A little history of the Provençal designs

The colorful designs, prints and jacquard weaves of southern France that trigger such deep seated longings to visit this region actually originated long ago in a different country, India. The first shipments of these designs arrived in the early 17th century, as samples delivered through the French port of Marseille.  The French royalty soon fell in love with them and somewhat later, the designs became the rage of the French royalty.  Though the print forms of these fabrics are now used for home décor, the trend three hundred years ago was to make them into apparel.  The textiles were known as "les indiennes,", that is, the Indian prints. The royals brought Armenian dyers and fabric makers into France to make production a truly domestic industry.
​The Armenians initially shared their knowledge of dyes from natural materials and woodblock stamping techniques with local producers. Later, in 1790, Joseph-Marie Jacquard, a French inventor, patented sophisticated looms to weave intricate designs into the actual fabrics, to create damasks, brocades, and now, for the common kitchen, the woven torchon, dish towels with intricate only in France designs.

​Today, centuries later, one can find various styles of these prints throughout southern France. Among the most typical patterns are:
​--the all over design, that is, a repeated pattern stamped all over the fabric.
​--a bordered design, that is, a colorful border either sewn or stamped or printed around the circumference of the tablecloth.
​--linear designs, that is stripes of repeated motifs on a colorful background.
--jacquard wovens, with an actual design embedded into the weave of the fabric.

​The main factory regions over more than 200 years were centered in Aix, Avignon, Orange and Tarascon, as these cities were found within Provence, then a separate Vatican controlled area rather than the rule of French royalty. The French royals had banned the production for a 73-year period in response to lobbying from French wool and silk makers, so local producers relocated to these areas. Local designs evolving during this period include the "bastide", which is typified by repeating rings of  paisleys, evocative of the design of fortified towns in the south of France.