PLATE XXVI.
From time immemorial, the palm of excellence in all matters of fashion has been awarded to France . Thislong-established reputation has been well sustained by the elegant design and harmonious colouring of thepatterns of printed muslins contributed to the Great Exhibition by Messrs. Depouilly; the history andprogress of whose establishment afford a remarkable illustration of the difference between the steps whichlead to commercial eminence in England and on the other side of the Channel.
Messrs. Depouilly were originally silk-manufacturers at Lyons; and the Jury of the Parisian Expositionof 1819 awarded to them in that capacity a gold medal for the excellence of their garment-stuffs, especiallycommending the novelty and taste of their productions. The quality of taste has always been regarded as avaluable item in the stock of commercial capital in France ; but at the period referred to, we must acknowledgethat its importance was but lightly estimated in this country.
In 1823, the medal previously gained by Messrs. Depouilly was confirmed to them, with flattering remarksby the Jury of the Exposition of that year; and the productions of their establishment acquired so muchpopularity with the Parisian public, that they were induced shortly afterwards to remove to Puteaux , in thedepartment of the Seine , where they gave every variety of finish to woollen, cotton, and silk fabrics. Theyagain received rappels of gold medals at the Expositions of 1830 and 1844.
The peculiar talent of Messrs. Depouilly for seizing and embodying the reigning taste, well fits them toexcel in the immediate atmosphere of Paris . The productions which constantly emanate from their establish-ment, “catch as she flies the Cynthia of the minute/’ and faithfully reflect the fitful movements of French caprice. The term Indienne, used by the French to express the most popular form in which cotton-printingis allied to weaving, demonstrates with sufficient clearness the source from which has been derived the art ofapplying dyes in patterns to goods of a uniform colour.
For many years previous to 1785, printing on cotton had been successfully carried on in England, France ,and Germany , but it was not until that year that the principle of copperplate printing, viz. obtaining theimpression from indented lines instead of from a surface in relief, was adopted.
In 1789 the celebrated Oberkampf was encouraged by Napoleon to establish a printing-factory at Jouy ;and that circumstance led to the congregation in Alsatia of a considerable number of manufacturers, whopursued a growing and lucrative business with great energy and talent. The name of Daniel Koechlin, ofMulhausen, may be regarded as that of the patriarch of French calico-printing. To his skill we are indebtedfor many scientific applications of discharges, resists, mordants, See., upon the details of which it is impossibleto enter in the present notice. To trace the progress of cotton-printing, as recorded in the annals of successiveExpositions of Paris , is, in fact, to find a continued iteration of the name of this great man, who has beenworthily called the James Thompson of France . Around Koechlin were grouped many men whose names are*”classical in the records of French industry, — Gros Davillier, Roman and Co.; Dollfus Meig and Co.; D.Schlumberger and Co.; Hartmann and Co.; and Zuber and Co., may be especially noted as havingdistinguished themselves in the incipient stages of the manufacture.