Nantes’ Atlantic slave trade was reliant on every economic activity linked to the port, and several industries developed in its wake. Some obvious examples are ship building and sugar refineries, but one of the most implicated without a doubt was textile printing.
The development of Nantes’ indienneries, both big and small, went hand in hand with the slave trade, and mirrored the latter’s market fluctuations. This growth stopped when slavery was first abolished in 1794. The Revolution was in full swing. But it remained an irrefutable opportunity for textile manufacturers, who would continue to offer their services ship owners. The industry therefore continued illegally, with a vast catalogue of motifs and textiles to satisfy its clients’ expectations
Competition was fierce between manufacturers, several of whom closed down at the end of the XVIII century. Only a handful were left in Nantes during the first half of the XIX century, including Favre Petitpierre et Compagnie, Dubey, Dubern et Compagnie, Gorgerat Frères et Compagnie and Ferdinand Favre Petitpierre et Compagnie, the latter closing their doors in 1848. Their main competitor closed down three years earlier, unable to keep up with the changing French and European décor and fashion tastes, or to stay afloat once the Atlantic slave trade ended. The indienneries disappeared from the city. The cotton mills which had been established after 1785 to support the sector, and which were the location of the port’s first industrial mechanisation process did not survive the definitive end of the slave trade either.
Translation: Tilly O'Neill
