Amédée Couder : dessinateur pour étoffes

Exhibition at the Musée de la Toile de Jouy, Jouy-en-Josas, 19 June 2026 – 10 January 2027

Regarded as one of the first pattern designers to work in an independent studio and offer his services to manufacturers, Amédée Couder (1800–1864) thus played a major role in the history of the decorative arts, leaving behind a rich legacy. Against the backdrop of France’s industrial boom, the artist is known for having adapted the woven palmette and boteh motifs found on cashmere shawls – which were very much in vogue in the 19th century – for printing on fabrics. He also founded a design studio specialising in patterns for the textile and decorative industries, where numerous artists worked.

Through the presentation of over 50 textile, graphic and technical works, as well as archival documents, this exhibition catalogue compares Couder’s work with that of other contemporary industrial designers and highlights the relationships that all these artists maintained with 19th-century Parisian textile printing workshops. The book also highlights his collaborations with the leading manufacturers of the time, such as the Jouy factory, offering an insight into the origins of modern industrial design.