Description:
One of two pieces of copperplate-printed, red and white, plain weave cotton (toile de jouy) said to be in the pattern of "Le Combat de la Motte-picquet. Petitpierre Freres et Cie, Nantes. 1782." This fragment is not an entire selvage (woven) width of cloth, although there is one selvage edge on the proper right side of the fragment, which measures 88" long by about 29 1/2" wide. This fragment is pieced with two different copperplate-printed scenes, the most prominent of which is Le Combat de la Motte-Picquet. The vertical repeat measures 21 1/2" long. The distance between the outside selvage edge and where the printing on that edge begins is 1". Copperplate printed cottons (sometimes cotton and linen) were some of the earliest successes that English and European printers had with printing. Sometimes the cotton fabrics were imported into England for printing, though by the late 18th century, English advances in cotton spinning and weaving gradually allowed for cottons woven there to be used. This cotton is fairly fine, measuring about 48 ends per inch (epi) for the warp, and 44 threads per inch (tpi) in the weft. It is possible the cloth was woven in India.

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