Rare set of three enameled Talabot-Persoz-Rogeat dessicateur - Lot 122

Rare set of three enameled Talabot-Persoz-Rogeat dessicateur tank plates from the Condition des Soies de Lyon, second half of the 19th century, Developed in 1831, the dessicateur is a steam-powered machine used to dry silk in order to determine its weight and price as accurately as possible. The enamelled decorations on the cast-iron plates depict all the stages in the silk weaving process, and are the work of Lyonnais painter Antoine Vollon (1833-1900), inspired by illustrations in a travel diary from an 1843 trade mission to China. The Musée des Tissus holds many plates from the Conditions des Soies silk factory, which ceased operations in the 1970s. In 2012, the museum exhibited for the first time two complete desiccators, 71.5 x 41 cm.