Encyclopedia Britannica 1963 [22].pdf

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ENCYCLOPEDIA
THE
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
The Encyclpgdid Britannica
is
publirhed with the editorial aduice ofthe fac~ltie~
of
The University of Chicago and of a
committee
of
membar7 ofthefaculties
of
Oxfird, Cdmbridge
and London unive~ersitiesand of a committee
at The Uniuersity of Toronto
A
N w
Sawg!
of
U i e ~
K~owledge
e
nv~a
l
Volume
22
T
EXTILE
T
O
V
ASCULAR
S
YSTEM
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, INC.
W I L L I A M BENTON, PUBLISHER
CHICAGO
LONDON
TORONTO
-
GENEVA
SYDNEY
C
OPYRIGH
T
UNDER
I
NTERNATIONAL
C
OPYRIGHT
U
NION
PRINTED
IN
THE
U.
S.
A.
Volume
2 2
EXTILE PRINTING,
the process by which a deco- resist dyed textiles. until the end of the 17th century all Euro-
rative pattern is applied to a woven or knitted fabric
in at least one colour different from the body of the
fabric itself. This mode of decoration differs from the
formation of a pattern by weaving and knitting proc-
esses that employ threads that are already coloured or have dif-
ferent capacities for taking up dyes. The four main methods of
textile printing are block printing, copperplate printing, roller
printing and screen printing.
pean block-printed textiles were printed wlth surface pigments or
oil stains that were fugitive (not fast to washing). About 1676,
however, more or less simultaneously in England. Holland and
France, the European textile printers mastered the secrets of the
complex problem. of mordant dyeing with madder-the basis of
the fast-dyed, hand-painted Indian chintzes that had begun to be
imported into Europe during the early 17th century. Thereafter,
most European block-printed textiles were produced in what was
known as the "madder style."
One of the clearest expositions of block printing in the "madder
style" is given in the supplement to John Barrow's
N e w and
Gni-
versa1 Dictionary
of
Arts and Sciences
(1754). The cotton or
linen was printed with chemical substances known as mordants,
which on immersion in the vat reacted with the soluble dye to
precipitate an insoluble colouring on the cloth fibres so that the
colour remained permanently fixed in the mordant-printed areas
while the dye taken up by the unmordanted parts could be easily
removed by washing. I n madder dyeing different mordants can
produce various shades of reds, pinks. purples and browns from
a
single immersion in the dye. The different mordants were printed
one by one; the printer moved along the whole length of the cloth
printing the first mordant from one u~oodblock, then the second
mordant from another block, and so on, until the whole pattern
was completed. The mordant-printed cloth was then immersed
in the dye. The reds, browns and purples were produced by print-
ing varying strengths of alum and iron mordants, followed by im-
mersion in the madder dye. Yellows and drabs (light brownish
colours) uere produced by the printing of similar mordants fol-
lowed by dyeing with weld, also known as dyer's weed. Blue
was
produced by "penciling-in" indigo with
a
brush. This operation
was usually carried out by women or girls. All greens were pro-
duced by the penciling-in of indigo over yellow. T o save expense,
the yellows were often blocked or painted in to avoid an additional
dyeing but with this method the yellow dye was fugitive and in
many extant 18th-century textiles the yellow has almost entirely
disappeared.
The standard method of printing madder mordants by wood
block involved the use of a "tub" and a "sieve." I n England the
tub consisted of a sawed-off barrel but on the European continent
EARLY METHODS
Block
Printing.- The origin of block printing on textiles is
somewhat obscure but it is clear that the printing of textiles by
means of blocks was developed from free-hand painting with a
brush. Wooden blocks believed to have been used for textile
printing have been found in burying grounds at Akhmim, upper
Egypt, and are said to date from the 4th century
A.D.
No textiles
printed by means of these blocks have, however, been found. I n
Europe block printing of fabrics does not appear'to have begun
much before the end of the 12th century
A.D.;
the chief centre
appears to have been the Rhineland of Germany.
I n blocks used for printing, the spaces between the lines or de-
vices forming the pattern were cut away, leaving the design stand-
ing in relief, as in letterpress printing. The colour was then ap-
plied to the surface of the block and the coloured block pressed
down on the cloth. An interesting description of early block
printing on textiles is given in
The
B o o k of
the Arts or Treatise on
Paintzng
by Cennino Cennini. a document that dates from the end
of the 14th century. According to Cennini, the thickened colour
was applied to the block by means of a glove, probably made of
leather. The pigments were mixed with starch, gum (tragacanth)
or a mixture of these, or even with varnish, so that the colour
was in a viscous state and did not run from the raised portions of
the block. Cennini describes how the outlines of the patterns
were printed by block and additional colours added by means of a
brush. Later the colour was applied by a pad, either directly or by
pressing the block down on a pad impregnated with colour. Wax
resists were also printed by metal or wood blocks for indigo-resist
dyeing. This method was used in Egypt in the 9th-10th century
A
.D.
and in Germany in the 17th century. Apart from these indigo-

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