"Les Coquecigrues"

Oberkampf Manufactory

ca. 1785 · Cotton · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

The unknown designer of this printed cotton combined fantastical creatures (the "coquecigrues" of the title) with a brilliant palette and lush foliate patterns emulating Indian "chintz"– drawn and painted resist and mordant dyed cottons. This appealing block printed design must have proven popular as the Oberkampf manufactory continued to reproduce it on textiles across decades. Indeed, in 1818, three years after the death of the manufactory's founder, Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf (1738–1815), the design was updated with a white ground and used to decorate the bedroom of Oberkampf's adult daughter, Emilie, Mme. Jules Mallet.

Artist

Oberkampf Manufactory

Date

ca. 1785

Medium

Cotton

Culture

French, Jouy-en-Josas

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Rogers Fund, 1927