Chintz | 18th Century Cotton Prints
These printed cottons that are true copies of the original designs are now available thanks to the work of the people at Durán Textiles from Stockholm, Sweden. Using examples of textiles from clothing in museum collections in Sweden and the USA they have presented us the opportunity to fulfill the desire to add clothing to our wardrobe that will produce not only the correct print but also the proper drape of the fabric for the late 18th century.
Printed cottons made before the process became much more sophisticated in the early 19th century have a charm that was lost with the advent of roller printing. Some of the prints offer the sought after monochrome designs on a light background that in the period were printed using the color resist method or by block printing, others are block printed with the blues and yellows "penciled' in. Today Durán Textiles has used the block printed method to duplicate some of the original designs while others are screen prints.
You may choose to make an entire printed gown, jacket or banyan and have a garment to be proud of. Alternatively you may buy a small piece to border a petticoat, line the turn back cuffs on your short gown or to make a pair of pockets adding a touch of luxury to your wardrobe. The preshrunk cotton fabric from Durán Textiles will only produce 2-3% shrinkage with washing: all are 59" (150cm) wide.
All fabrics noted below are currently in stock others may be special ordered with a 50% deposit. Due to the exchange rate all special orders will be placed at the new price and any orders less than 25 meters will be charged an additional 10%. To see Durán Textiles complete line of fabrics please visit their website: Durán Textiles, AB.
You may special order any Durán Textiles fabric from
Wm. Booth, Draper at the sign of the Unicorn.
262-886-9133 or 815-648-9048.
Currant
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Dorotea
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Cicoria
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Shell WDT 102
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Brown Klint
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Veronica WDT 105
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Chintz | 18th Century Cotton Prints
Chintz (from the Hindi word chint, meaning to sprinkle or spray) were made using a multi-step process involving painting, resist dyeing, and mordant dyeing. A final finish was applied by burnishing with shells or beaten with a mallet to give them a shiny surface.
Both in America and Europe but especially in Britain and the Netherlands chintz fabric from India soon became the craze from gentry to servants after their first introduction in the 17th century. The glazed and printed cotton was a favorite long into the 19th century until the cheaper machine made copies replaced the hand painted cloth from India. In the 17th century it was used at first for bed hangings and bedcovers of the gentry then when worn out reused for clothing the children of the lower sorts. But the bright colors of the beautiful prints were soon being used for linings and later into women's jackets, skirts, and gowns and men's banyans and enjoyed by all economic classes. Much of what is written here is summarized from the book Chintz: Indian Textiles for the West by Rosemary Crill.
Dutch chintz are from the Netherlands and the design is reproduced at the accurate scale. Wilhelmina is reproduced using part of an original 18th century design.
No chintz fabrics are currently available. We hope to stock more soon. |
