From Jo'burg with Love

I stumbled across this unusual toile fabric by South African Kalika Painter this week and was struck by its outspoken originality. Not only does she revive to fantastic effect the toile de jouy designs of 18th France (mentioned not so long ago here at the Poppy Club  - see the the "Right Honourable Wall Tile" blog post for more), but she has done so to produce a new type of cityscape, depicting street scenes and landmarks from her native Johannesburg. Describing the design as being "by Jo'burg lovers, for Jo'burg lovers", Painter is proud of the 100% South African origin of the cloth, it being hand-printed and produced locally. I think the orange version could make for some seriously sriking cushions and seat covers. Something tells me that Toile de Jouy revival will soon be all the rage...