Roziere - fond uni BP300001

This hot air balloon motif is characteristic of the “balloon mania” that swept through the decorative arts after the Montgolfier brothers’ first flights in 1783. The arabesque panel is a recreation of the balloon flown from the Jardin des Tuileries in Paris on the first of December of that year, with two figures waving banners. The original was woodblock-printed on joined paper, probably by the Réveillon factory, whose gardens were used as the take-off site in test flights by Etienne Montgolfier and Pilâtre de Rozier. It is printed on a plain background or on Gisors stripes.