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extiles beautify a space, but certain ones instruct. I am speaking of Toiles de Jouy, the late eighteenth century printed fabrics, still in production today, which grace Copse Hill, artist Alexander Creswell's house in Surrey, England (see previous article). The toiles were the invention of Creswell's ancestors, the Oberkampf family, of Bavarian descent, who set up a cel- ebrated textile factory at Jouy-en-Josas, near the river 'La Bievre,' just five years after the publication of Diderot's En- cyclopedia in 1760. The latter revealed, through engraved illustrated plates, the workings of trades such as that prac- ticed at Jouy. In turn, the fabrics printed at Jouy evince a philosophy and aesthetic—that of conveying information or instruction through a visual tableau vivant or vignette— the same as that employed by Diderot. Toiles de Jouy draw upon true stories, novels, operas or legends to depict scenes with characters, monochrome designs that are as much tale as ornament. With the advent of the copper plate printing process in 1770, big patterns with very finely detailed designs were made possible; hence, the often complex narrative element in a Toile de Jouy pattern. At Copse Hill, the toile which comprises the dining room curtains is printed with Travaux de la Manufacture design, showing the Oberkampfs' Jouey-en-Jonas textile mills. HYLAND