Oberkampf Collection

Oberkampf Collection

My exploration of Oberkampf began with a Mother’s Day present: a 1940’s edition of Persian and Indian inspired designs, copied from Oberkampf’s 18th century patterns. These patterns were used extensively at Versailles, in Marie Antoinette’s apartments.
Those familiar with Paris know Oberkampf as the 11th arrondissement, the location of Père Lachaise Cemetery.
Though you might not be familiar with his name, you’ve seen his patterns, he’s known as the Father of Toile. His designs remain popular today, essentials for French Country style home décor.
Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf was born in 1738 in Wiesenbach, Bavaria. He came from a long line of German fabric dyers. All of his extended family was involved in the textile industry.
Printed cottons were all the rage in Europe, but their massive importation from India had devastating effects on the local textile industry. So, European entrepreneurs were determined to develop local manufacture, printing cottons, linens, and cotton linen blends. These fabrics were known as toile and chintz, printed with exotic floral designs and copies of paintings.
When he was age eleven, Oberkampf was taken by his father to Basle to learn drawing and engraving, beginning his career in producing many of Europe’s most recognizable textile patterns.
At 18, he left his father’s employ for Mulhouse, an Alsatian center of textile production. At the Cour d’Lorraine factory, he expanded his copper engraving skills. But after just six months, young Christophe was off to Paris.
Soon he was a master engraver at a shop near Versailles, the center of conspicuous consumption of luxury products. With partners, he founded his own factory in a village in Normandy, Jouy, where he would spend the rest of his life.
His factory became world famous, producing Toile de Jouy in styles that defined Roccoco and later NeoClassical fashion.
Oberkampf was innovative, combining wood block and copperplate printing techniques.
He experimented with dyes, creating a successful green dying method, a difficult color to produce with consistency.
In 1785 Oberkampf invented the first machine for printing wallpaper.
Oberkampf's production peaked by 1799, when he employed two thousand workers.
He died in 1815. The factory declined under his son, who sold the factory in 1822. It finally went bankrupt in 1843.
My old book became an inspiration for a line of home décor and gift products. I kept the aged look of the old book in many of the designs.
We make products for every room in the house and every member of the family. We also produce a variety of materials for you to use in your own craft designs.
I enjoy my work because it gives me an excuse to learn about artists and craftsmen of the past, such as Oberkampf. We also do modern designs and custom work using your artwork.
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