Fashionable Chemistry

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

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