Color schemes in 19th C French textiles, part 8

As discussed in a previous post, indigo and woad produced beautiful shades of blue. Blue was widely used in porcelain patterns, in toiles by Jouy and was a favorite in rustic ikat woven linens.

Besides the better-known dark indigo blues, paler shades were also used as a background color in printed textiles. Here are a few pieces with pale blue or aqua background. The first is a fantasy print from the Art Nouveau era with water lilies and tsunami waves. The other three pieces are all late-19th century, but with a wide variety of motifs.