This hot air balloon motif is characteristic of the “balloon mania” that swept through the decorative arts after the Montgolfier brothers’ first flights in 1783. The arabesque panel is a recreation of the balloon flown from the Jardin des Tuileries in Paris on the first of December of that year, with two figures waving banners. The original was woodblock-printed on joined paper, probably by the Réveillon factory, whose gardens were used as the take-off site in test flights by Etienne Montgolfier and Pilâtre de Rozier. It is printed on a plain background or on Gisors stripes.