Toile De Beautiran, Printed Cotton Lined Bedspread, Meillier Et Cie Manufacture, Circa 1798

Bedspread lined in printed cotton, Beautiran, Manufacture Meillier et Cie, circa 1798, printed with copper plate in red - Part of a bed covering partly raised Some accidents - Dim. 203 x 190 cm HISTORY OF THE CANVAS DE BEAUTIRAN They are called Indians. These are canvases printed with beautiful cotton fabrics brought from India that were manufactured in Beautiran from the end of the 17th century to the middle of the 19th century... At the beginning of the reign of Louis XIV, elegant women were crazy about printed canvases called " Indians” or “Toiles de Jouy”. Cheerful and exotic, they were brought back by the East India Company and were used both for clothing and for the interior decoration of wealthy homes. The fashion will quickly spread in France and a few Indian printing centers will be created near port cities but also in the east of the country. Bordeaux, in 1790, had already become a significant center for Indian printing, but it was not until the opening of the JP Meillier Manufacture that the village was recognized in this area and became the most important printing center for printed canvases. important in Guyenne-Gascogne. In 1797, Jean-Pierre Meillier bought the Domaine de Lalande. The property, surrounded by the Gat Mort and the Rouille de Civrac with particularly pure water (used for washing and rinsing the canvases) and vast meadows (for drying) had the additional advantage of being located near the Garonne. and the port of Bordeaux. The work carried out in Beautiran was similar in spirit to that carried out in Nantes; the production is of good quality and relatively large since there will be up to 10 to 12,000 pieces per year. In 1826, the factory employed 112 people. However, victim, among other things, of changing fashion, it closed around 1832; but the Indian maker had then already become a draper like many other manufacturers. However, the production was so important and of such quality that it can be seen in several museums in France and abroad, and it is not uncommon to find in Gironde and elsewhere in the country, this red monochrome so characteristic illustrated with pretty bucolic and romantic scenes.