{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O16664"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O16664/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AC7220/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AC7220/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AC7220","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2012FE3091","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O16664/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O16664","accessionNumber":"1682-1899","objectType":"Valance","titles":[{"title":"La Fête de la Fédération","type":"popular title"}],"summaryDescription":"This cotton was printed at the manufactory established in 1760 by Christophe-Philippe  Oberkampf (1738-1815) at Jouy-en-Josas, a village propitiously situated between Paris and Versailles, the main residences of the French court. Louis XV recognised its importance in 1783 when he named it a Royal Manufactory. \r\n\r\nFor the first ten years, Oberkampf block-printed his textiles. He only adopted the  copper-plate printing process, used for this fabric, in 1770. Many steps  were involved in producing the finished textile. First the copper plates were  engraved with the desired design using a burin, in the manner of plates for fine art  prints. The plate would then be coated with a mordant, a solution that would react  with the dye during the dyeing process, binding it to the cloth. The cloth would  then be printed with the plates by hand before finally being immersed in vats of dye for the design to take.\n\nJouy's reputation lasted well beyond its closure in 1843, monochrome printed textiles of  this type often being called <i>toiles de Jouy</i>  (literally 'cloth from Jouy') to the present day, despite the fact that many of the textiles produced in this way came from other centres of production such as Nantes. \r\n\r\nOne of the most famous events of the French Revolution is depicted on this valance : the Fall of the Bastille (14 July 1789), a royal fortress which commanded the eastern side of Paris and which was considered to symbolize the monarch's despotism. Here citizens are seen dancing on its ruins, and Louis XVI is shown swearing an oath to maintain the new French constitution on the altar of the Nation in the presence of Lafayette on horseback, and national guards bearing flags (1791).\n\n","physicalDescription":"A scalloped valance of cotton plate-printed in red depicting the Fall of the Bastille, and the Confirmation of the Constitution in 1791, in which Louis XVI swore an oath to maintain the new French constitution;  Louis XVI is shown taking the oath of loyalty at the Altar of Liberty while Marie Antoinette and the Dauphin pledge allegiance. Lafayette is in the background. In another scene people are dancing on the ruins of the Bastille. \n\nThe scalloped lower edge is bound in linen tape. The top and right edges are cut, and the left edge turned in and sewn to the lining. There are three pieces of the fabric seamed together vertically. One seam is approximately central, with two selvedges joined, and a fairly accurate pattern match. The other is close to the left edge, with raw edges joined, and the pattern not matched. The valance is lined with cotton.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Huet, Jean-Baptiste","id":"A2214"},"association":{"text":"designer","id":"AAT25190"},"note":""},{"name":{"text":"Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf","id":"A17599"},"association":{"text":"manufacturer","id":"x33306"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"cotton","id":"AAT14067"}],"techniques":[{"text":"printed","id":"x46159"},{"text":"plain weave","id":"x37295"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Plate-printed cotton","categories":[{"text":"Textiles","id":"THES48885"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&F","id":"THES48601"},"images":["2006AC7220","2012FE3091"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"EXH4","id":"THES265487"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Valance","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Jouy-en-Josas","id":"x39803"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"The design is conserved in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris (UCAD Inv. CD9749)"}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1792","earliest":"1787-01-01","latest":"1796-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"The fabric was designed after the fall of the Bastille (July 14, 1789) but before the execution of Louis XVI (January 21, 1793) ."}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Length","value":"840","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"maximum","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"1920","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"maximum","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Purchased from the Forrer Collection.\n\n\r\n\r\n\r\n","historicalContext":"This valance is likely to have been used as part of a set of bed hangings.","briefDescription":"plate printed cotton, ca. 1792, French; 'The Celebration of the Federation' (<i>La Fête de la Fédération</i>), designed by Jean-Baptiste Huet, manufactured by Oberkampf, Jouy-en-Josas\n","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"<i>Toiles de Jouy : French Printed Cottons</i>, by Sarah Grant, V&A Publishing, 2012. pl.60. Dated at ca. 1790; subsequently updated. "},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"<i>Toiles de Jouy : Classic Printed Textiles from France 1760-1843</i>, by Josette Bredif, 1989, p.144."}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[{"text":"French Revolution","id":"V150"}],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"<b>Bed valance with revolutionary scenes\r\nAbout 1792</b>\n\nRevolutionary symbols were found on a wide range of domestic goods. This printed cotton depicts some of the most famous events of the French Revolution. It shows the Fall of the Bastille, with a group dancing on its ruins, and the confirmation of the constitution in 1791, when Louis XVI swore an oath of allegiance to the new regime.\r\n\r\nFrance (Jouy-en-Josas)\r\nManufactured by Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf\r\nDesigned by Jean-Baptiste Huet\r\nPlate-printed cotton\r\n\n<b>Family label for Europe 1600-1815:</b>\n\nThis fabric would have hung on a bed. It shows people singing, dancing and saluting the French Revolution, which began in 1789. Having something like this in your home suggested that you supported the Revolution.\n\r\nWhat big event would you like printed on your bedcovers?","date":{"text":"09/12/2015","earliest":"2015-12-09","latest":"2015-12-09"}}],"partNumbers":["1682-1899"],"accessionNumberNum":"1682","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1899,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2019LN1547","2019LU7231"],"recordModificationDate":"2026-03-27","recordCreationDate":"1999-12-15","availableToBook":false}}