{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O287276"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O287276/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2009CR6163/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2009CR6163/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2009CR6163","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2009CR6171","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2009CR6166","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2009CR6155","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2013GJ6602","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O287276/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O287276","accessionNumber":"T.441-1919","objectType":"Furnishing fabric","titles":[{"title":"Zarafa the Giraffe","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"Depicted here is Zarafa, a female Masai giraffe that was a gift from Mohammed Ali, Pasha of Egypt, to Charles X of France, in 1826. She was captured as a baby and travelled 3500 miles by boat from Sudan, with the company of three cows providing her with 25 litres of milk a day. Zarafa was the one of the first giraffes seen in Europe for over 300 years. As giraffes were thought to be imaginary figures similar to unicorns and dragons, she was a sensation and roused huge curiosity and enthusiasm as she travelled on foot from Marseilles to Paris, where she was received with great affection. She lived in the Jardin des Plantes in Paris for 18 years, until her death in 1845. She even influenced contemporary fashions with 'coiffure à la girafe' which became fashionable in homage to her, with hair being propped high on the head to mimic her ossicones.","physicalDescription":"fragment of roller printed plain weave cotton with a medallion of a scene set in Egypt with two figures leading a giraffe with palm trees and buildings in the baclground; luscious plants encircle the medallion (incomplete repeat)","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"cotton (textile)","id":"AAT14067"}],"techniques":[{"text":"plain weave","id":"x37295"},{"text":"roller-printing","id":"x33305"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Roller printed plain weave cotton","categories":[{"text":"Furnishing fabrics","id":"THES280526"},{"text":"Textiles","id":"THES48885"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&F","id":"THES48601"},"images":["2009CR6163","2009CR6171","2009CR6166","2009CR6155","2013GJ6602"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"P128","id":"THES345000"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Furnishing fabric fragment","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"France","id":"x28849"},"association":{"text":"manufactured","id":"x29350"},"note":""},{"place":{"text":"Rouen","id":"x32531"},"association":{"text":"manufactured","id":"x29350"},"note":"probably"}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1827-1830","earliest":"1822-01-01","latest":"1831-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"The vignette of the giraffe and the two Middle Eastern figures leading it was engraved on to the rollers after a lithograph designed by Alexandre Prévost and printed by Henri Gaugain in France in 1827. An example of the original lithograph survives in the Musée des Civilisations de l'Europe et de la Méditerranée."}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Length","value":"41.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"66.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"roller printed cotton, circa 1827-30, French; probably Rouen, oval with giraffe, bird, fruits, purple","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Grant, Sarah. <i>Toiles de Jouy. French Printed Cottons, 1760-1830</i> (London: V&A Publishing, 2010), p. 97, plate 37. Included in a section on 'Exoticism', it is accompanied by an explanation of how Napoleon I contributed to the craze for bringing new animals to France from his military campaigns in the Middle East, a trend that continued into the 1820s when this 'celebrity' giraffe was brought as a gift, being the first ever giraffe seen in France and launching a mania for all things giraffe, including many toiles."}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"Image taken from lithograph designed by Alexandre Prevost and executed by Henri Gaugain, 1827.\r\n","contentPlaces":[{"text":"Egypt","id":"x29512"}],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"giraffe","id":"x38560"},{"text":"palm trees","id":"x31894"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["T.441-1919"],"accessionNumberNum":"441","accessionNumberPrefix":"T","accessionYear":1919,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-02-11","recordCreationDate":"2009-06-24","availableToBook":false}}