''Indienne'' (, ; , ), was a type of printed or painted textile manufactured in Europe between the 17th and the 19th centuries, inspired by similar textile originally made in India (hence the name).
They received various other names in French such as ''
madras
Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...
'', ''pékin'' (French for
Peking), ''perse'' (French for
Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
), ''gougouran'', ''damas'', and ''cirsacs''. The original Indian techniques for
textile printing
Textile printing is the process of applying Color of clothing, color to textile, fabric in definite patterns or designs. In properly printing, printed fabrics the colour is bonded with the fiber, fibre, so as to resist washing and friction. ...
involved long and complicated processes necessitating the use of
mordants or metallic salts to fix the dyes. The beautiful, vibrant, colors came from the
garance plant for red,
indigo
InterGlobe Aviation Limited (d/b/a IndiGo), is an India, Indian airline headquartered in Gurgaon, Haryana, India. It is the largest List of airlines of India, airline in India by passengers carried and fleet size, with a 64.1% domestic market ...
for blue, and
gaude for yellow.
''Indiennes'' were extremely popular, and attempts at import substitution were soon made. In 1640, Armenian merchants introduced Indian textile printing techniques at the port of Marseilles. Later, England (1670) and Holland (1678) would also adopt the technique.
Their importation and production in France was prohibited through a Royal French Ordinance in 1686 in order to protect the local French woolen and silk cloth industries.
The ''indiennes'' continued to be produced locally despite the heavy prohibition, and were eventually legalized again in 1759.
In France, among the main centers for the manufacture of ''indiennes'' was
Marseille
Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
and the
Republic of Mulhouse (where
DMC was founded).
See also
*
Orientalism in early modern France
References
External links
Indienne textiles in Marseille and Provence (English)Indienne textiles in Barcelona (English, Spanish, Catalan)
{{fabric
Textiles