DOCSLIB.ORG

First Impressions: the Prohibition on Printed Calicoes in France, 1686-1759 Gillian Crosby

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
First Impressions: the Prohibition on Printed Calicoes in France, 1686-1759 Gillian Crosby First Impressions: The Prohibition on Printed Calicoes in France, 1686-1759 Gillian Crosby A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Nottingham Trent University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy July 2015 Copyright statement This work is the intellectual property of the author. You may copy up to 5% of this work for private study, or personal, non-commercial research. Any re-use of the information contained within this document should be fully referenced, quoting the author, title, university, degree level and pagination. Queries or requests for any other use, or if a more substantial copy is required, should be directed to the owner of the Intellectual Property Rights. Abstract This thesis examines the French prohibition on both importing printed cotton from India and printing it in France between 1686 and 1759, an interdiction significantly longer than any other European country, and challenges the portrayal of the ban as a sustained protectionist measure for the anciennes manufactures. Although it was undeniably instigated for this reason, the ban was prolonged due to conflicting government policies, vested interests and an overriding fear for France’s reputation for high-quality products. The study shows that attacking a fledgling, technically incompetent industry conveniently concealed that the textiles trades’ loss of skilled workers and markets were the result of decades of a poor economic situation. The examination of primary sources has revealed how the government unwittingly handicapped the state-controlled French East India Company, whose main cargo was cotton, and the repeated granting of exemptions as appeasement negated the possibility of effective law enforcement and engendered perpetual confusion. Restricting the public’s use of the fabrics only excited demand, and the challenges of enforcing the ban and eradicating the banned merchandise are explored through a case study of Nantes. The correspondence of officials has revealed the extent to which provincial application of the law was discretionary, and evidence from prosecutions has shown that women of lower social status were particularly vulnerable. Significantly, this study has also uncovered that enforcement was indeed frequent and widespread, and that the severest sentences have been masked in prosecutions for other types of contraband. The complex processes involved in imitating Indian techniques, and the widely accepted method of transfer of technology from Asia are re-examined, confirming that French cotton prints were technically inferior throughout the period, and concurrent development to other European nations should not be assumed. The study has also revealed that a greater amount of the indiennes were used as furnishings than imagined, that different qualities circulated, and also that covert printing was mainly carried out on linen, which has been greatly overlooked. French printing continued to be inferior for decades, and the conclusions made on prohibition-era products based on later samples must be questioned. iii Table of Contents List of Tables ………………………………..vi Chapter 1: Commerce & Control ........................................................................................... 1 Organisation of the thesis ................................................................................................. 5 Previous authors’ work on the ban ................................................................................... 8 The development of commerce with Asia ..................................................................... 13 The textile trades in seventeenth-century France ........................................................... 20 The social relevance of the new materials ..................................................................... 28 Chapter 2: Contradiction & Confusion ................................................................................ 34 The Compagnie des Indes Orientales ............................................................................. 34 The Conseil de Commerce ............................................................................................. 38 1686-1690: The imposition of the ban and its aftermath ............................................... 42 1690-1700: The increasing contraband trade .................................................................. 52 1700-1706: Ineffective measures of control ................................................................... 57 Chapter 3: Provincial Enforcement of the Prohibition ........................................................ 74 Nantes in the Early Eighteenth Century: The hub of the Compagnie .............................................................................................. 74 A gateway for smuggled goods ....................................................................................... 93 iv Chapter 4: Technological Challenges ............................................................................... 100 Technical aspects of printing cotton ............................................................................ 103 Early European textile printing .................................................................................... 109 French envoys to India ................................................................................................. 117 Chapter 5: Contraband & Counterfeiting ........................................................................... 123 Increases in covert printing .......................................................................................... 128 The disdain of the ruling elite ...................................................................................... 135 Chapter 6: Imitation & Experimentation ........................................................................... 148 Clandestine activity and technical developments ........................................................ 149 An aristocratic atelier ................................................................................................... 156 Increasing technical competency ................................................................................. 162 Chapter 7: Debate & Dissent ............................................................................................. 169 Fashion’s Empire: the ‘Quarrel of the Calicoes’........................................................... 176 The end of the prohibition ............................................................................................. 182 Chapter 8: The Consequences of Repression .................................................................... 192 Bibliography ...................................................................................................................... 205 v List of Tables Table 1: List of goods in an inventory of indiennes in the possession of Paris merchants declared for permission to sell in June 1705. ......................... 70 Table 2: Analysis of the colours and patterns of clothing confiscated from citizens arrested for wearing toiles peintes in Nantes on May 26 and 27, 1713. .. 85 Table 3: Analysis of the clothing of women arrested for wearing ‘toiles des Indes’ in Rennes, August 25 to September 1, 1721. ........................................... 87 Table 4: Cost of producing cottons suitable for printing in France, compiled by the Rouen cotton merchants, and commissioned by the Intendant of Commerce, in 1755. .............................................................................. 179 Table 5: Summary of the duties and exemptions on foreign and domestic cotton in the rulings of 1759-1760. ....................................................................... 184 vi CHAPTER 1 Commerce & Control In the eighteenth century, the exquisite French Toiles de Jouy printed cottons gave their name to a whole genre of fabric prints, and today the name is still synonymous with classic floral designs for furnishings and clothing.1 (Figures 1 and 2.) The history of this industry in France from 1760 onwards is well documented, particularly of the factory of German- born entrepreneur Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf at Jouy-en-Josas, near Paris, and his contemporaries in Alsace, which produced printed textiles on a grand scale.2 The preceding seventy-three years, from 1686 to 1759, when importing patterned cotton from Asia was banned, and printing on all fabrics was prohibited in France, has been less studied. More than eighty rulings during that time vainly sought to hold back the fashion for the bright, light and highly coloured fabrics from India, which were imported into Europe in significant quantities from the middle of the seventeenth century onwards.3 The prohibition is persistently defined as a protective measure for the long-established French textile industries. This was indeed a primary motivation for its initiation, however, this thesis challenges the supposition that it was also the unique reason the ban was maintained for such an excessively long period. Against the background of the introduction of fabric printing techniques from Asia to Europe, the aim of this study is to establish the varied reasons and interlinked motives for the length of the prohibition in France, and the circumstances which led that country, the location of some of the earliest experiments with printing, to fall behind its neighbours and stagnate technologically. The thesis questions why, as well as terminating the importation of indiennes (as all printed
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The WILLIAMSBURG Brand Takes a “Trend-Meets-Tradition” Approach
    The WILLIAMSBURG brand takes a “Trend-Meets-Tradition” approach to home décor inspired by the extensive design archive of the not-for-profit Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Fusing the best of American craftsmanship with international influences that accented homes of the era, WILLIAMSBURG offers a fresh take on 18th-century design, reimagining classic elements for today’s lifestyles. GARDEN IMAGES Highlighted by a magnificent watercolor painted by Georg Ehret in 1737, this botanical design captures the natural ambience of gardens in Colonial Williamsburg’s Historic Area. The large magnolia blossoms, flowering dogwood, and occasional butterfly are shown in multiple colors on a lightly textured field which mimics fine linen or, in one instance, cloth of gold. Six variations include cream ground with green, blue, and beige, brown ground with deep pinks and blue-greens, a charcoal ground with purples and ochres. There is also a distinctive metallic gold ground enhanced by plum accents. Dickinson Trellis or Amelia Stripe would make a handsome partner. TAUNTON TEXTURE During the 18th- century, Taunton, England, was a center for the manufacture of woolen broadcloth. This wall paper, named for that city, bears a similarity. The textured background looks like woven cloth, while vertical and horizontal faux slubs mimic the appearance and feel of earlier fabrics made from nubby hand-spun yarns. This pattern, in five palettes including beige with taupe and white, or light and medium grey with cream, offers a subtle complement to many other designs in the WILLIAMSBURG collection. For example, use with Dinwiddie Damask or with John Rocque’s London Map, circa 1740s, Mural.
    [Show full text]
  • Perspective, 1 | 2016, « Textiles » [Online], Online Since 21 September 2016, Connection on 01 October 2020
    Perspective Actualité en histoire de l’art 1 | 2016 Textiles Electronic version URL: http://journals.openedition.org/perspective/6672 DOI: 10.4000/perspective.6672 ISSN: 2269-7721 Publisher Institut national d'histoire de l'art Printed version Date of publication: 30 June 2016 ISSN: 1777-7852 Electronic reference Perspective, 1 | 2016, « Textiles » [Online], Online since 21 September 2016, connection on 01 October 2020. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/perspective/6672 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/ perspective.6672 This text was automatically generated on 1 October 2020. 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Entretien Interview with Jean-Paul Leclercq by Rémi Labrusse Jean-Paul Leclercq and Rémi Labrusse Perspective, 1 | 2016 2 Entretien Perspective, 1 | 2016 3 Interview with Jean-Paul Leclercq by Rémi Labrusse Jean-Paul Leclercq and Rémi Labrusse Translation : Trista Selous Rémi Labrusse. Could you describe your career path as a researcher? How did it lead you to textiles? Jean-Paul Leclercq. From 1994 to 2006 I was curator of the collections of pre-1914 costumes and textiles at Les Arts décoratifs in Paris, and I took on the task of expanding them.1 Putting my advocacy for collaboration between museums into action, I drew up the dossier that enabled the Musée des Tissus in Lyon to acquire the 190 Grands livres de fabrique of the Lyon-based company Bianchini-Férier (1889-1964, a continuous series of some 25,000 fabrics to stimulate thinking), which had employed artists such as Raoul Dufy and Paul Iribe. This acquisition was made with assistance from the Heritage Fund,2 whose support is “reserved for acquisitions of cultural properties of major heritage importance” and had the fortunate effect of conferring inalienability on the collection, both aspects that acted to counter the threats of closure facing the museum.
    [Show full text]
  • © in This Web Service Cambridge University
    Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-10591-1 - The Material Atlantic: Clothing, Commerce, and Colonization in the Atlantic World, 1650–1800 Robert S. DuPlessis Index More information Index Textiles and garments frequently found in Atlantic dress regimes are noted only when first mentioned and/or defined. Abenaki alamode, 96, 118 dress adornment among, 49 alapeen. See alpine acculturation Algonquin attempts at, 89 dress adornment among, 110, 266 pressures for, 85 alpine, 69 adornment, 46 Amerindians absence of, 87, 131 and peddlers, 77 among Amerindians, 48, 95, 97, change in dress of, 52, 99, 100–1, 108, 98, 104, 109, 114, 120, 121, 114, 122, 123, 124 263, 266 clothing gifted to, 118 among Europeans, 31 comparison with European dress, among Khoikhoi, 226 114–16, 118, 121 among Tainos, 255 comparison with slave dress, 162 among Tupinambá, 41 comparisons with European dress, 118 Atlantic African, 36, 37, 39, 40, 236 corporeal adornment of, 110, 114, corporeal, 7, 41, 49, 84, 89 120, 121 European attitudes about corporeal, 26 dress and gender among, 94 non-corporeal, 24, 27, 43, 114 dress diversity among, 48–49, 121, of Carib dress, 226 122, 123 of free settler dress, 180, 203, 205, 222 dress gifted to, 92–94, 106, 118 of free women of color, 188, 189, dress regimes among Christian converts, 190, 203 101–2, 106, 108, 121 of indentured servants, 150 dress regimes at contact, 46–50 of slave dress, 152, 153, 156, 158 dress syncretism among, 101, 102, 105, advertisements 113, 121, 123 and textile retailing, 71, 73, 74, 174 fashion among, 115, 118,
    [Show full text]
  • Alonso De Leon: Pathfinder in East Texas, 1686-1690
    East Texas Historical Journal Volume 33 Issue 1 Article 6 3-1995 Alonso De Leon: Pathfinder in East exas,T 1686-1690 Donald E. Chipman Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/ethj Part of the United States History Commons Tell us how this article helped you. Recommended Citation Chipman, Donald E. (1995) "Alonso De Leon: Pathfinder in East exas,T 1686-1690," East Texas Historical Journal: Vol. 33 : Iss. 1 , Article 6. Available at: https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/ethj/vol33/iss1/6 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the History at SFA ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in East Texas Historical Journal by an authorized editor of SFA ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. EAST TEXAS HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION ALONSO DE LEON: PATHfl'INDER IN EAST TEXAS, 1686-1 . ;;; D. I by Donald E. ChIpman ~ ftIIlph W .; . .. 6' . .,)I~l,". • The 1680s were a time of cnSiS for the northern frontle ewSliJrSl1' .Ibrity ..:: (Colonial Mexico). In New Mexico the decade began with a ~e, coor- ~~ dinated revolt involving most of the Pueblo Indians. The Great Rev 2!!V Z~~\(, forced the Spanish to abandon a province held continuously since 1598,"~~':;:"-~ claimed more than 400 lives. Survivors, well over 2,000 of them. retreated down the Rio Grande to El Paso del Rio del Norte. transforming it overnight from a way station and missionary outpost along the road to New Mexico proper into a focus of empire. From El Paso the first European settlement within the present boundaries of Texas.
    [Show full text]
  • Study Material
    STUDY MATERIAL UNIT I TEXTILE CHEMICAL PROCESSING Learning Outcome After finishing this unit, students will be able to understand – Various technical terminology used in the industry. Various types of impurities presents in the substrates. The processes involved in removing impurities. Overview In this chapter students will get to know about various techniques of preparatory process of textile material which is the essential part of the processing. Without preparatory process it is very difficult to achieve the desire result in the dyeing, printing and finishing process. After studying this chapter, the students will be familiarized and will be able to understand terminology used in the Industry, impurities present in natural and synthetic fibers (Raw Cotton, Wool, Silk, Polyester, Nylon and Acrylic) and their effective and cost economic removal. This unit also deals with Chemical Processes, Chemical Treatment, Process Flowcharts of Cotton, Wool, Silk and Synthetic fibers, Elementary Knowledge of Sizing, Resizing, Scouring & Bleaching. After understanding these terminology students will be able to know the processes involved in achieving desired fabric quality. 1 INTRODUCTION TO CHEMICAL PROCESSING: PRE-TREATMENTS 1.1 TEXTILE CHEMICAL PROCESSING FOR THE FIBERS (PREPARATORY OPERATIONS) Newly constructed fabric as it comes from the mill is called gray good. This does not imply that the fabric is gray in color, it simply denotes any unfinished fabric. The goods must pass through various finishing processes to make it suitable for its intended end use. Finishing may change the appearance of the fabric, its hand (feel), its serviceability, and its durability. Gray goods must be cleaned before they can be finished.
    [Show full text]
  • Textile Printing
    TECHNICAL BULLETIN 6399 Weston Parkway, Cary, North Carolina, 27513 • Telephone (919) 678-2220 ISP 1004 TEXTILE PRINTING This report is sponsored by the Importer Support Program and written to address the technical needs of product sourcers. © 2003 Cotton Incorporated. All rights reserved; America’s Cotton Producers and Importers. INTRODUCTION The desire of adding color and design to textile materials is almost as old as mankind. Early civilizations used color and design to distinguish themselves and to set themselves apart from others. Textile printing is the most important and versatile of the techniques used to add design, color, and specialty to textile fabrics. It can be thought of as the coloring technique that combines art, engineering, and dyeing technology to produce textile product images that had previously only existed in the imagination of the textile designer. Textile printing can realistically be considered localized dyeing. In ancient times, man sought these designs and images mainly for clothing or apparel, but in today’s marketplace, textile printing is important for upholstery, domestics (sheets, towels, draperies), floor coverings, and numerous other uses. The exact origin of textile printing is difficult to determine. However, a number of early civilizations developed various techniques for imparting color and design to textile garments. Batik is a modern art form for developing unique dyed patterns on textile fabrics very similar to textile printing. Batik is characterized by unique patterns and color combinations as well as the appearance of fracture lines due to the cracking of the wax during the dyeing process. Batik is derived from the Japanese term, “Ambatik,” which means “dabbing,” “writing,” or “drawing.” In Egypt, records from 23-79 AD describe a hot wax technique similar to batik.
    [Show full text]
  • Addendum: University of Nottingham Letters : Copy of Father Grant’S Letter to A
    Nottingham Letters Addendum: University of 170 Figure 1: Copy of Father Grant’s letter to A. M. —1st September 1751. The recipient of the letter is here identified as ‘A: M: —’. Source: Reproduced with the kind permission of the Department of Manuscripts and Special Collections, University of Nottinghan. 171 Figure 2: The recipient of this letter is here identified as ‘Alexander Mc Donell of Glengarry Esqr.’. Source: Reproduced with the kind permission of the Department of Manuscripts and Special Collections, University of Nottinghan. 172 Figure 3: ‘Key to Scotch Names etc.’ (NeC ¼ Newcastle of Clumber Mss.). Source: Reproduced with the kind permission of the Department of Manuscripts and Special Collections, University of Nottinghan. 173 Figure 4: In position 91 are the initials ‘A: M: —,’ which, according to the information in NeC 2,089, corresponds to the name ‘Alexander Mc Donell of Glengarry Esqr.’, are on the same line as the cant name ‘Pickle’. Source: Reproduced with the kind permission of the Department of Manuscripts and Special Collections, University of Nottinghan. Notes 1 The Historians and the Last Phase of Jacobitism: From Culloden to Quiberon Bay, 1746–1759 1. Theodor Fontane, Jenseit des Tweed (Frankfurt am Main, [1860] 1989), 283. ‘The defeat of Culloden was followed by no other risings.’ 2. Sir Geoffrey Elton, The Practice of History (London, [1967] 1987), 20. 3. Any subtle level of differentiation in the conclusions reached by participants of the debate must necessarily fall prey to the approximate nature of this classifica- tion. Daniel Szechi, The Jacobites. Britain and Europe, 1688–1788 (Manchester, 1994), 1–6.
    [Show full text]
  • Federal Research Division Country Profile: Bulgaria, October 2006
    Library of Congress – Federal Research Division Country Profile: Bulgaria, October 2006 COUNTRY PROFILE: BULGARIA October 2006 COUNTRY Formal Name: Republic of Bulgaria (Republika Bŭlgariya). Short Form: Bulgaria. Term for Citizens(s): Bulgarian(s). Capital: Sofia. Click to Enlarge Image Other Major Cities (in order of population): Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, Ruse, Stara Zagora, Pleven, and Sliven. Independence: Bulgaria recognizes its independence day as September 22, 1908, when the Kingdom of Bulgaria declared its independence from the Ottoman Empire. Public Holidays: Bulgaria celebrates the following national holidays: New Year’s (January 1); National Day (March 3); Orthodox Easter (variable date in April or early May); Labor Day (May 1); St. George’s Day or Army Day (May 6); Education Day (May 24); Unification Day (September 6); Independence Day (September 22); Leaders of the Bulgarian Revival Day (November 1); and Christmas (December 24–26). Flag: The flag of Bulgaria has three equal horizontal stripes of white (top), green, and red. Click to Enlarge Image HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Early Settlement and Empire: According to archaeologists, present-day Bulgaria first attracted human settlement as early as the Neolithic Age, about 5000 B.C. The first known civilization in the region was that of the Thracians, whose culture reached a peak in the sixth century B.C. Because of disunity, in the ensuing centuries Thracian territory was occupied successively by the Greeks, Persians, Macedonians, and Romans. A Thracian kingdom still existed under the Roman Empire until the first century A.D., when Thrace was incorporated into the empire, and Serditsa was established as a trading center on the site of the modern Bulgarian capital, Sofia.
    [Show full text]
  • London and Middlesex in the 1660S Introduction: the Early Modern
    London and Middlesex in the 1660s Introduction: The early modern metropolis first comes into sharp visual focus in the middle of the seventeenth century, for a number of reasons. Most obviously this is the period when Wenceslas Hollar was depicting the capital and its inhabitants, with views of Covent Garden, the Royal Exchange, London women, his great panoramic view from Milbank to Greenwich, and his vignettes of palaces and country-houses in the environs. His oblique birds-eye map- view of Drury Lane and Covent Garden around 1660 offers an extraordinary level of detail of the streetscape and architectural texture of the area, from great mansions to modest cottages, while the map of the burnt city he issued shortly after the Fire of 1666 preserves a record of the medieval street-plan, dotted with churches and public buildings, as well as giving a glimpse of the unburned areas.1 Although the Fire destroyed most of the historic core of London, the need to rebuild the burnt city generated numerous surveys, plans, and written accounts of individual properties, and stimulated the production of a new and large-scale map of the city in 1676.2 Late-seventeenth-century maps of London included more of the spreading suburbs, east and west, while outer Middlesex was covered in rather less detail by county maps such as that of 1667, published by Richard Blome [Fig. 5]. In addition to the visual representations of mid-seventeenth-century London, a wider range of documentary sources for the city and its people becomes available to the historian.
    [Show full text]
  • Textiles ___&Mode Ancienne
    Thierry de MAIGRET Commissaire -Priseur ____ TEXTILES ____ & MODE ANCIENNE Mardi 14 novembre 2017 à 11 h et 14 h VENTE AUX ENCHÈRES PUBLIQUES Rare documentation d’Histoire de la Mode entre 1900 et 1940 : le Journal des Dames et des Modes de 1912 et les Robes de Paul Poiret vues par Paul Iribe Broderies et soieries des XVIIe au XIXe siècles tissées sur métier à bras dont un grand métrage de velours « Tigre » de la Manufacture Le Manach Collection de Textiles Ethniques de Marine Biras Tissages d’Afrique sub-saharienne, Amérique du Sud, Inde, Asie du Sud-Est et Chine Dentelles anciennes dont un exceptionnel ensemble d’accessoires du costume à la cour de Louis XIV avec un col et un rabat de cravate en Point de France Linge de table de la Maison Jeanne Lanvin à la fin des années 20 Couture Belle Époque et Mode : garde-robe de la Comtesse de ... Modèles des Sœurs Kerteux, Marie Callot-Gerber, Drecoll, Liberty, Lanvin, J. Heim… Hôtel Drouot - Salle 15 Exposition publique 9, rue Drouot - 75009 Paris Lundi 13 novembre 2017 de 11 h à 18 h Tél. pendant l’exposition : Expert +33 (0)1 48 00 20 15 Séverine EXPERTON-DARD [email protected] - +33 6 80 65 12 18 Vente à 11 h : lots 1 à 89 HISTOIRE DE LA MODE 4 2 9 5 3 1. CHIFFONS, juin 1932. Nombreuses illustrations sous 4. Réunion de 30 parutions de MODES ET TRAVAUX couverture illustrée en couleurs. Modèles de Patou entre 1932-1946 : numéros de janvier et 1er novembre Vionnet, Chanel, Lanvin, Molyneux, Worth, Louise 1932 / juillet et 15 aout 1933 / 15 avril et 15 mars 1934 / Boulanger, Premet..
    [Show full text]
  • Weavetech Archive 9912
    WeaveTech Archive 9912 >From [email protected] Wed Dec 1 02:35:47 1999 Received: (salmon@localhost) by salmon.esosoft.net (8.8.5) id CAA19713; Wed, 1 Dec 1999 02:35:47 -0700 (MST) Received: from ecpport2.midcoast.com.au (ecpport2.ecopost.com.au [203.28.64.15]) by salmon.esosoft.net (8.8.5) id CAA19702; Wed, 1 Dec 1999 02:35:42 -0700 (MST) X-Authentication-Warning: salmon.esosoft.net: Host ecpport2.ecopost.com.au [203.28.64.15] claimed to be ecpport2.midcoast.com.au Received: from tnewman (mcport28-210.midcoast.com.au [203.12.28.210]) by ecpport2.midcoast.com.au (8.9.3/8.9.3) with SMTP id UAA03446 for <[email protected]>; Wed, 1 Dec 1999 20:35:08 +1100 Message-ID: <003801bf3bdf$5e007fa0$ed1c0ccb@tnewman> From: "Trudy Newman" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Subject: Re: handloom/powerloom? Date: Wed, 1 Dec 1999 20:24:07 +1100 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.72.3110.1 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.3110.3 Sender: [email protected] Precedence: bulk Reply-To: [email protected] Would the difference be explained by industrial loom/weaving compared to hand loom/weaving? Trudy Newman 27 Allunga Ave PORT MACQUARIE NSW 2444 AUSTRALIA. Ph/fax:(02) 6582 2722 [email protected] To reply privately, send message to "Trudy Newman" <[email protected]> >From [email protected] Wed Dec 1 08:10:41 1999 Received:
    [Show full text]
  • The French Connection: Indian Cottons, Their Early Modern Technology and Diffusion
    The French Connection: Indian Cottons, Their Early Modern Technology and Diffusion George Bryan Souza* Asia’s production of cotton and silk textiles, porcelain and the refining of base metals, zinc in particular, in the early modern period were more advanced than the rest of the world. Fundamental to Asia’s success and superiority in textile production was the technology employed by artisans in the selection of raw materials and the techniques used in their application and presentation. Before Europe could diverge technically from other parts of the globe, European textile manufacture had to converge through the acquisition and incorporation of new materials and technical knowledge from other parts of the globe, especially from India and China1 or, alternatively, through new or incremental advances in technical knowledge, production processes, machines, and apparatus. Cotton a vegetable fiber was “one of the most difficult fibers to dye,” “unlike animal fibers such as silk and wool, which can accept most natural dyes with ‘comparative’ ease, inherent properties * University of Texas, San Antonio, USA. Email: [email protected] . Not to be cited or quoted without the author’s written permission. 1 For a preliminary discussion of convergence, which is not viewed as being exclusively determined by prices, see: George Bryan Souza, “Convergence before Divergence: Global Maritime Economic History and Material Culture,” The International Journal of Maritime History, 17:1 (2005): 17-27. For Europe’s divergence in the early nineteenth century from China and other areas of the world, see: Kenneth Pomeranz, The Great Divergence: China, Europe and the Making of the Modern World Economy, Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2000.
    [Show full text]