About Manufacture Jules Desfossé

Jules Desfossé (d. 1889) is recorded in 1851 to have purchased the stock printing plates and decorations of the Mader wallpaper manufacturer. In 1863 Desfossé became a partner of his bother-in-law Hippolyte Karth, who was himself successor of the Dauptain, Brière, Clerc and Margeridon factories. In 1865 by buying the firm of Kob et Pick, Desfossé inherited the prestigious stock of Dufour, who had been famed in the early 19th century for producing panoramic décors.

In addition to reprinting the celebrated designs of his predecessors, Desfossé was especially keen to create new designs which elevated wallpaper to the realm of fine art by working with established artists to create new designs.

Between 1862 and 1861 Desfossé created panoramic decorations which appealed greatly to the luxuriant tastes of the Second Empire and won him universal admiration, especially through his collaboration with Édouard Muller (1823 – 1876) who designed the panoramic wallpapers of ‘The Winter Garden’ (1853), The Garden of Armida (1854) and ‘The Gallery of Flora’ (1857). Muller had a distinct and exceptionally adept style of rendering flowers naturalistically and was extremely knowledgeable about printing techniques and trompe l’oeil. His densely back floral designs for Desfossé were handprinted by wood block and used as many as 380 different colours.

Desfossé exhibited and was awarded at all the Great Exhibitions of the nineteenth century including Paris in 1855 and 1867 and London in 1862. Wallpaper by Jules Desfossé is preserved in international museum collections including Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, The Philadelphia Museum of Art and the V& A, London.