I love toile, that's pronounced...twahl...I dream about it. I even like saying it, it kinda rolls off your tongue. I'm a sucker for the quaintness of the scenes of lovers in gardens and children with their farm animals.
I'm always looking for new and different toile, specifically looking for one I haven't seen before. I'm partial to black and white, which was the original color they used in the making of this lovely scenic fabric. I actually wallpapered my master bath with black and white toile. I even covered the lamp shades and waste basket with it AND I hung drapery panels in my living room!
So many decorating applications....I just love toile!
Credit for toile goes to a man by the name of Oberkamp, in the town of Jouy-en-Josas, near Paris, France, thus, "Toile de Jouy" (zhoo-E) or "Provence fabrics".
Oberkamp's lead artist, Jean-Baptiste Huet (1745-1811) created images on oriental subjects (this is called "chinoiserie"), pastoral fields, country scenes, agricultural animals, farming tools, flowers, and romantic scenes of Provence. Many of Huet's designs are still in use today.
Toile fabric was originally made by block printing but was replaced with newer machinery of copper sheets mounted on rollers to create a continuous print.
I wrote a blog on Charles Faudree's Cavalier Toile, which features his Cavalier King Charles Spaniel dogs, Nicholas & Ruby. It draws inspiration and reference from traditional pastoral toile etchings and a scene from an antique French map.
At Patio Lane, we carry many different toiles. Some of our most popular are from Brunschwig & Fils and Vervain.
Need more inspiration?