Jean-Gabriel Charvet

The wallpaper was shown in Paris at the Exposition des produits de I’industrie francaise in 1806. Charvet died in Tournon-sur-Rhône, France in 1829.

He was born in Serrières, Ardèche, France. He studied at the École de Dessin in Lyon under the French artist Donat Nonnotte (1708–1785) and worked as a designer for the French wallpaper manufacturer Joseph Dufour et Cie (1752–1827) of Mâcon, France. In 1773, Charvet travelled to Guadeloupe in the Caribbean on business for his uncle, and stayed for four years producing many studies of native flora and fauna, as well as landscapes. By 1785, he had established a drawing school in Annonay, south of Lyon. Annonay had been a papermaking region since the Sixteenth Century.

• Illustration — An example of the complex design and layering of printed colours in Les Sauvages de la Mer Pacifique. Detail from panel 12 of Les Sauvages depicting inhabitants of the Straits of Prince William, now known as the Gulf of Alaska.

Les Sauvages de la Mer Pacifique (Les Sauvages) is a scenic panoramic wallpaper designed by Jean-Gabriel Charvet and produced by Joseph Dufour et Cie between 1804 and 1805 in Mâcon, France. Les Sauvages was one of the first panoramic wallpapers ever produced, premiering at the French Industrial Exposition in 1806. As such, the judge Jean-Baptiste de Nompère de Champagny noted that it was unusual in style and medium describing it as, “perhaps the most curious example of this art”. It was one of the largest panoramic wallpapers produced at this time, consisting of twenty panels and measuring over ten meters in length and over two meters high. Endless paper was not available on a commercial scale until 1810, therefore, the large panels were made from handmade linen rag paper which was joined at the edges. A light blue water-based ground was applied to the paper before the woodblocks printed the design using vivid colour pigments like green verditer and Prussian blue. Designs for each shade of colour were carved from separate blocks and printed in layers in order to achieve a detailed design and naturalistic depiction of light and shade. The conservation department at the National Gallery of Australia reported that up to seven different shades were used to achieve naturalistic gradients in skin tone in order to imitate depth of form.

Les Sauvages depicts First Nation's people from throughout the Pacific set in a fictional tropical setting. The work was inspired by the exploration voyages of Captain James Cook between 1768 and 1779 and Jean François de La Pérouse in 1785. Following these expeditions, the Pacific captured the imagination of Europe and America and was the inspiration for literature, plays and images which reached a wide audience. Images produced by official voyage artists like John Webber were engraved and published, inspiring other exotic Pacific depictions like the Tableau des decouvertes du Capne. Cook & de la Perouse by Jacques Grasset de Saint-Sauveur. Similarities in the colour palette and figurative vignettes in Les Sauvages indicate that Saint-Sauveur's Tableau may have inspired the work. Primary sources, like the wallpaper's accompanying prospectus produced by Joseph Dufour in 1806, indicate that the subject of exploration and representations of the Pacific were very popular with a nineteenth century audience. The interest was encouraged by Enlightenment philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s notion of the noble savage and the Pacific as a moral utopian civilization. Les Sauvages perpetuates Rousseau’s stereotype, depicting homogenized races, living in harmony and peace. Les Sauvages also demonstrates another contradictory Enlightenment ideal of pride in man’s scientific innovations, indicated by the celebration of exploration. The depiction of the Pacific seen in Les Sauvages is typical of the period, celebrating progress and innovation as well as a nostalgia for an imagined utopian past. During the early nineteenth century there was a revival of the artistic style and ideals of the classical world, spurred by the excavation of sites like Pompeii in 1748 which uncovered stylised frescoes, mosaics and sculptures. Les Sauvages demonstrates this influence through its neoclassical style. This style can be seen in the illusion of depth created by the use of lighter shades of colour in the background, the balanced composition and the figures appearing rounded and flesh-like. The work imitates the natural world through the use of chiaroscuro, illustrating a light source which naturally illuminates and shadows the figures, fauna and the landscape. • Illustration — Les Sauvages de la Mer Pacifique was installed by the Francois-Emmanuel, vicomte de Toulongeon in 1804 in the parlour of his French Chateau which is now the Musée departmental d’arts et traditions populaires, Champlitte Haute Saone.

Within Dufour’s prospectus, he articulates that the aim of the wallpaper was to provide aesthetic pleasure and education. Dufour notes that “without leaving his apartment, a studious man reading the history of the voyages… might think himself… in the presence of the depicted people”. This suggested value of education and self-improvement paired with commercial availability indicate that the intended clientele of Les Sauvages was middle class. Notably, the development of panoramic wallpaper was cheaper to produce and install than custom made tapestries or murals and thus was a more accessible form of wall decoration. Additionally, the Pacific motif was extremely popular and appealed to the fashions and philosophies of the time. Despite pedagogical intentions, it is clear from the neoclassical costumes, generalised setting and homogenized racial cultures that this wallpaper was developed to “please the eye” more than to convey an accurate depiction of the Pacific. The wallpaper was most commonly hung in shared or social spaces in the home like parlours. This wallpaper became popular and hundreds of copies were produced and sold to consumers in France, England and America. The depiction of native peoples from Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti and Alaska in Les Sauvages made it interesting to audiences. The success of this work marked the start of the successful panoramic scenic wallpaper industry, with Joseph Dufour & Cie and Zuber & Cie among the notable prolific producers.

William Bligh of Mutiny on the Bounty fame was sailing master on HMS Resolution (depicted in panel 8), and explorer George Vancouver was a 21-year-old midshipman on HMS Discovery.