DDFAS Talk at the RIA: Toile and Trouble

toile and trouble

Tomorrow evening in the Royal Irish Academy member’s room, John Gibson, Chairman of the Dublin Decorative and Fine Arts Society, will give a talk entitled ‘Toile and Trouble: The Story of Toile de Jouy’.

Ever since it’s invention by Francis Nixon in Drumcondra in 1752, Toile de Jouy has been more than just a home furnishing fabric. It has chronicled the leisure and interests of the bourgeoisie of the period, from the pastoral ideal of picnicking in the countryside, to hot air ballooning, contemporary literature, opera, and theatre. It has also been used by those seeking to subvert the establishment, as reflected by American revolutionary and other republican designs. New generations of designers continued this tradition, from Ireland’s Sybil Connolly to New Yorker Sheila Bridges, whose Harlem Toile is pictured above. Our chairman, John Gibson, will explore the Irish origins and continuing relevance of this most unlikely of contested grounds.

  • Wednesday the 7th of October, The Royal Irish Academy, 19 Dawson St.
  • Doors open at 6.30 pm and the lecture begins at 7 pm sharp.
  • Please R.S.V.P. to [email protected]