I have a weakness for old fabrics. Specifically old french fabrics.
In our travels over the years--we have come across old toile--and I have bought some, sold some and kept some.
This is a highlight of a french bed curtain that I picked up at the fabulous Shepton Mallet market in the UK a few years ago. It is a great cream background, with delightful country scenes of frolicking children and milkmaids and farmers. Everybody is happy.
This particular piece is hand stitched and dates from the early 19th century. The patterns were meant to idealize country living and the free spirits of the french countryside. From the folklore stories we have heard about milkmaids and the farmer's son-- I guess there was alot of frolicking going on.
This was a scallopped edge drape for the top of a bed I think. The reverse is also covered in fabric--and not faded--which leads me to believe it was not hung in a window but in a bed.
Nowadays--these can be draped on the back of a sofa, or over a window or on a headboard.
Toile comes in a multitude of colors--and my favorites are red, blue and a sort of mulberry color. Every good textile fair in England has some stall holder who takes fragments of toile and fashions them into pillows.
The happy country life is still the ideal isn't it??
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