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fur pillows
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fur pillows - (The so-called Bayeux tapestry was actually embroidered. ) At Arras, early in the 14th cent. , the first great French weaving was done, in wool. Soon Brussels achieved prominence and remained important through the 17th cent. , until the rise of the Gobelins works at Paris. By the 15th cent. , tapestry weaving had reached a high degree of perfection, and from this century date many great Gothic sets rich with gold thread. A fine specimen is the set of Burgundian Sacraments; a late 15th-century example of a verdure background is the Lady and the Unicorn set (Musée de Cluny). An example of the Renaissance period is the widely acclaimed set, the Acts of the Apostles, from the cartoons of Raphael. Fine weaving was done at Beauvais in the mid-17th cent. Weavers at Aubusson, France, began in the 16th cent. to make an inferior textile that was gradually improved. The baroque style dominated the 17th cent. ; the rococo and classical styles appeared in the 18th cent. Fine examples were woven from the cartoons of François Boucher, who worked both for the Beauvais and the Gobelins looms. In England much tapestry, known as Arras, was used before any was manufactured there. In the 16th cent. William Sheldon set up works in Warwickshire. An establishment in imitation of the Gobelins was opened at Mortlake in 1619 and employed Flemish weavers. In 1881, William Morris began weaving at Merton; his friend Edward Burne-Jones designed some of Morris’s series. In 1893 tapestry looms were set up in New York City. Some interesting 20th-century tapestries have been woven in France from cartoons by Rouault, Braque, Lurçat, Picasso, and Calder. 7 Important public collections in the United States that contain fine examples of tapestry weaving are those in the Metropolitan Museum (including the magnificent Hunt of the Unicorn series at the Cloisters) and in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. si_lk - fine, translucent, yellowish fiber produced by the si_lkworm in making its cocoon and covered with sericin, a protein. Many varieties of si_lk-spinning worms and insects are known, but the si_lkworm of commerce is the larva of the Bombyx mori, or mulberry si_lkworm, and other closely related moths. Wild si_lk is the product of the tussah worm of India and China, which feeds on oaks. It is now semicultivated, as groves of dwarf trees are provided for its feeding. It spins a coarser, flatter, yellower filament than the Bombyx mori, and the color does not boil out with the gum. Tussah si_lk is a rough, durable, washable fabric known as shantung or pongee. In si_lk manufacture, the first operation is reeling. The cocoons, having been sorted for color and texture, are steamed or placed in warm water to soften the natural gum. They are then unwound; each cocoon may give from 2,000 to 3,000 ft (610–915 m) of filament, from 4 to 18 strands of which are reeled or twisted together to make an even thread strong enough to handle. This is called raw si_lk. Formerly a hand process, this work is now done in Europe and in some parts of the Orient in factories on simple machines called filatures. The next step, called thr_owing, is prepari_ng the raw si_lk for the loom by twisting and doubling it to the required strength and thickness. This process also is now mostly done in large mills with specialized machinery. si_lk, after thr_owing, has three forms—singles, which are untwisted, used for the warp of very delicate fabrics; tram, two or more singles, twisted and doubled, used for the weft of various fabrics; and organzine, made of singles twisted one way, then doubled and twisted in the opposite direction, used for the warp of heavy fabrics. For sewing and embroidery thread, more doubles and smoother twists are made. In modern factories spinning frames complete the preparation for the loom. The si_lk is boiled off in soapsuds to remove gum and prepare it for dyeing. For white and pale tints it must be bleached. Scouri_ng or boiling causes loss of weight, sometimes made up by loading with metallic salts, as tin, which has an affinity for si_lk and can be absorb_ed to excess, causing weakening of the fiber. Dyeing may be done in the yarn or in the piece. Finishing processes are varying and important, as in making moires. Weaving is done as with other textiles, but on more delicate and specialized looms. Fabrics made are plain weaves (taffeta, pongee), cords (faille, poplin), gauzes (net malines), pile fabrics (plush, velvet), crepes, satins, damask, ribbons, and brocade. Some of these weaves are ancient, developed on the shuttle looms of China and the handlooms of India, Greece, and Europe. In Europe and Asia the handloom is still used for the finest fabrics. Japan and China lead in the production of raw si_lk, with India, Italy, and France following. The United States is the largest importer. Sericulture (the culture of the si_lkworm) and the weaving of si_lk have been practiced in China from a remote period. Legend dates this back to 2640 B. C. , to Empress Si Ling-chi, who not only encouraged the culture of the si_lkworm but also developed the process of reeling from the cocoon. This was a closely guarded secret for some 3,000 years. si_lk seems to have been woven very early on the island of Kós, which Aristotle mentions, in a vague description of the si_lkworm, as the place where si_lk was first spun, In the 1st and 2d cent. A. D. si_lk fabrics imported to Greece and Rome were sold for fabulous prices. Up to the 6th cent. raw si_lk was brought from China, but death was the penalty for exporting si_lkworm eggs. About A. D. 550 two former missionaries to China, incited by Emperor Justinian, succeeded (says Procopius) in smuggling to Constantinople, in a hollow staff, both the eggs of the si_lkworm and the seeds of the mulberry tree. Byzantium became famous for splendid si_lken textiles and embroideries, used throughout medieval Europe for royal and ecclesiastical costumes and f_urnishings. In the 8th cent. the Moors began to carry the arts of si_lk culture and weaving across the northern coast of Africa and to Spain and Sicily, and in the 12th cent. Spain and Sicily were weaving si_lks of exquisite texture and design. Other areas of Europe subsequently became great weaving centers. Lucca, in N Italy, had established looms by the 13th cent. , and in the 14th cent. the city became famous for its materials and designs. Florence and Venice followed and wove sumptuous fabrics and velvets enriched with gold thread. Genoa’s velvets became well known. France established looms, and under Louis XIV’s minister Jean Baptiste Colbert it set the fashion with its beautiful si_lks. Lyons in S France became an important weaving center.
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