1780 Michelle de Bonneuil - SunBurn

1770s Floral Cotton for Italian Gown

This elegant floral design is inspired by an original late 18th-century textile fragment preserved in museum collections. The colourway, known as SunBurn, reflects how natural dyes have aged over time, where greens have softened and shifted, creating a muted yet highly characteristic historical palette.

The flowing ribbons, delicate florals, and scattered insects capture the refined decorative language of the 1770s–1780s. The softened tones give the fabric an authentic lived-in quality, echoing how such textiles appear today after more than two centuries.

Well suited for

Perfect for Italian gowns (open robes), robe à l’anglaise, and other late 18th-century dress styles. Also well suited for petticoats, stomachers, and historical interiors where a soft yet expressive floral pattern is desired.

Design & Historical Context

The original textile was created using a complex chintz technique: mordants applied by hand for multiple reds, purples, and black, followed by madder dyeing. Blue was applied over resist, and yellow layered over blue to achieve green tones, all on plain weave cotton. This reflects both the craftsmanship and the evolving appearance of historical dyes over time.

Reference Person
Michelle Sentuary (Michelle de Bonneuil), born 1748 in Sainte-Suzanne, Île Bourbon, was a French overseas agent and a notable figure during the French Revolution. Known for her beauty and influence, she moved within important intellectual and political circles and became associated with several counter-revolutionary efforts in the early 1790s.