Bird in a Basket

As many of you may be aware, I’ve tracked the Bird in a Basket fabric for some time. It has been printed as a toile, in different colorways, and sometimes as a pillar print. It was on my list to research at some point. Trust me when I say, there are way too many topics of interest for me to research in my lifetime. However, I was really interested in it because it was next on our list of potential antique fabrics to reproduce as a column chintz.

(Sidenote, we’d like to have an idea of who would be interested in a reproduction of this Bird in a Basket as a Pillar Print. If you are, please send me an email to Info@quiltandtextilecollections.com with the number of yards. If we have enough interest…we’ll reproduce it!)

So, I was so excited and pleased when I saw Terry Tickhill Terrell’s article in the AQSG Blanket Statements on Georges Zipelius and His Beautiful Toiles. (For a more complete version of her article, please see the Summer 2022 issue.) Georges Zipelius (1808-1890) was a French illustrator whose designs included toiles, wallpaper, and more. According to Terry, he is credited with the design of the fabric c.1830 printed by Dollfus-Mieg et Cie as demonstrated by a “chef de piece,” or manufacturing trademark, from a known Zipélius designed textile owned by the Musée De l'Impression Sur Étoffes.

Terry points out that it is a close copy of an 1820 design from the V&A Museum Collection. To differentiate between the French and the British version, note that the English have a pointed bird’s tail and the head is turned to face left. The French fabric the bird’s head is turned to face right. Thanks to Terry’s research you can now tell whether your fabric is French, English, or if we reproduce it American. Don’t forget to let us know, if you’re interested in some yardage of the Bird in a Basket reproduction fabric.