PANORAMIC WALLPAPER PANEL, EXOTIC SCENE, ZUBER & CIE

Very large panel of Zuber panoramic wallpaper, from the famous suite"L'Hindoustan"(or "Décor des Indes", sometimes called "L'Inde") created by the Zuber & Cie factory in Rixheim in 1807, based on designs attributed to Pierre-Antoine Mongin (1761-1827).

The "Hindustan" suite is one of the very first large panoramic compositions published by Zuber, in the wake of the exotic panoramas that fascinated Europe in the early 19th century. It offers an imaginary journey through India and the West Indies: lush landscapes, scenes of local life, picturesque costumes, tropical fauna and oriental buildings.

This panel, typical of the "Hindustan" series, presents a scene of colonial daily life in a tropical landscape. In the center, an elegant horse-drawn carriage crosses the scene, preceded by a rider at full speed on his horse, followed by a dog. To the left, a man leads a donkey loaded with baskets; beside him, another figure runs barefoot. On the right, two female figures and a standing male figure in striped pants, typical of slaves or plantation workers in the West Indies and India at the time. In the background, a majestic three-masted ship anchored in the bay, with a mountainous backdrop evocative of landscapes in the Indies or French West Indies. An abundance of palms, banana trees, tropical trees and bamboo add to the lush, exotic feel of the scene.

The decor is printed on woodcut plates (several hundred different ones), then hand-colored using Zuber's traditional technique, guaranteeing both depth and richness in the pictorial treatment.

This wallpaper is not only a decorative work of art, but also a precious testimony to French craftsmanship and the history of panoramic wallpaper: Zuber & Cie, founded in 1790 and based in Rixheim, Alsace, since 1797, is a manufacturer renowned for its hand-printed panoramic decors using traditional techniques. The Zuber factory is the only one in the world to have maintained the tradition of block printing for the creation of panoramic decors. This artisanal technique, using carved wooden boards, gives each piece unrivalled quality and depth. The factory's archives hold some 130,000 documents, testifying to the richness and diversity of its creations over more than two centuries.