Le Départ de la Garnison: Les Français en Garnison

In the early nineteenth century, the essential garments in a man's wardrobe were increasingly composed of practical and plain woollen textiles, and flamboyant textiles were rarely used except for waistcoats. Banyans, or dressing gowns, however, worn only in private, were still made from decorative textiles.

This banyan is a rare example of a printed Toile de Nantes, intended to be furnishing fabric, but here made up as a very masculine garment, cut to conform to the height of male fashion. The toile - called ‘toile a personnages’ - presents five different scenes: a soldier surprising and embracing a girl; Les Français en Garnison, the French army having fun in a bucolic setting; Le Depart de la Garnison, the moment right before the departure of the army; a small scene with some soldiers on their horses; a soldier saying goodbye to a crying girl. Les Français en Garnison is signed by Jamet sculpt. Very little is known of him: only that there are five toiles of his design known to have survived.

While Jouy, in northern France, became most well known for producing plate-printed cottons, Nantes (in the west) was also an important centre for textile printing in France.