertheless, for the present, Berthollet seemed content to continue with his own small-scale trials confined to the chemical laboratory:1002 “Je me convainquis bientôt que l’imperfection de mon blanchiment tenoit à la manière dont j’administrois les lessives. Je me contentois dans les effais en petit, que je répétai dans mon laboratoire, de verser la dissolution alkaline chaude dans un vase où je mettois les échantillons.”1003 Towards the end of 1785, he redirected his experiments to large scale bleaching.1004 These trials were conducted at different French textile production centres. His former assistant M. Bonjour concentrated on the bleaching of cloth and worked with the cotton finisher M. Constant at Valenciennes. Another of Berthollet’s assistants J. J. Welter was working in Lille, but focused particularly on the difficult task of bleaching yarn. The chemist F. A. H. Descroizilles ran the bleaching trials in Rouen, and became one of France’s most renowned practitioners of this new bleaching technology. 1005 The printed textile trials were conducted at Oberkampf’s factory and at Haussmann’s printed textile works.1006 Berthollet advised Oberkampf about the use of oxymuriatic acid in alkali for clearing surplus madder dye, and in 1789 Oberkampf started

1001 Berthollet, Annales de chimie (1789): 159. 1002 Smith,136. 1003 Berthollet, Annales de chimie (1789):173. 1004 Smith,119. 1005 Berthollet, Annales de chimie (1789):173. 1006 Berthollet, “Réponse,” Annales de chimie (1791):250. Jean-Michel Haussmann also contributed with a letter, “Sur la théorie de la teinture,” Annales de chimie 7 (1790): 237-243, as a response to Berthollet’s 1789 paper.

273 experimenting.1007 However, Berthollet wrote in his paper published in 1789, that Oberkampf experienced obstacles not related to either chemistry or bleaching technology. It was the gabelle; the French salt tax that increased the cost for changing to the new method since salt was an indispensable component for the production of the bleaching liquid. “Dans les épreuves de Jouy, les frais ont été beaucoup plus considérables que ceux du procédé ordinaire, à cause du prix du sel, & c’est un nouveau désavantage pour les toiles peintes établies dans les pays de gabelle”1008. Under Widmer's direction, oxymuriatic acid was in regular use in Jouy-en-Josas from 1791 onwards. Widmer’s personal notes from the bleaching trials described the specific problems of the textile printers. “What I should like above all for the perfection of this process, would be an agent which indicated at the same time the acid strength [i.e. the chlorine concentration] and the alkaline strength of the liquor; I could then easily confide the bleaching of printed goods to a workman, whereas at present I am obliged continuously to supervise these operations myself.”1009 Berthollet closely followed the bleaching trials Widmer performed and quoted extensively and verbatim from his reports in Annales de chimie in 1791.1010 In 1788 Thomas Henry in Manchester and F. A. H. Descroizilles in Rouen determined that the bleaching action could be limited to the areas of the surplus madder dye by using oxymuriatic acid in a potash solution. However, the strength of the solution was still not scientifically determined. “I forgot to mention, that it is the strength of the colours which directs me as to the strength of the liquor. When the colours are powerful, I contrive it so that the chlorine may predominate in the liquor; on the contrary, if the colours be weak, it is the alkali which ought to

1007 Smith, 133 1008 Berthollet, Annales de chimie (1789):187. 1009 Smith, 155. 1010 Berthollet, “Réponse,” Annales de chimie (1791):254-260.

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predominate. But if a saturated chlorate of potash were made, it would no longer have the property of bleaching.”1011 “I was a long while obtaining complete success with the solution of chloride of potash, because I employed it in too strong a dose, and, in consequence, I injured the colours. But at present M. Oberkampf becomes every day more attached to this new method, which is infinitely less costly than the old one, and by which we obtain a more beautiful white and far livelier colours.”1012 In 1791 Jean-Michel Haussmann wrote three letters to Berthollet reporting on his bleaching trials with oxymuriatic acid. The letters are dated June 23rd, October 4th, and October 16th and were published in Annales de chimie in December of 1791.1013 In his first letter, Haussmann established that the experiments were carried out at his factory in Logelbach. He revealed that he used oxymuriatic acid mixed with potash to bleach three to four hundred pieces of cloth made from cotton and linen. First he described testing the textiles that were already mordant printed and dyed in madder to achieve multi- coloured designs. His tests included bleaching cloth intended for the production of red or blue monocoloured woodblock or copperplate printed designs as well. In the second letter Haussmann addressed the problems the new bleaching liquid created for colours that had already been applied to the textiles. He clearly differentiated between the multicoloured designs in the Indian-style on a white background and printed designs with a coloured background. According to Haussmann, the shades achieved by vegetable and animal dyes combined with mordants were resistant to the action of the bleaching liquid. The black colour and the other dark shades used as backgrounds were easily distorted because they achieved these colours using logwood, gall-nuts, sumac and similar substances. He explained that the adhesion between the madder-dye

1011 Berthollet, (1824), 1: 247. 1012 Berthollet, (1824), 1: 247. 1013 “Lettre de M. J. M. Haussman à C.L. Berthollet,” Annales de chimie (1791), 2: 237-250.

275 and aluminum or iron oxide (an essential part of the mordants) was much stronger than the bond created between the mordants and any other animal or vegetable substance. Haussmann concluded that it was possible to bleach at one time twenty to thirty pieces of the textiles with multicoloured designs on a white background. However, for patterns with bright red, pink, violet or lilac coloured backgrounds that number was reduced to ten to fifteen pieces. For designs with a red, bronze, puce, chestnut or black background he recommended that only one single piece be treated at the time so that the bleacher would have complete control over the time the textile spent exposed to the bleaching liquid. He also pointed out how totally dependent this bleaching method was on the bleacher’s close attention and keen eyesight, since he had to visually determine the amount of total exposure. “Il faut absolument que pour les opérations l’on tâche d’exercer ses yeux; tout dépend ici de coup-d’œil, il faut qu’il soit exact, sans quoi l’on s’expose à trop affoiblir & à altérer les couleurs”1014. No comprehensive study has ever been undertaken to show the variety and scale of the Haussmann factory’s designs, but three huge sample books with textile swatches from this company exists in the Musée d’Impression sur Etoffes in Mulhouse. This is not a complete presentation of the factory’s printed textiles, from the sample books and existing pieces of clothing we can get an impression of the variation of patterns they produced with coloured backgrounds. Their textiles with multicoloured bouquets of flowers on a black or a dark brown backgrounds are particularly well known and became popular in France as ramoneurs (chimneysweeps). These fabrics were especially fashionable for traditional women’s capes in Provence and were most certainly an important economical factor for the factory. This may be the reason for Haussmann’s concerns and why he focused on the problematic colour changes he observed during his experiments with printed textile designs on a coloured background.

1014 “Lettre de M. J. M. Haussman[n] à C.L. Berthollet,” Annales de chimie (1791), 2: 243.

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Haussmann also addressed the problems with bleaching different shades of yellow, which was traditionally applied by using mordants combined with weld, quercitron or other vegetable substances. He observed that these colours resisted poorly to the action of the oxymuriatic bleaching liquid. Therefore, this new method should only be attempted if the old method could absolutely not be used; and in that case only with one piece at a time. This was not practical for large scale bleaching. In Haussmann’s third letter he suggested a series of pre-treatments before bleaching. This would generate many colours that were more resistant to the treatment. “Il résulte de ce que je viens d’exposer sur le blanchîment artificiel des toiles imprimées que les fabricans d’indiennes peuvent s’en servir avec avantage en hiver. … & pour la succession de nos travaux, je préfère de faire usage du blanchiment naturel en été, & cela d’autant plus qu’il exige moins de surveillance de ma part.”1015 Berthollet’s answer to Haussmann’s letters was published in the same issue of Annales de chimie.1016 Here Berthollet acknowledged that the tests of printed textiles had to be studied in professional workshops where they had easy access to textile samples featuring as many colours and colour variations as possible. In addition, Berthollet recognized the special qualities that Haussmann embraced which were so fundamental for this inquiry. “Personne n’étoit plus propre à ce genre d’épreuves, que vous, monsieur, qui réunissez aux lumières de la physique une grande connoissance de l’art”. He also confirmed that Widmer had carried out comparable tests at Oberkampf’s factory. “M. Widmer a mis également beaucoup de soin & de sagacité dans les opérations qu’il a dirigées dans la célèbre manufacture de M. Oberkampf. Je vais donner un précis de son procédé & de ses

1015 Berthollet, “Réponse,” Annales de chimie (1791): 248. 1016 Berthollet, “Réponse,” Annales de chimie (1791): 250-260.

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observations qui ont dû se rencontrer avec les vôtres sur plusieurs objets.”1017 Consequently, he quoted long sections of Widmer’s response verbatim in his answer to Haussmann. Now the test results from these two textile printers could be studied side by side, but not as a summation or assessment by Berthollet. Instead, readers and especially other textile printers would be able to examine two very experienced craftsmen’s evaluation of bleaching with oxymuriatic acid, as well as their explanations. Berthollet first addressed the variations and the different adjustments they both had made to the production of oxymuriatic acid and continued to describe in detail the method used by Widmer. He discussed the tin basin Haussmann was trying out and explained how the oxymuriatic acid would damage it, which would in turn chemically alter the bleaching liquid. He recommended that he use a stone basin instead. He also pointed out that the amount of sulphuric acid Haussmann used was not high enough to retain all the gas he produced. Berthollet also proposed what he referred to as a mixed bleaching method, using a combination of traditional bleaching together with his new bleaching liquid for large quantities of printed textiles decorated in colours which were easily altered by the oxymuriatic acid. “ Lorsque les toiles imprimées ont été traitées par la procédé ordinaire, on les finit très-bien avec la liqueur, & l’on se sert à présent de cette méthode mixte, soit en été, soit en hiver, pour la plus grande partie des toiles qui n’ont pas des couleurs qui puissent être altérées facilement par la liqueur.”1018 Widmer’s report mentioned that he adjusted the bleaching liquid so that he could leave the printed textiles in the solution for one to one-and-a-half hours or longer if he found that beneficial. He revealed that he did not rotate the textiles continuously on a reel while in the liquid, which would increase the rate

1017 Berthollet, “Réponse,” Annales de chimie (1791): 250. 1018 Berthollet. Annales de chimie (1791): 253.

278 of evaporation. In addition, Widmer addressed the colourfastness of black or colours derived from black and the importance of the mordant used, as well as how the mordant was applied. He confided that to perfect the bleaching method, the acid and the alkaline strength of the liquid had to be established, and that one worker needed to oversee the bleaching of printed textiles at all times. He also added that he was obliged to supervise this operation. Berthollet made comparisons between cotton materials bleached with oxymuriatic acid and traditionally bleached textiles. He mentioned that Oberkampf conveyed to him that the new method had an advantage since it achieved a perfect white and consequently impacted the other colours. Widmer’s observations were also included. He specified that he had bleached about two hundred pieces of textiles made from cotton and linen, and afterwards printed them together with a comparable quantity of cloth that was bleached traditionally. He concluded that the pieces first bleached with Berthollet’s bleaching liquid possessed (after mordant printing and dyeing in the madder bath) a more beautiful white background and stronger and more intense colours. Berthollet concluded his response by stressing the importance of these studies. “Vos expériences, monsieur, & celles de M. Widmer, ont déjà porté bien loin le procédé dont vous vous êtes occupé. Puissent tous ceux qui exercent une industrie éclairée, considérer leurs découverts & leurs observations, comme un tribut qu’il est glorieux de payer aux sciences & aux arts !”1019 Both the bleachers and the textile printers were seeking a quick bleaching method. The reduction of processing time, in addition to eliminating the demand for large land areas used for crafting, was essential to the dye industry and the textile printing industry. Berthollet’s new bleaching method was incredibly attractive not only due to the bright whiteness of the cloth, but

1019 Berthollet. Annales de chimie (1791): 260.

279 because of the sensational decline in both land and time requirements.1020 Widmer pointed out to Berthollet the great reductions in processing time that the new bleaching liquid, oxymuriatic acid had accomplished. “I have found several times, that on a piece of cloth being cut in two, when one-half of it had an immersion, and the other none, the former bleached more in two days on the field than the latter in fifteen”1021. Based on Berthollet's ideas a bleaching plant opened at Jouy-en-Josas in 1792.1022 However, before the expanded edition of Berthollet’s dye book went to print in 1804, Widmer’s trials with oxymuriatic acid bleaching in the factory at Jouy-en-Josas had been terminated. “Widmer has, however, been obliged to abandon this process, because it required to be conducted by himself, and because the accidents from inattention of workmen, rendered this method too uncertain and too expensive. We know not whether a like cause has made it be equally given up in the other manufactories, or if they have found out some modifications which render the process less uncertain.”1023. On the other hand, Berthollet recognized that other benefits could come from this new method. Cotton bleached in oxymuriatic acid eliminated the need for the textiles to be spread out in the field to be exposed to the sun.1024 This traditional form of bleaching could not be successfully practiced in the winter because the cloth was easily spoiled by bad weather and in December of 1740 the French government introduced a directive which prohibited the exposure of textiles on the fields from December to March each year.1025 This created a real problem for bleachers and textile printers alike. As Inspecteur des manufactures

1020 Wolff, 155. 1021 Berthollet, (1824): 1, 247. 1022 Chapman and Chassagne, 140. [ Brédif, 28, gives the date as 1794.] 1023 Berthollet, (1824): 1, 247-248. Referring to Note G . 1024 Wolff, 155. 1025 Smith, 115.

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Berthollet was working closely with the textile industry and was well aware of these restrictions and the problems they created for the craftsmen. “Les toiles et les [fils] qui dans quelques endroits demandent plusieurs mois pour être blanchis, peuvent l’être facilement dans cinq à six jours, même dans une grand établissement; car une opération qui ne se fait que sur quelques pièces, peut sans difficulté se terminer dans deux ou trois jours. Pendant l’hiver, le nouveau blanchiment peut s’exécuter aussi bien qu’en été ; seulement la dessiccation exige plus de tems.”1026 His new bleaching method did not have to abide by the French government’s regulations and bleaching as well as textile printing could continue throughout the winter months.1027 He disclosed the reduction in processing time between the traditional method and bleaching with oxymuriatic acid to achieve exactly the same result. The remarkably short time necessary for bleaching with oxymuriatic acid would equally benefit the bleachers and the textile printers. In addition, the textile industry would no longer require large costly areas of land which Berthollet suggested could be used more beneficially for agricultural purposes. “Et ces vastes prairies qui dans les pays les plus fertiles sont abandonnées aux toiles qu’il faut y tenir étendues pendant toute la belle saison, parviendrai je à les conquérir à l’agriculture, pour laquelle leur productions sont perdues pour la plus grande partie”1028. Berthollet also proposed other uses for his bleaching liquid and in Section IV, Chapter III: “Of the Means of ascertaining the Goodness of a Colour (Dye)”, in his dye book, Berthollet suggested that it could be used as a uniform standard for testing colourfastness, replacing the complicated débouilli

1026 Claude-Louis Berthollet: Description au blanchiment des toiles et des fils par l’acide muriatique oxygéné ; et de quelques propriétés de cette liqueur relatives aux arts, 36 (Paris, 1795). 1027Berthollet, Annales de chimie (1789):183. 1028 Berthollet, 38 (Paris 1795).

281 test” 1029. “J’ai annoncé dans mes premiers mémoires, que l’on pouvoit se servir de cette liqueur pour éprover la solidité des couleurs & pour découvrir dans quelques instants quelles dégradation l’injure du tems devoit y produire”1030. According to Savary des Bruslons this very complicated test to establish the Goodness of a Colour for different textile fibres was previously referred to in the Statutes des teinturiers en grand & bon teint in 16691031. During the 1730s, M. Dufay was appointed by the French government to simplify this intricate system. He carried out a series of tests to systematically determine the light- fastness of natural dyes. The result was a complex and rigorous system that utilized a number of different tests, along with various chemicals appropriate to each individual dye. By replacing all these chemicals with oxymuriatc acid, it became easy to determine and compare the solidity and durability of colours; what today would be referred to as a fading standard.1032 In 1789 Berthollet published his studies in Annales de chimie, introducing his experiments with oxymuriatic acid bleaching to an expanded scientific community. His Description was a sophisticated explanation from an experienced chemist to other chemists of how this chemical substance behaved with regards to colour particles.1033 In 1795 (l’an 3e de la République) a pamphlet was published in Paris: Description du blanchiment des toiles et des fils, par l’acide muriatique oxigèné; et de quelques autres propriétés de cette liqueur, relatives aux arts. It was an exact reprint of Berthollet’s significant and innovative article in Annales de chimie published six years earlier.

1029 For a description of the débouilli tests and their development see Stanley D. Forrester: “The History of the Development of the Light Fastness Testing of Dyed Fabrics up to 1902,” Textile History, 6, (1975): 52-88, John J. Beer: “Eighteenth- Century Theories on the Process of Dyeing,” Isis, 51, (1960): 21-30, and Berthollet, (1824), 1: 282-304. 1030 Berthollet, Annales de chimie (1789):189. 1031 Savary des Bruslons, 1: colonnes 1655-1657. 1032 Berthollet, (1824), 1: 282-289. 1033 Berthollet, Annales de chimie (1789):153.

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The importance of Berthollet’s studies on bleaching with oxymuriatic acid was quickly recognized by the scientific community. In 1798 Theophilius Lewis Rupp published an article “On the Process of Bleaching,” in The Philosophical Magazine, where he pointed out how widespread the use of oxymuriatic acid bleaching had become.1034 He explained why the manufacturers had been so interested in introducing this new complicated method into their businesses. “The new method of bleaching was quickly introduced into the manufactories of Manchester, Glasgow, Rouen, Valenciennes, and Courtray; and it has since been generally adopted in Great Britain, Ireland, France, and Germany. The advantages which result from this method, which accelerates the process of whitening cottons, linens, paper, &c. to a really surprising degree, in every season of the year, can be justly appreciated by commercial people only, who experience its beneficial effects in many ways, but particularly in the quick circulation of their capitals.”1035 In 1798 Pajot des Charmes, who had been Inspecteur des manufactures in Rouen, published his account of the art of bleaching.1036 It was immediately translated into English by William Nicholson and published in London in 1799. In the introduction Pajot des Charmes stated: “My intention was, in the first place, to make myself master of the process, and then to propose, with confidence, this new method of bleaching to the manufacturers, merchants, and bleachers, in my

1034 Theophilus Lewis Rupp, “On the Process of Bleaching with oxygenated muriatic Acid; and a Description of a new Apparatus for bleaching Cloths with that Acid dissolved in Water, without the Addition of Alkali,” The Philosophical Magazine 2 (1798): 293-301, pl.VII. 1035 Rupp, (1798): 2: 293-301. 1036 Pajot des Charmes; L’Art du blanchiment des toiles, fils et cotons de tout genre. (Paris, 1798).

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department of inspection, to whom this species of industry might prove advantageous, and to give them every information in my power.”1037 Des Charmes promoted Berthollet’s studies and wanted to make it easy for the textile manufacturers to apply them. He pointed to segments in Berthollet’s report (as published in the second volume of the Annales de chimie) which he considered problematic. While Bancroft disagreed with Berthollet’s chemical explanations, des Charmes directly addressed what he considered to be a lack of detailed information in Berthollet’s’ description in Annales de chimie. He began by pointing out that the furnaces (as described) could only be bought in Paris, where they were produced, and would therefore be very expensive for bleachers working in other districts. He then referred to problems that could occur if the curved tube leading from the vessel to the collecting tub was damaged and the oxymuriatic gas was let out in the production area. The collector tub did not have a cover, so huge quantities of gas could escape creating impossible working conditions. There was also no information regarding the construction and adjustment of the inverted troughs that collected the gas, which could lead to awful mistakes. Additional problems he addressed were the many immersions that were prescribed leading to lost time and other inconveniences for the bleachers. He thought that explanation for the production of the liquid was too limited and could create problems for people not familiar with chemistry; especially in the country where there were few chemists available to give advice. The first chapter of des Charmes’ book explained the difficulties an inexperienced bleacher would have while following the Description in Annales de chimie. The following sections focused on his own research into improving Berthollet’s process so that craftsmen could easily make use of this new and beneficial bleaching method. In the second edition of his dye book Berthollet acknowledged that after he published his Description in Annales de chimie in 1789, several different treatises describing the process appeared. In a direct response to Pajot des

1037 Pajot des Charmes, The Art of Bleaching Piece-goods, Cottons and Threads, of every description. (London, 1799): ix.

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Charmes’ critical assessment, Berthollet wrote that he “would have become satisfied that the process might be executed without inconveniences, had he carefully followed the directions, or had he visited the establishments conducted by Widmer, Walter, or several others who used it in that period”1038. After the Description was published Berthollet’s investigations could no longer be regarded as merely a study aiming to improve the existing bleaching processes as conducted in France. True to the ideals of the Enlightenment, he included a detailed description and one illustration of the chemical equipment for the benefit of other chemists or potential industrial users. However, Berthollet’s illustrations cannot be compared to the images in the Encyclopédie, depicting the interior of the of the bleacher’s workshop, with vats, heat sources, water supply lines and equipment used during the bleaching process. The illustration in Annales de chimie was strictly an explanatory drawing defining how to produce the bleaching solution by the use of standard laboratory equipment. This was a scientific chemical study of a chemical phenomenon, which happened to be related to textiles. The radical change to textile bleaching can be traced directly to Berthollet’s chemical discoveries.

IX. 5. CONCLUSION

Thirty-four years elapsed between the publication of the first volume of the Encyclopédie in 1751 and Berthollet’s publication of his early chemical research associated with bleaching in 1785. These studies represented two entirely different approaches; from a simple description of the bleaching process to a scientific investigation of oxymuriatic acid. Berthollet’s interest in bleaching developed from studies of the strictly chemical phenomena first described by Scheele in 1774. He had not set out to develop a new and improved bleaching method for the textile industry. For Berthollet this was a genuine chemical study. His principal motivation to study oxymuriatic acid was to test and evaluate two rival theories; the phlogistic chemists’ theories of

1038 Berthollet, (1824),1:187-188.

285 combustion and acidity versus Lavoisier’s oxygen theory. When he presented his study to the Académie des sciences in 1785, he not only submitted his chemical results, but was the first prominent chemist to align himself with Lavoisier against the phlogistonists. The articles Berthollet published in Annales de chimie were never intended to enlighten artisans, or for the bleachers who Brisson regarded as too uneducated to read Dr. Home’s book, and who M. Roland considered uninterested in adopting new methods. Berthollet wrote his Description for an educated, scientific audience, for the love of science, and to share his knowledge with his fellow savants. He became aware of the practical applications of oxymuriatic acid and was more than willing to help improve the textile industry’s bleaching methods; this is clear in his continued correspondence with James Watt. Even so, this was not his primary aim. Berthollet was known as perhaps the leading laboratory chemist of his time, but he decided to have the large-scale, practical trials for textile bleaching with oxymuriatic acid executed by specialists. He quoted directly from Samuel Widmer’s report of his experiments at Oberkampf’s manufactory in the second edition of his book, a dye book that introduced a totally new approach to of textile dyeing and bleaching. It contained scientific chemical explanations of how the dye process and bleaching worked, but Widmer’s descriptions reverted to the traditional way of relating the pros and cons of the bleaching trials. Berthollet examined this testimony and faithfully repeated it verbatim in his book. However, he did not explain chemically why the introduction of this new bleaching method created so many problems for Widmer and why he failed in the end. Before1804, when the second edition of Berthollet’s book was published, the author conceded that the method was no longer in use at the famous textile-printing factory in Jouy-en-Josas. True to the spirit of the Enlightenment, Berthollet believed that scientific advances should be shared freely between scientists and artisans. He refused to monopolize or patent his discoveries. This behaviour was opposite to that of Watt, who introduced and attempted to exploit and profit from this

286 competitive and economically beneficial method in England. Watt was an engineer and an inventor; Berthollet was a chemist and a savant. The differences between the two approaches to bleaching, represented here in the article from the Encyclopédie and Berthollet’s very different publications, were not restricted to the emergence of a new chemical science. The transition from portraying a conventional craft to descriptions of a science- based industry did not originate with the revision of science and the evolution of new scientific disciplines. The source for this difference can be found in Berthollet’s concept of his own role as a chemist and a scientist. He had a clear understanding of his responsibility to address practical problems for industry by employing his chemical knowledge. He made his accomplishments freely available for the benefit of artisans and the textile industry, but at the same time, he continued to preserve science’s independence from the useful arts. Berthollet lived by the principle that Lavoisier had expressed so clearly: “The scientist works for the love of science … and his object is only to secure his intellectual property in his achievement”1039.

1039 Gillispie, 404.

X. CONCLUSION

What is unique about the French textile printing industry in the eighteenth century is not the rapid evolution and change in fashion, which in itself stimulated an increased demand for consumer goods; nor is it the numerous, delightful and aesthetically pleasing textile designs that were created during this period. Instead, it is the exceptional interaction between traditional craft and theoretical science that occurred, and which is without counterpart in any other craf- based industry at the time, in any European country. This exchange of knowledge manifested itself on many different levels, in a variety of ways, often through personal connections. The French government had for many years appointed established chemists to the position of Inspector for Dye Works. The regime must have recognized the importance of the contributions that scientists could offer this economically important industry, as well as the considerable improvements and innovations to textile dyeing that the chemists could bring about. By taking this action, the French government was early in establishing a strategy for co- operation between craft and science.1040 Their appointment of Charles-François Dufay, Jean Hellot and Pierre-Joseph Macquer led to studies on the theoretical concept of dyeing and stimulated the publishing of a number of new dye books. In 1750, Hellot published his book on wool-dyeing, which was followed in the 1760s by Macquer’s account of dyeing silk. These books were quickly translated and distributed all over Europe, establishing France and the French scientists as the internationally recognized authorities in this field.1041 In 1784,

1040 The history of trades program in the Royal Society of London was earlier, but it was also almost entirely sterile. Kathleen H. Ochs, “The Royal Society of London’s History of Trades Programme: An Early Episode in Applied Science”, Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London, 39 (1985), 129-158. 1041 The separate books by Hellot, Macquer, and le Pileur D’Apligny were translated into English and published as one volume in London in 1789, The Art of Dyeing Wool, Silk and Cotton.

287 288 when Claude-Louis Berthollet was appointed Inspector of Dye Works and director of the Manufacture Nationale des Gobelins in Paris, he was merely following in these chemists’ footsteps. In 1791 he published his two-volume book on textile dyeing and significantly increased the already considerable wealth of knowledge on this topic. His special contribution was that his book was not only a description of dye methods and a collection of dye recipes; for the first time chemical explanations of the different dye processes were an important section of the book. Berthollet also included a relatively new aspect of dyeing: textile printing. The inspectors did not limit their work to a theoretical perspective, but took an active part in improving the practical working conditions of the craftsmen, and making innovations and improvements in the techniques of production, for example the very complicated débouilli test to determine if the dye was colourfast. Berthollet’s introduction of a new bleaching method was another example that definitely changed this labour-intensive and time consuming practice for the textile workers. Berthollet, like the Encyclopédistes before him, derived some of his knowledge from empirical information passed on to him from craftsmen. Berthollet, like Diderot, complained about non-cooperation from some of the owners and their workers who wanted to keep their trade secrets to themselves. This implies an apparent reluctance to share knowledge, as well as considerable opposition towards any interference from the academic community. With the publication of the Encyclopédie, craft traditions and the conditions of the workers were emphasized and presented to a general audience. However, textile printing was not included and the section on dyeing focused on silk dyeing at the Manufacture Nationale des Gobelins. Eighteenth century France experienced the introduction of a new chemistry, moving from one based on phlogiston to Lavoisier’s new oxygen theory. The chemists themselves were divided and they worked, researched, published and debated their theories to verify that their standpoint was correct and could explain chemical reactions. Berthollet was determined to work on a

289 research project that could evaluate Lavoisier’s new chemical theory. In the early 1780s, his research led to papers supporting the phlogiston theory; in 1782, he saw merit in both the phlogiston theory and Lavoisier’s oxygen theory, and three years later he announced his conversion to the new chemistry. His investigations of dephlogisticated marine acid (in Lavoisier’s system known as muriatic acid gas, and later as chlorine), conceived within the framework of pure chemistry, ultimately led to a totally new bleaching process.1042 Berthollet used one of the new scientific publications, Annales de chimie, to publish his first report on bleaching with muriatic acid gas (1789). Later he expanded his clarification and evaluation of this new bleaching method in the second edition of his dye book published in 1804. The Journal de physique was another of these important publications which ultimately became a forum not only for well established scientists, but also included reports from practicing craftsmen such as Jean-Michael Haussmann. The magazines also reported the latest discoveries from other countries, Germany, England and Sweden, thus making sure that French scientists and craftsmen had access to the newest theoretical studies, as well as practical experiments tried out in the workshops. The correspondence and the discussions published in scientific journals made them a forum for a working relationship between the scientists and the craftsmen. The Enlightenment brought the ideals that science should not be just theoretical, science for science sake, but be useful to the industrial arts. This would move the sciences from pure disciplines for only a select few, towards sciences at once pure and applied, useful to many. Berthollet was a firm believer in these ideals. When he realized that his chemical discovery could benefit the textile industry, he immediately wanted to try it out. His extensive contacts with people in the textile industry gave him an advantage and the practical tests of the new bleaching method took place in different textile

1042 Sadoun Goupil, passim. J. R. Partington, A History of Chemistry, 3 vol. (London, 1962): 3, 496-512.

290 manufacturing establishments under the watchful eye of the most experienced textile specialists in the field. Berthollet’s well documented research verifies how many practicing craftsmen located in different areas of France co-operated on his studies. What makes the printed textile industry in France different from other similar European enterprises is the fact that the French government brought in extremely drastic measures banning import, wearing, as well as local production of printed textiles. These restrictions, which lasted from 1686 and were not revoked entirely until 1759, as well as the strict punishment for illegal production, undermined the native textile printers as a group. They did not have an existing craft tradition or any craft guilds or other organizations which would maintain the old, accepted, conventional methods. As a result, they had no real power to resist the influx of foreign workers or the influence from the scientific community. When the ban was finally lifted on printing textiles, France was left without experienced workers and with a huge consumer demand. This made it imperative for the French government to find a way to start the production of printed textiles in the Indian manner quickly; the result was an influx of foreign workers who were trained and had experience in textile printing from Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands. Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf and the specially trained textile workers who he brought with him to lead specific sections of his textile printing operation are excellent examples of the importance of such foreign workers. Jean-Michel Haussmann did not immigrate, nor was he trained as a traditional craftsman, but he came by his knowledge of textile printing in the ‘Indian manner’ more by chance while visiting his brother and his in-laws, the German textile printer Johann Heinrich Schüle. He combined his new practical knowledge with his scientific background and the manufacture he established with his brothers benefited from his research. The many tests he developed trying to find new, better methods which could benefit the industry are documented in a number of papers published in French scientific journals.

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Despite the French government’s ban on the import of printed textiles, as well as any textile printing taking place within the kingdom, the search for the Indian method, which would give local craftsmen the means to successfully produce their own colourful, washable, printed textiles, had been actively pursued by many different groups that already had established contacts in India. Berthollet wrote in his book “the description which Beaulieu gave, at the request of Dufay, of operations performed in his presence”1043 and this suggests that the French government through their inspector for dye works, Charles Francois Dufay, had underhandedly appointed Beaulieu to discover the Indian trade secrets so that this method would be known and could be taken into account for future use in France. The report must have made a huge impact, if only among a very limited and trusted group, since the ban on production was still in effect and the punishment was severe for people who attempted textile printing and got caught. It is also the only document describing how textile printing was practiced in India that Berthollet referred to in his dye book. Regardless of the fact that he was particularly disapproving of this Indian method and considered it too cumbersome for the French industry, he was fully aware of this report’s existence. The Indian method was totally different from the way textiles had been printed in Europe from the thirteenth and fourteenth century, when they used pigment dyes in an oil-based solution. Now the printers needed knowledge of printing cotton textiles with mordants followed by madder dyeing and a method to add blue to their multicoloured designs. However, what textile researchers have often overlooked is the substantial information about Indian textile printing and Indian raw materials that was readily available in France in the eighteenth century, despite the government’s official ban on production. The contemporary readers of economic and trade related publications had easy access to a considerable amount of knowledge of what the French textile dyers would consider their secrets. Jaques Savary des Bruslons’ Dictionnaire universelle de commerce contained information about dye substances, an

1043 Berthollet, (1824), 1:10.

292 evaluation of the quality of different dye materials from several producing countries, and information about the ways in which these commodities were traded throughout Europe. Fashion, and the fact that these attractive printed textiles were officially banned from use in France, created a huge demand for these colourful, washable textiles. The economic potential of a French textile printing industry was not lost on private investors and entrepreneurs, who before the ban was formally lifted, struggled for their right to produce. Before 1759 some of this debate was also expressed in the Journal Oeconomique. This monthly publication, which was not particularly focused on the textile industry, or the closely connected dye industry, contained in the period between 1751 and 1763 a series of articles that described the many different steps of textile painting and textile printing as it was performed in India, along with a description of the raw materials they used. At this time, studies of the Indian printing methods were not limited to the economic literature. The Jesuit missions maintained their own interest in discovering the Indian secrets, and missionaries described the processes observed in Pondicherry, the French colony in India. In 1743 this was published in the twenty-sixth collection of letters from the Jesuit Missions. These instances reveal that despite the official ban, which was still in effect, the French government did not totally prohibit the publication of such information. Accordingly, in 1759 when textile printing became legalized in France, there already existed a considerable quantity of previously published information about the raw materials, as well as the new method for printing these exotic, colourfast and washable textiles. This knowledge was readily available to entrepreneurs with capital and to skilled craftsmen who wanted to establish their own textile printing business. We have to treat all these descriptions and explanations of the Indian method and the new concepts introduced in scientific literature as just words, unless we can determine that this information was accepted and actually being used by the French textile printers. It is crucial to establish that these new concepts were not only known, but definitely applied by the industry to

293 improve the quality and increase the quantity of their textiles. Therefore, it becomes necessary to study the production methods; to look at and evaluate the material evidence, the old textiles themselves, to ascertain that the connection between theory and practice really existed, confirming what was actually put into practice at the local textile printing enterprises. The benefits to the manufacturer were that they would not only improve production to obtain a better, more attractive, and competitive product, but the printed textiles could reach the consumers much faster, and free up the entrepreneur’s capital investment. The craft of textile printing is based on tacit knowledge; therefore, written sources that include explanations about the process itself are very limited. In the eighteenth century every practising craftsman, who through his apprenticeship had learned his skills, knew how it was done. Consequently, it was not necessary to write down the different methods. The handwritten dye manuscripts that still exist today contain many recipes indicating how to achieve the different colours and shades, but extremely limited information about the actual craft practices. Three centuries later, it becomes important to find reliable sources which explain the textile printing process. One such resource is a printed textile that in detail illustrates the process of textile printing; a copperplate print produced by Oberkampf’s factory. This textile was first produced in 1783-1784 and titled Les Travaux de la Manufacture. The design was created by the artist Jean-Baptiste Huet from studies prepared in situ at the factory in Jouy-en-Josas and contains a magnitude of information about many of the time consuming processes necessary for printing textiles. Several illustrations of the washing and rinsing of textiles in the Bièvre river stresses the importance of water for the dye process. The sections showing woodblock printing, with the printer and his assistant working at the printing-table, as well as the much more complex equipment for copperplate printing, shown here with the two workers needed to operate the printing machine, represent the two printing techniques used at the factory during this time (roller printing was not introduced until 1797). The minor motive representing the colour maker

294 emphasizes the importance of the knowledge of the dye substances, the raw materials and the expertise required to combine them to achieve the all important colours. The two large motives, one of the heated madder bath with the dye workers and the other with the pinceauteuses working around the table applying blue colours by brush, reveal the complete difference in creating the red, brown, and violet shades: by mordants followed by a madder dye bath, and the application of an oxidizing colour, indigo, the hand painting of the blue colour. The bleaching and drying processes are shown, both the method of air drying in the dry house, as well as the traditional pegging of the textiles on the field (Berthollet’s new bleaching method had not been developed at this time). The designer not only illustrated traditional textile bleaching, but he also emphasized the huge sections of land that an eighteenth century textile printing industry required. In addition, the textile also displays the division of labour between men and women; for example men do the washing in the river while women do the washing with cow dung. If we compare this information with existing written records about the factory’s workers, we can conclude that the workforce was about evenly divided between men and women, although the men dominate in the higher paying jobs. Another little known source is the Mémorial de la manufacture de Jouy the unpublished manuscript written by Gottlieb Widmer, a relative who had worked at Oberkampf’s printing establishment and in 1859 wrote a factory history from memory. Unfortunately, this is not a thorough documentation of factory practices, but the family records of a very well known and extremely successful business. It is essential for our understanding of production methods to integrate the study of existing printed textiles in order to realize how the practice was executed and how it changed. Not only can the study of the actual artifact expose falsifications, as Donald King’s study of a group of printed textiles from the thirteenth and fourteenth century so convincingly demonstrated, but it can also provide evidence that new research, along with new economic measures, were implemented by the industry. The artists’ designs on paper can only indicate what the fashion was at the time and disclose whether printed textiles

295 also followed this general trend. Even so, some of these paper designs were never set into production. As a result only the authentic textiles can verify which designs were chemically, technically and economically feasible to produce. We have to rely on the printed textiles themselves to determine if the new materials and the improvements we read about in the literature and factory records were in fact put into practice. Some of the changes in production methods can easily be observed by looking at the original textiles, such as the introduction of roller printing at the manufacture. This printing technique, which was first introduced in France at Oberkampf’s factory in 1797, never replaced either block printing or plate printing. Instead it was used simultaneously to produce a number of simple blockprint style designs, as well as small-scale plate prints, since the machine’s engraved copper cylinder has the same ability to reproduce graphic-like designs, identical to copperplate printing. The change from block and plate printing to roller printing can clearly be discerned by looking at the textiles. Roller printed textiles have continuous patterning, as a result any misalignment of the woodblocks or any unintentional open space between the design repeats, which could accidentally occur at the beginning or the end of the copperplate, could no longer exist. The roller prints also entail a limited size of the design; no repeat could be longer than the circumference of the copper cylinder and no design could be wider than the maximum width of this cylinder. These dimensions stay relatively constant with only small variations for different designs. Therefore, these specific factors will immediately suggest that the roller printer has been used. At the turn of the eighteenth century there was a significant increase in consumer demand for printed textiles with simple designs, which were reasonably priced. This encouraged a need for quicker production methods and promoted the development, installation and use of the roller printer. After 1800, when Samuel Widmer, who was responsible for the production at Oberkampf’s factory, developed a method to speed up the time consuming process of engraving the copper cylinders, the preparation time was improved, which further reduced production time. At Oberkampf’s factory one

296 roller printer produced five thousand meters per day, and one machine could replace the work of forty-two individual block printers. In 1810 when Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf was awarded the Grand Prize of the Institut de France, which was presented every ten years for industrial development, the factory’s major achievements were pointed out in the committee report. One accomplishment especially mentioned was the development of a method to print green in only one process. Since green dye does not exist in nature, the dyers and textile printers had for years created this colour by dyeing the textile first with blue and then with yellow dye. For the textile printers, this was time consuming, since the textile had to be treated twice, and it was extremely difficult because it required an experienced and steady hand to apply the two colours manually in exactly the same area. When Samuel Widmer in 1806-1809 developed the method to achieve a clear, green colour in only one process, this was a significant advance for the industry. That Oberkampf’s factory discovered this method before the British strengthened French national pride. By looking at the original textiles it is easy to determine which method was used since the two colours, blue and yellow, hardly ever match exactly when they are applied separately. The new green process never displayed any such errors and we can unquestionably ascertain that a perfect textile print in green must have been produced after 1809 (especially when used in plate prints or roller prints which were impossible to produce earlier). However, the chemist and long time member of the French Academy, Claude Louis Berthollet, who was the secretary on the selection committee for this prize, wrote in the committee report that this method by now was so well known that it was not necessary to explain the process. Only one year after it was first successfully put into operation at the factory in Jouy-en-Josas, this method had become common knowledge. Unfortunately, not all changes to textile printing methods can be visually observed. Contemporary literature, especially magazines focusing on industrial progress, provided important information regarding the development and installations of new equipment together with other technical modifications

297 that took place at the factories. The fact that Berthollet was a personal, close friend of Oberkampf made their working relationship unique. Oberkampf was a firm believer in the necessity for workers in the textile printing industry to be educated in science. He had sent his nephew, Samuel Widmer to study science in Paris. In 1802 and1803 Oberkampf started employing reputable French scientists (with whom he had contact through Berthollet) to instruct his factory workers in chemistry and physics. We do not know if this was part of a trend in France or unique for Oberkampf; Sweden had arranged special chemical courses for their dye workers under the guidance of Henric Theophil Scheffer, a member of the Swedish Academy, as early as 1749. What is obvious is the strong relationship that existed between Berthollet and Oberkampf, and the positive working relationship on a pure scientific level that existed between Berthollet and Haussmann. These textile printers, both leaders in their field, did not regard science and the scientists as unwelcome intruders. Instead they obviously realized that the successful progress of this very complicated craft-based industry would benefit from such co-operation and profit from honest working relations between the craftsmen and the scientists.

PLATES

Fig. 1 Overview, Les Travaux de la manufacture (The Activities at the Factory). Copper plate print, C-P Oberkampf 1783-1784 (ROM 934.3.443)

Fig. 2 Beating with a flail to wash by the river, Les Travaux de la manufacture detail (ROM 934.3.443)

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Fig. 3 Calender (in the top half centre), Les Travaux de la manufacture detail (ROM 934.3.443)

Fig. 4 Washing with cow dung Les Travaux de la manufacture detail (ROM 934.3.443)

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Fig. 5 Block printer and his asistant, Les Travaux de la manufacture detail (ROM 934.3.443)

Fig. 6 Block print Lilacs, outlines in red and black, 1770-1779

(ROM 934.4.207)

Fig. 7 Block print in the Indian style, white background (ROM 972.260)

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Fig. 8 Block print in the Indian style, yellow background (ROM 974.33.15)

Fig. 9 Block print on a red picot ground (ROM 973.116.9)

Fig. 10 Block print on a black picot ground in a

zigzag lozenge pattern (ROM 934.4.216)

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Fig. 11 Block print Le petit buveur, picot ground detail, 1784

(ROM 943.4.89)

Fig. 12 Plate printer Les Travaux de la manufacture detail (ROM 934.3.443)

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Fig. 13 Plate print Jeux d’enfant, overview (ROM 934.4.441)

Fig. 14 Plate print Jeux d’enfant, chef de pièce (ROM 934.4.441)

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Fig. 15 Plate print Jeux d’enfant, detail: open space between the plates painted in (ROM 934.4.441)

Fig. 16 Plate print Jeux d’enfant, detail double printed (ROM 934.4.441)

Fig. 17 Roller print Les Colombes, design 580, 1818 (ROM 934.4.527)

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Fig. 18 Roller print Les monuments de Paris, detail: signature

1818 (ROM 934.4.540)

Fig. 19 Roller print, Le loup et l’agneau, roller print in red,

overprint in yellow (ROM 934.4.617)

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Fig. 20 Roller print, Le loup et l’agneau, detail (ROM 934.4.617)

Fig. 21 The colourist (colour maker) Les Travaux de la manufacture detail (ROM 934.3.443)

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Fig. 22 Madder dyeing in the heater Les Travaux de la manufacture detail (ROM 934.3.443)

Fig. 23 Dry house and ‘pegging’ textiles on the ground Les Travaux de la manufacture detail (ROM 934.3.443)

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Fig. 24 Block print, resist printed blue background 1760-1790 (ROM 934.4.642)

Fig. 25 Pencillers Les Travaux de la manufacture detail (ROM 934.3.443)

Fig. 26 Block print border with irises, blue pencilled in, detail,

1780-1789 (ROM 934.4.711)

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Fig. 27 Plate print Les délices de quatre saisons, overview in blue,

1789/92 (ROM 934.4.477 )

Fig. 28 Block print in green, overview, 1790 or later (ROM 934.4.206)

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Fig. 29 Block print in green, detail from the back (ROM 934.4.206)

Fig. 30 Block print in green, detail from the front (ROM 934.4.206)

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Fig. 31 Roller print in green Le lion amoureux ou Léda, overview 1808- 1810 (ROM 934.4.528)

Fig. 32 Roller print in green Le lion amoureux ou Léda, detail background design (ROM 934.4.528)

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Fig. 33 Roller print in green Le lion amoureux ou Léda, Detail of goat-hair (ROM 934.4.528)

Fig. 34 Encyclopédie,“Blanchissage des toiles” in Recueile de plances, 19: 370-374, Paris, 1762.

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Fig. 35 Claude-Louis Berthollet, “Description du Blanchiment des Toiles & des Fils par l’acide muriatique oxigéné,” Annales de chimie 2 (1789): 151-190

Fig. 36 Claude-Louis Berthollet, Elements of the Art of Dyeing with a Description on the Art of Bleaching by Oxymuriatic Acid. [Original Paris, 1791] London, 1824, vol. 1.

GLOSSARY

Al lizari was the Arabic word for the red dye extracted from madder and the word that alizarin arrives from. Andrianople red: see Turkey red. Astringents or tannic substances are organic acids. These substances were used both in the dye industry and also applied to the printing industry since textile fibres, especially cotton and linen, readily absorbed them from aqueous solutions. The astringents combined with both the heavy metals in the mordants as well as the basic dyestuffs to form insoluble compounds with the fibres. L’atelier capital: the block printing area in Le Grand Bâtiment at Oberkampf’s establishment in Jouy-en-Josas. Auripigmentum: see orpiment. Basin is a twilled white cotton fabric with or without narrow stripes and sometimes napped on one side. English basin: twilled white cotton fabric. French basin: a fabric made of linen or cotton and linen in a twill weave, sometimes made with hemp and cotton filling, first made during the 16th century. Bleaching: Traditional bleaching consisted of bucking, an alkali treatment, and crofting, the exposure to sun and air on the ground. The optimum weather conditions for bleaching were clear sunshine with a very little wind or the printed textiles could blow away. Bleu d’Angleterre: the blue colour is produced by applying indigo in its water-soluble form directly onto the cotton textile using penciling or block printing. Bleu d’application: also called Bleu de pinceau . English: pencilled blue Bleu de pinceau: the first blue colour that could be applied directly onto the cotton textiles. The chemical adjustments to the indigo vat that made it possible to slow down the oxidation process was achieve by adding orpiment (arsenic trisulphate) to the ferrous sulphate vat. Bousage: washing with cow-dung, see dung bath.

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Bucking is an alkali treatment. A buck is a washing-tub, a vat in which to steep cloths in lye; or lye in which linen yarn or cloth is steeped or boiled as a first step in the process of buckwashing or bleaching. Calender: consist of two wooden rollers under pressure where the textiles are passed through to make sure they were absolutely flat and stretched out before printing; also used for finishing. Chay plant: Latin: Oldenlandia umbellata. The root of this plant was the source of red dye in India Chef de pièce: factory mark printed at the top and bottom of each length of cloth. By French law it had to include the factory’s name, place of production and confirm fast or fugitive dyes. China Blue: or porcelain blue, French: bleu de faience. Here the indigo was not in a state of solution in the indigo vat, but powdered indigo was mixed with ferrous sulphate and thickened to a finely-ground paste that was printed onto the textile; then the printed cloth was alternately immersed in a bath of lime (to dissolve the indigo) and a bath of ferrous sulphate (to reduce it) as many times as necessary to achieve the desired strength of blue. It was used for monochrome copperplate and roller printed designs. Chintz: a plain weave cotton fabric, sometimes glazed, which was painted or block printed in India in brilliantly coloured patterns of plants and animals. Full Chintz: a multi coloured printed textile, mordant printed and madder dyed as well as penciled in blue and yellow. Chit, Chitte: a cotton cloth with a design painted or printed on, mordant dyed and resist dyed. Derived from the word chitta; spotted cloth. Croft: English term for location of the scouring and bleaching operation, usually for cloth. Crofting was the exposure of cloth on the grass to sun and air, as part of the process of bleaching, synonym for grass bleaching. The term was used particularly in both Scotland and Ireland.

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Degommage: English: de-gumming, process to get rid of oil and grease applied during spinning and weaving, as well as the sizing (starch or rice glaze). A process where the cloth was washed and beaten. This process could take from fifteen to twenty days. Discharge printing: printing on a chemical to remove the dye from an already coloured textile. Used on indigo dyed textiles to create a white design on a blue background and on Turkey red dyed cotton textiles this process will create the popular white design on a red background. French: rongeries this name given to a style of indienne produced at Oberkampf’s factory in 1804. Dung bath: French: bousage; described as “a boiler, which contains cow-dung diffused through hot water.” Process used to remove the thickeners from the mordanted textile before it is put into the madder bath. Finishing treatments: calendering and polishing, the polishing was done by hand to create the final shiny surface appearance. Fond de sable: a gritty (sandy) looking background design. Grand teint: colourfast dyes were achieved by an insoluble combination between dye material, textile fiber and mordant. Characteristic for these permanent colours was their resistance to decomposition and disintegration after they had bonded with the textile fibre. Indienne: general term for printed cottons from India, the term is now obsolete. In France this was also used for French printed textiles with imitated Indian designs. Indigo: in India the indigo dye is obtained from the plant Indigofera tinctoria. Indigo vat: the so-called fermentation vat was the only indigo vat known in India. Here the dyestuff in the indigo plant was transformed into a water-soluble form, leuco-indigo, before the textile was submersed. The indigo vat contained indigo, sulphate of iron and lime. Cold indigo vat: the reduction and dissolution of the indigo was achieved by adding copperas (ferrous sulfate), lime and potash to the indigo vat.

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Hot indigo vat: traditional European dye vat especially used for woad dying which required a higher temperature, about 170° F. Tepid fermentation vat: an indigo dye vat with a temperature of no more than 115° F. To the indigo vat was added an alkaline solution of trisulphide of arsenic (auripigmentum, orpiment ). Imprimerie: French name for the block printing area at Oberkampf’s factory. Madder: Latin: Rubia tinctorium French: garange. Large amounts of the plant were cultivated locally in Europe for dyeing and textile printing. Madder contains two dye substances alizarin and purpurin. The quality of the dyestuff depends on soil characteristics. As a result, the French areas Avignon and Provence developed two different varieties from the same original plant. One was grown in soil, which was rich in calcium carbonate and these plants contained a larger quantity of the dye substance than the other, ‘Rose- variation’, which grew in soil containing very little calcium Madder qualities: in French the best quality was called garance robée and garance grappée, the ordinary powdered madder was known as mirobée, while the inferior quality was called mullen or garance courte. According to dye historian Gustav Schaefer, reputable merchants did not deal in this low-grade madder quality. (“The Cultivation of

Madder,” Ciba Review 39 (1941): 1398-1406.) Madder bath: in this dye bath the temperature had to be increased slowly to achieve maximum absorption of the dyestuff. Maddering is the process of dyeing cloth in a madder bath. Mignonettes: small patterned designs. At Oberkampf’s factory defined as “a type of indienne with small and very dense pattern … always the most popular among the indiennes.” Mordant comes from the French word mordre, which means to bite or to corrode. The term mordant is given to those substances which serve as intermedia between the colouring parts and the textiles which they dye, either for facilitating or modifying their combination, diversify the colours, give them more brilliancy, fix them on the textiles and render

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them more durable. For printed cotton textiles aluminum-mordants and iron-mordants are the most common. Moule: the name for the woodblock used to create the outline of the design which was applied first. This name was also given to the the person who printed the outline, which required an extremely skilled worker. Palampore: bed cover. The European version of the Indian term “palang- push”. The term is also used for imported Indian printed textiles used as wall hangings.

Orpiment: also known as Auripigmentum, an alkaline solution of trisulphide of arsenic used as an additive in the indigo vat. Petit teint: fugitive dyes. Picotage: English: stippling or pin-stippling; The process of picotage consisted of filling areas of the printing block with spikes made from brass wire hammered into the wood to create a pattern similar to what could be achieved with a horsehair brush. This would by simple means vary details in the design and the background. As in fond de sable a gritty (sandy) looking background. Pinceautage: English: penciling. It was the process of painting in additional colours to the already madder-dyed printed textile. This operation was done by women who, under the watchful eye of a foreman, were seated twelve to a table painting blue and yellow on the multicoloured textiles. Piqués: woven piqué is a double cloth, generally piqué is a cotton fabric. Quercitron: Latin: Quercus velutina or Quercus tinctoria; found in Eastern North America. From 1775 Quercitron bark was imported to Europe by Edward Bankroft. When mordanted with alum this yellow colour achieves a good colourfastness on cotton. Rentreurs were the secondary (less significant) printers. They did not work on the toile en blanche (the white untouched material) but applied the second, third or fourth colour (mordant) within the design’s outline. Rentreuses: female secondary printers used at Oberkampf’s establishment

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Repamer is a French term for a process of extensive beating and washing in running water before the textiles were ready for the alkali treatment, which occurred in the buerie or blanchisserie. Resist dye: the craftsman would submerse the textile, which had already been treated with wax or a starch paste to cover the design, in a dye vat to accomplish a white design on a blue background Saxon Blue was created from a solution of indigo in sulphuric acid. It was discovered around 1740 by Counsellor Barthe in Grossenhayn in Saxony; hence the name. Scouring: scour means to treat textiles with detergent and exposing them to sunrays until they achieve the desired whiteness. In 300 B.C. fruit juices for acid and lime for alkaline treatments were used for textile bleaching. Most of the time alkalis were employed for scouring, but alternatively one could stretch the moist cloth out on alkaline soil, where the effect of the ground’s alkali content would achieve a similar bleaching. Siamoise: textile with linen warp and cotton weft. Sour: build up of salts that accumulated as a result of repeated alkali and soap boiling, known as the sour. Spring-sieve: this consisted of a tub filled with discarded colour and gum, known in the trade as swimmings. Inside the tub was the sieve resting on this elastic cushion. The bottom surface was covered with sheepskin and the top with a tightly woven wool cloth. The French used a slightly different construction with three tubs, one tub contained gum diluted in water, the second was floating on the gum-solution, but was lined with oilcloth to prevent the gum from penetrating (acting as the bottom surface of the sieve), and the third was covered with a woollen cloth (acting as the top surface of the sieve). From this third tub, the tireur (assistant) would apply the colour (mordant) with a brush evenly onto the woodblock.

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Steeping: soaking in water or other liquid as to soften or cleanse. Steeping was a preparatory stage used for linen. Here the yarn was immersed in hot water or “in cold waste alkaline lyes” prior to bucking. Swansdown: a heavy cotton fabric woven in crow twill with soft spun filling. The fabric is napped on the face. Used for underwear and workmen’s clothes in Great Britain. Thickeners added to the mordants, made it possible to apply them to the textiles with woodblocks, copperplates or copper rollers. Starch or gum sénégal or gum Arabic, or British gum which was a torrified (dried out) starch; the choice depended on the surface of the woodblocks or copper plates /rollers. Tireur: the block-printers assistant who looked after the mordant trays and applied the woodblocks with mordant. Toile peinte: directly translated painted textile, but could also be used as a more general term for painted or printed textiles. Turkey red or Adrianople red: French: rouge de turc or rouge d’Andrinople was based on dyeing in a madder bath but with a very complicated mordanting process that included oil treatments. Known for its very bright red colour. Weld Latin: Reseda luteola; French: Gaude. Common plant for yellow dye used with alum mordant for dyeing cotton or linen. The plant grew in Europe and was of of major economic importance.

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EXHIBITION CATALOGUES Choisies parmi les récents dons et acquisitions: les plus belles pièces des collection, Musée Oberkampf Jouy-en-Josas, 1979. Collection de toiles peintes d’H. Wearne, Royal Ontario Museum University of Toronto. Musée de l’Impression sur Etoffes de Mulhouse, 1966. Le Coton et la Mode, 1000 ans d’aventures. Musée Galliera, Paris, 2000. Les indiennes de la manufacture Oberkampf de Jouy-en-Josas. Musée Oberkampf Château de Montebello Jouy-en-Josas, 1983. Modes en miroir: La France et la Hollande au temps des Lumières. Musée Galliera, Paris, 2005. Oberkampf et la mode imprimée. Musée de la Toile de Jouy, 2002. Piqué de Provence. Couvertures et jupons imprimé de la collection André-Jean Cabanel XVIIIe-XIXe siècles. Musée de l’Impression sur Étoffes. Aix- en-Provence, 2000. Quand Bracquenié rencontre Oberkampf : Un certain héritage de la manufacture de Jouy-en-Josas. Dijon 1999.