Calico

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Calico (textile)
)
For other uses, see Calico (disambiguation).

The weave of calico sample from a shopping bag shown against a centimetre scale

Calico (/ˈkælɪkoʊ/; in British usage since 1505)[1] is a heavy[2] plain-woven textile made from unbleached, and often not fully processed, cotton. It may also contain unseparated husk parts. The fabric is far coarser than muslin, but less coarse and thick than canvas or denim. However, it is still very cheap owing to its unfinished and undyed appearance.

The fabric was originally from the city of

Calicut in southwestern India. It was made by the traditional weavers called cāliyans. The raw fabric was dyed and printed in bright hues, and calico prints became popular in Europe
.

History

Origins

Calico originated in

Egypt Eyalet under the Ottoman Empire.[3] Trade with Europe followed from the 17th century onwards.[3]

Politics of cotton in the British Empire

In the 18th century, England was famous for its

weft with linen warp were specifically permitted by the 1736 Manchester Act
.

In 1764, 1,755,580 kg (3,870,392 lb) of cottonwool was imported.[7] This change in consumption patterns, as a result of the restriction on imported finished goods, was a key part of the process that reduced the Indian economy from sophisticated textile production to the mere supply of raw materials. These events occurred under colonial rule, which started after 1757, and were described by Nehru and also some more recent scholars as "de-industrialization".[8]

Calico printing

Sample of calico printed with a six-colour machine by Walter Crum & Co., from Frederick Crace Calvert, Dyeing and Calico Printing (1878)

Early Indian chintz, that is, glazed calico with a large floral pattern, was primarily produced using painting techniques.[9] Later, the hues were applied by wooden blocks, and the cloth manufacturers in Britain printed calico using wooden block printing. Calico printers at work are depicted in one of the stained glass windows made by Stephen Adam for the Maryhill Burgh Halls, Glasgow.[10] Confusingly, linen and silk printed this way were known as linen calicoes and silk calicoes. Early European calicoes (1680) were cheap plain weave white cotton fabric, or cream or unbleached cotton, with a design block-printed using a single alizarin dye fixed with two mordants, giving a red and black pattern. Polychromatic prints were possible, using two sets of blocks and an additional blue dye. The Indian taste was for dark printed backgrounds, while the European market preferred a pattern on a cream base. As the century progressed the European preference moved from the large chintz patterns to smaller, tighter patterns.[11]

combines. In the first, three Scottish firms formed the United Turkey Red Co. Ltd in 1897, and the second, in 1899, was the much larger Calico Printers' Association 46 printing concerns and 13 merchants combined, representing 85% of the British printing capacity.[13] Some of this capacity was removed[how?] and in 1901 Calico had 48% of the printing trade. In 1916, they and the other printers formed and joined a trade association, which then set minimum prices for each 'price section' of the industry.[citation needed
]

The trade association remained in operation until 1954, when the arrangement was challenged by the government

Monopolies Commission. Over the intervening period much trade had been lost overseas.[14]

Terminology

Calico printing

In the UK, Australia and New Zealand:

  • Calico – simple, cheap equal weft and warp plain weave fabric in white, cream or unbleached cotton
  • Calico bag - a bag made of calico used by banks and other financial institutions
  • Muslin – a very fine, light plain weave cotton fabric
  • Muslin gauze – US: muslin – simple, cheap equal weft and warp plain weave fabric in white, cream or unbleached cotton and/or a very fine, light plain weave cotton fabric
  • Gauze – extremely soft and fine cotton fabric with a very open plain weave
  • Cheesecloth – US: gauze – any very light fabric, generally with a plain weave
  • Tote Bag - sometimes made of calico

In the US:

  • Calico – cotton fabric with a small, all-over floral print[15]
  • Muslin – UK: muslin gauze – simple, cheap equal weft and warp plain weave fabric in white, cream or unbleached cotton and/or a very fine, light plain weave cotton fabric
  • Muslin gauze – the very lightest, most open weave of muslin
  • Gauze – UK: cheesecloth – any very light fabric, generally with a plain weave
  • Cheesecloth – extremely soft and fine cotton fabric with a very open plain weave

Printed calico was imported into the United States from Lancashire in the 1780s, and here a linguistic separation occurred. While Europe maintained the word calico for the fabric, in the States it was used to refer to the printed design.[11]

These colourful, small-patterned printed fabrics gave rise to the use of the word calico to describe a cat coat colour: calico cat. The patterned fabric also gave its name to two species of North American crabs; see Ovalipes ocellatus.[11]

See also

References

  1. ISBN 9780191623172
    . Retrieved 16 January 2014.
  2. ^ Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English ISBN 019 431 5339, 2000, page 166
  3. ^ a b c d Encyclopædia Britannica (2008). "calico".
  4. ISBN 9780313336652
    .
  5. ^ a b Espinasse 1874, p. 296
  6. ^ Espinasse 1874, p. 298
  7. ^ Espinasse 1874, p. 299
  8. doi:10.3386/w10586
    .
  9. ^ a b Turnbull, A History of Calico Printing in Great Britain, 1951.
  10. ^ "Maryhill Burgh Halls: Historic Stained Glass". Maryhill Burgh Halls. 18 March 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  11. ^ a b c "You searched for calico, Muslin, gauze".
  12. ^ Glover, Stephen (1831). The history and gazetteer of the county of Derby. p. 216. Retrieved 26 November 2009.
  13. ^ "Calico Printers Association - Graces Guide". www.gracesguide.co.uk.
  14. ^ Hughes, William (13 April 1954). Report on the Process of Calico Printing. House of Commons, London: Monopolies and Restrictive Practices Commission. Archived from the original on 21 January 2012. Retrieved 8 December 2010.
  15. ISBN 0-13-118769-4

External links

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